How Should We Think About Evolution in the Age of Genomics?

The seminar will cover the following basic themes:

• Evolutionary cell and genome changes result from active processes (basic systems thinking tells us that organisms with tools to accelerate their evolution will prevail over organisms that depend on random changes);
• Sequencing teaches us that basic eukaryotic cell types evolved by cell fusions (symbiogenesis), not by accumulating gradual changes;
• Evolutionary change is rapid and connected to biological interactions;
• Natural genetic engineering capabilities exist in all cells;
• The myth of “Junk DNA” is no longer tenable;
• Viruses are far more than parasites and act as horizontal DNA transfer vectors and as mobile genetic elements that format transcriptional networks.