Evolutionary Cell Biology is a new emerging subdiscipline that strives to integrate the fields of cell biology, biophysics, bioenergetics, and evolutionary theory in novel ways, in an attempt to develop a more comprehensive field of evolutionary biology focused at the mechanistic level. Thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation, the public can listen in to this series of lectures via Zoom free of charge.
Arizona State University’s School of Life Sciences Professor Michael Lynch is the director of the Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution. His research focuses on mechanisms of evolution at the gene, genomic, cellular, and phenotypic levels, with special attention being given to the roles of mutation, random genetic drift, and recombination. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU News (c) Arizona Board of Regents
A graduate course will be offered this semester at Arizona State University by Michael Lynch, who also happens to be the author of Evolutionary Cell Biology: The Origins of Cellular Architecture. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, UK, 2024.
Michael Lynch was honored in 2022 with the Arizona Bioscience Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement. Lynch leads the world on research involving the foundational issues in evolutionary theory and explores the intricacies of cell structure and function. One of his primary objectives is to integrate evolutionary theory with cell biology, using principles from population genetics and biophysics. He is a major force in the development of neutral theories in which varying population sizes of different lineages influence mutation rates and guide the way in which genome architectures are ultimately structured.
In a series of 24 75-minute lectures, the course will cover all of the chapters in Evolutionary Cell Biology: The Origins of Cellular Architecture, and taught at a level that should be accessible to those with an undergraduate level of understanding of cell and evolutionary biology.
As part of our NSF Biological Integration Institute on Cellular Mechanisms of Evolution, these lectures are providing an opportunity on Zoom for anyone who wishes to link in and listen. The lectures will also be recorded and subsequently made available open-access.
The course will be taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00 to 10:15 am (MST), starting on 16 January 2025.
For more information and to receive Zoom access, please contact Victor Chai (victor.chai@asu.edu) and share your name and email address.