SMBE Symposium on Evolution of Gene Families

June 8th, 2017

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, USA

9:00am – 5:30pm, Mayer Auditorium

USC Health Sciences Campus

1975 Zonal Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90089

Reception to follow

Conference summary

Now that we have the genome sequences of organisms from thousands of different species, it is now possible to reconstruct the deep evolutionary history of these genes. In most cases, genes evolve slowly, and we find that most genes in any two species—even those that diverged hundreds of millions, and even billions, of years ago—have clear family relationships. Thus, these genes form families of members that all descend from a common ancestor in the distant past.

This one-day Symposium will cover some general background, focusing on state-of-the-art challenges and research in the field of gene family evolution. It will include talks from scientists who develop computational methods to reconstruct the evolutionary histories of genes, as well as from scientists who apply this knowledge in a broad range of applications. A major example is in understanding the functions of human genes. Most of our experimental knowledge of gene function has been obtained in “model organisms” such as the mouse, fruit fly, nematode worm, yeast, and even bacteria. Because of common descent, human genes are related (homologous) to model organism genes, and knowledge of the evolutionary relationships between genes is being used to understand human gene function in health and disease.

The Symposium is open to all interested parties. Registration (deadline May 25) is required for all attendees but free of charge.

The Symposium will be followed by the 5th International Quest for Orthologs Meeting, which will explore in-depth technical details discussed by leading experts in gene family evolution.

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