PYI: Studies in Population Genetics, Life History Traits and Host-Parasite Dynamics

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During his five-year Presidential Young Investigator Award, Dr. Steven Frank, University of California, Irvine, plans to continue and expand his research activities in four areas. The first two concern the inherent instability and resulting dynamics caused by conflict at different genetic and ecological levels. Specifically, Dr. Frank will extend his present work on genomic conflict to explain uniparentally inherited sex-biasing elements and the role of meiotic drive in maintaining chromosomal inversions and genetic differences between species. Using host-parasite systems, he will also attempt to relate observable statistics about spacial variation to models of long-term ecological and evolutionary dynamics that maintain observable patterns. A third research goal involves understanding the patterns of parental investment in male vs. female offspring, including exploring a different interpretation of sex allocation in warm- blooded vertebrates. Finally, Dr. Frank will initiate research on the evolution of learning by merging advances in artificial intelligence and computers with classic methods from population genetics and evolutionary biology. His goal of applying advanced computer technology to evolutionary genetics is particularly innovative and, if successful, may herald a new era in evolutionary biology research.