Evolving rates: foundations for the next generation of molecular clocks

这个项目旨在调查DNA序列进化速度在三个生命王国之间变化的原因和后果。根据DNA序列估计的日期有广泛的应用，包括进化生物学、保护优先顺序和流行病学。这些方法依赖于准确的速率估计，但当前的模型缺乏关于基因组变化速率的生物驱动因素的信息。该项目将测试当前方法的可靠性，确定对疾病起源或保护优先事项的潜在误导性估计，并开发具有经验信息的比率变化模型的新方法。

This project aims to investigate the causes and consequences of variation in rate of DNA sequence evolution across three kingdoms of life. Dates estimated from DNA sequences have a wide range of applications, including evolutionary biology, conservation prioritisation and epidemiology. These methods rely on accurate rate estimates, but current models lack information about the biological drivers of rates of genomic change. This project will test reliability of current methods, identify potentially misleading estimates of disease origin or conservation priorities, and develop new approaches with empirically-informed models of rate change.