Taking Evolutionary Biology Beyond the Gene

Evolution depends on the copying of genetic information (DNA) with the incorporation of changes (mutations) that are inherited by subsequent generations. Evolutionary biologists use the information in DNA of different species to infer their evolutionary relationships – which species share a common ancestor. The copying of DNA with incorporation of changes is remarkably similar to many other processes, such as the copying of medieval manuscripts by scribes, who made changes to their texts as they copied. Manuscript scholars have long used the changes in texts to infer their copying history – which versions were copied from the same earlier version. They have traditionally done these analyses by hand. However, these textual analyses are exactly the same as inferring evolutionary history from DNA sequences, for which powerful computer programs are available. I have shown that programs from evolutionary biology can speed up the analysis of texts enormously, and allow much larger datasets to be analysed than before. This evolutionary approach is applicable very broadly. I will work
with local experts and other STIAS Fellows to apply this evolutionary analysis to other novel datasets, including the development of neuropsychological, behavioural and scholastic difficulties in individuals with a particular genetic disorder.