What can we do when evolution doesn't play by the rules?
19 March 2026 - 19 March 2026
5–7:00 pm
Region(s): Auckland
Type(s): presentations
Join the Faculty of Science, University of Auckland for this free public Hood Lecture, with guest speaker Professor Vincent Moulton, Professor in Computational Biology at University of East Anglia (UEA).
The tree-of-life is now widely recognised as the way to represent the evolutionary past of the species living on earth today. Indeed, as well as representing the evolutionary history of species, evolutionary trees are commonly used in applications such as tracking the spread of pathogens, measuring biodiversity, and understanding how important traits in animals and plants have evolved.
Even so, it is now known that the evolution of certain species can break the rules of vertical descent that are implicitly implied by the tree-of-life. For example, viruses can recombine, plants and animals can hybridise, and microbes can swap genes. Evolutionary processes such as these are not of minor importance: for example, recombinant viruses can cause epidemics, hybrid crops can produce greater yields, and microbes can borrow genes to gain antimicrobial resistance.
This talk will consider the problem of how to represent the evolution of species whose evolutionary histories misbehave, including a couple of examples of New Zealand species along the way. This not only provides useful tools to help understand complex evolutionary histories but also leads to some fascinating mathematical and computational challenges.
To find out more and register for a free ticket, go to: https://unievents.auckland.ac.nz/event-details/eventbrite/1982643080826.
Location: Mathematics Lecture Theatre 1, 303-G23, Science Centre, 38 Princes Street, Auckland
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