We are pleased to announce that Professor Richard Durbin and Dr Felipe Karam-Teixeira have been awarded a Wellcome Trust Discovery Award for their research on genome evolution and function: 'Genome evolution driven by transposable element across the Tree of Life'.
Their work focuses on how genome sequencing across species is revolutionizing biology. By conducting comparative analysis, they aim to uncover how genomes function and evolve. This research will integrate computational methods capable of handling large-scale genomic data with experimental studies on how structural genome variations arise and contribute to evolution.
While most mutations affect single DNA bases, structural variations—often driven by transposable elements (TEs), which make up nearly 50% of the human genome—cause more extensive sequence changes. To investigate this, the team will develop novel fast algorithms to study TEs and conduct large-scale experimental evolution studies in Drosophila to explore TE dynamics and host genome responses.
Their findings will then be applied to vertebrate genome data to enhance human biomedical genetics, maximizing the benefits of genome sequencing in understanding life across species.
This innovative research promises to deepen our understanding of genome function and evolution, with far-reaching implications for genetics and medicine.