About

Adaptations are central to the study of evolution. Thus, it is surprising that we know so little about the molecular basis of adaptive evolution. The goal of Dr. Corbin Jones’ research is to identify, clone, and characterize the evolution of genes underlying natural adaptations in order to determine the types of genes involved, how many and what types of genetic changes occurred, and the evolutionary history of these changes. These data will address key questions. For example, do adaptations involve many genetic changes or only a few? How important are changes in gene regulation versus amino acid expression in adaptation? How often are “new” genes involved in adaptations? Are most adaptive alleles new mutations or pre-existing alleles segregating at low to moderate frequency within a species? Clearly, a deeper understanding of how genes change during adaptation will give insight into the potential and limits of adaptive evolution.

Specific Areas of Research

• Genetic analyses of adaptations and interspecific differences in Drosophila
• Molecular evolution and population genetics of new genes
• Evolutionary analysis of QTL and genomic data

To read more on Dr. Jones’ research, view his biography on the Genetics Department website here.