Section: Research Program

Research axis 2: Models for Molecular Evolution

We study the processes of genome evolution, with a focus on large-scale genomic events (rearrangements, duplications, transfers). We are interested in deciphering general laws which explain the organization of the genomes we observe today, as well as using the knowledge of these processes to reconstruct some aspects of the history of life. To do so, we construct mathematical models and apply them either in a “forward” way, i.e. observing the course of evolution from known ancestors and parameters, by simulation (in silico experimental evolution) or mathematical analysis (theoretical biology), or in a “backward” way, i.e. reconstructing ancestral states and parameters from known extant states (phylogeny, comparative genomics). Moreover we often mix the two approaches either by validating backwards reconstruction methods on forward simulations, or by using the forward method to test evolutionary hypotheses on biological data.