In this advanced MSc mini-course we will discuss the fact that evolution often happens “on the lab bench”, i.e. for example in commonly done lab experiments with microorganisms, cell lines or in cultures of Drosophila or C. elegans, even though the aim of such experiments might have nothing to do with studying evolution. Thus, in many such experiments, it is common that the experimenter may actually be unaware that such evolutionary processes are taking place. In this course we will come to realize that evolution is in integral part of almost any such experiment. The goal of this course is to develop an intuition for the expected evolutionary change over the course of your own experiments and to discuss how evolution may help or limit discovery and how the speed of evolution can be manipulated in the lab. We will discuss the mathematical / statistical theory relevant for understanding experimental evolution experiments (Luria-Delbrück theory of randomness of mutations, mutation rates, the Wright-Fisher model with drift and with selection, fixation probabilities under drift and selection, adaptive dynamics, clonal interference, fitness landscapes) and illustrate key concepts with empirical examples. The students are expected to have a solid working knowledge of basic population genetics (SBL.00049).
- Enseignant·e: Thomas Flatt