Series: Mathematics Colloquium

Date: Thursday, November 15, 2001

Time: 4:30 - 5:30 PM

Place: 102 McAllister Building

Host: Dmitri Burago

Refreshments: 4:00 - 4:30 PM, in 212 McAllister

Speaker: Leonid Fukshansky, Biology, University of Freiburg, Germany

Title: Theoretical Approaches in the Molecular Genetics - 
  Background, Methods, Open Problems

Abstract: 

A lasting break-through in the experimental molecular biology provided
within the last three decades new deep insights into the structure and
function of the genes.  On the other hand, this development created to
the first time on a grand scale a rather "physical" situation in
biology: without a substantial math treatment there is no way to the
design and interpretation of the experiments.  The new theoretical
branch maintaining and analysing the enormous flow of data in this
area - bioinformatics or computational biology - is an applied
science.  Its basic research counterpart is the theory of molecular
evolution rooted in the classic population genetics but evolving to
embrace the novel information at the DNA level.  As far as possible in
the frame of a single lecture I will try to sketch this dynamic field
proceeding from the short biological background and few general
principles via the mostly used math approaches towards the established
results and open questions.  A more detailed discussion of the few
specific examples may be given in the follow-up seminars.