Computational Evolutionary Biology
Course facts
- Payment: Free, no certificate
- Credits: Non Credit
- Learning style: Self-paced, start anytime
- Resources: Lecture Notes
MIT OpenCourseWare details
- As taught in: Fall 2005
- Department: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Health Sciences and Technology
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Evolution through computational models: selection, drift, molecular evolution, phylogenetics and host-parasite dynamics, with lab-oriented lecture notes.
Why are there no animals with wheels? Why has polio been easier to fight with a vaccine than influenza or AIDS? This class analyzes evolution from a computational, modeling and engineering perspective, moving through population dynamics, molecular evolution, Price’s theorem, detecting selection and phylogenetics. Hands-on lab exercises build models and analyze evolutionary data, with the aim of reading current papers in the field.
What You Will Achieve
- Model selection, mutation, migration and genetic drift
- Apply Price’s theorem to evolutionary change
- Detect selection in molecular data
- Infer phylogenies using coalescent theory and evolutionary phylogenetics
Program Overview
Forces of Evolution
The first lectures treat evolution as a dynamical system.
- The basic dynamical systems of evolution
- Optimization
- Mutation and migration
- Genetic drift
Molecules and Selection
The next lectures work with genetic data.
- Evolution at the molecular level
- Price’s theorem
- Detecting selection
- Codon volatility
Phylogenies and Interactions
The later lectures widen the view.
- Coalescent theory
- Quantitative genetics
- Host-parasite interactions
- Evolutionary stable strategies
Course Completion
Job Outlook
This combination of biology and computation supports research in computational biology, population genetics and genomics.
Good for: Students with some molecular biology, calculus and programming who want to read current computational evolutionary research.
Keep in mind: Only lecture notes are listed among the materials, and the two required textbooks are not supplied. The class relies on discussion and labs, with no exams to test yourself.
Bottom line: A modeling view of evolution, opening with questions such as why no animals have wheels.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you do the labs on your own computer?
The syllabus says the laboratory exercises are designed to be carried out mostly on a personal computer, with software and datasets generally downloadable from the labs section.
Were there exams?
No. The syllabus says the work is done through class participation and laboratory exercises handed out about every two weeks, and a team final project.
Which textbooks are required?
Evolutionary Theory by Sean Rice and Phylogenetic Trees Made Easy by Barry Hall, with further references such as Principles of Population Genetics and Inferring Phylogenies.
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