Genetically Speaking

Genetics lectures series begins today

By Jessica Luton

jluton@uga.edu

If the development of species over time is of interest to you, the department of genetics has just the thing for you—a weekly lecture series meant to shine light on genetics research on campus and at other universities.  Featuring visiting scholars and campus experts alike, this series of lectures happens each Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical Sciences on South Campus.

This week’s speaker, Craig T. Miller, an assistant professor in genetics, genomics and development, comes to UGA from University of California Berkeley, with an affinity for studying the genetic head skeletal development of the stickleback fish.

“We study how pattern forms during development and changes during evolution. We focus on the vertebrate head skeleton, using a genetic approach in the threespine stickleback fish, a species complex that has repeatedly evolved head skeletal adaptations. We seek to understand the genetic basis of craniofacial and dental pattern and how alterations to these genes result in evolved differences in morphology.”

 Studying fish to learn about genetic evolution patterns seems abstract until you connect the fish with the larger picture of genetic adaptation in all animals.  As Miller explains on his lab website:

“The threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) has emerged as a powerful model system for studying the genetic basis of organismal diversity. Threespine sticklebacks have undergone one of the most recent and remarkable adaptive radiations on earth. Ancestral ocean-dwelling sticklebacks repeatedly colonized and rapidly adapted to thousands of freshwater lakes and streams that formed by melting of glacial ice within the past 15,000 years. Ancestral and derived forms can be crossed in the lab, enabling forward genetic analyses to map genes responsible for evolved differences.”

Week after week, the genetics department provides opportunities for students to learn more about this up-and-coming field. Whether science is your main interest, or just a hobby per say, this series of lectures provides a great opportunity.  You can check out the full listing of scheduled lectures here.  

Image: Head of male three-spined sticleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.