Studies of new gene origination provide insight into the mechanisms by which biological diversity is created. Dr. Manyuan Long and James Emerson will employ microarray technology to identify genes in the fruit fly that have originated so recently that they have yet to spread through the entire population. Subsequent analysis using comparative genomics will allow us to determine how new genes come to be preserved. They will estimate the fitness effects of these new genes by comparing data within one species (Drosophila melanogaster) to data between species (D. melanogaster vs D. pseudoobscura). They will make the most accurate estimate of the gene duplication rate to date, which will be the first such study of new gene acquisition in any organism.
These studies will influence human welfare: for example, duplications of resistance genes frequently confer pesticide resistance, and gene amplifications frequently lead to tumorogenesis. For this project we plan to train young scientists from institutions that do not have access to facilities that allow such research to be conducted.
