Research
Research at the Computational Genomics Laboratory
Our research is aimed at understanding the origins and evolution of cellular life. We use mostly computational tools in our research but collaborate with several experimental groups in the pursuit of our research. This page summarizes our research interests. These are divided into sections with a brief summary of each research topic. Follow the links to find out more about each topic.
Genome Evolution
We are interested in understanding how the evolution of genomes and protein repertoires drives the evolution of organisms. Our research in these topics ranges from studying the relative extent of specific types of changes in proteins, to the study of gene loss in parasitic organisms. Find out more here.
Bacterial sporulation
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Endospores are the most resistant cell types known to man, and the product of a complex differentiation program. They are also the infectious gents of a variety of human diseases and vectors for bioterrorism. We are collaborating with the Bacterial Development group at the ITQB in the study of the mechanisms of assembly, in time and in space, of the endospore. More here |
Evocell- the evolution of eukaryotic cellular structures
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We are interested in the origins and evolution of eukaryotic cell organisation, and are pursuing two lines of research currently: i) The evolution of protein traffic pathways and cellular compartments, aiming to understand the origins of this system, as well as the mechanisms for pathway specialisation. ii) The evolution of centrioles, which form the basal body of cilia and flagella, as well as the centrosome. This project is a collaboration with the cell cycle regulation laboratory at the IGC. More about these projects here. |
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Systems Biology - networks and molecular machines
The evolution of protein interaction networks. Networks are representations that allow us to consider interactions in a global context, thus making it possible to study how distinct discrete molecular events contribute to shape the global properties of the cell. We are very interested in origins of modularity in molecular networks. (more to come soon)
