Topic: molecular evolution

This four-day scientific symposium celebrates Peer Bork’s research legacy and examines future directions in predictive biology. Invited presentations, selected short talks and posters connect protein biology, molecular evolution, systems biology, the human microbiome and planetary biology. The programme links earlier achievements with emerging research questions across these fields, bringing together an international community for scientific discussion and collaboration. The meeting is open to researchers across the disciplines represented in Bork’s work.

Natural selection affects not only selected alleles, but also indirectly affects all genes near selected sites on the genome. An increasing body of evidence suggests that this linked selection is an important driver of evolutionary dynamics throughout the genomes of many species, implying that we need to substantially revise our basic understanding of molecular evolution. This session brings together early-career researchers working towards a quantitative understanding of the prevalence and effects of linked selection.