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2009 Annual Meeting
Symposium - Darwin Would Be Amazed:
Recent Developments in Evolutionary Biology
April 27, 2009; Washington, DC
Evolutionary thought is central to modern biology, and many of the topics that Darwin first introduced are still actively being investigated. At the same time, advances in molecular biology, developmental genetics, and evolutionary theory have led to discoveries that are far beyond anything that Charles Darwin could have rightly imagined. The symposium, held during the Academy's 146th Annual Meeting, explored some of these novel topics including the evolutionary genetics of developmental innovation, the role of symbiosis in lineage and genome evolution, lateral gene transfer in the origin of novelty, and exploration of the phylogenetic history of all branches of life.
Welcome:
Barbara A. Schaal
Vice President, National Academy of Sciences;
Spencer T. Olin Professor of Biology
Washington University, St. Louis
Topics and Speakers:
One Small Step for Fish: Fossils, Genes, and the Origin of Land-living Animals
Neil Shubin
Robert R. Bensley Distinguished Service Professor, Organismal Biology and Anatomy;
Professor, Committee on Evolutionary Biology; and Associate Dean of Biological Sciences
The University of Chicago
 Video presentation
Devonian landscape showing early landplants and fish populations.
The Unicellular Origins of Animal Multicellularity
Nicole King
Assistant Professor of Genetics, Genomics, and Development,
Departments of Molecular and Cell Biology and of Integrative Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Video presentation
Multicellular gene structure.
Horizontal Gene Transfer Gone Wild in Mitochondrial Genomes: Whole-genome Transfer, Chimeric Genes, and Compartment-specific Mechanism
Jeffrey D. Palmer
Distinguished Professor and Chair of Biology, and Class of '55 Professor, Department of Biology
Indiana University
Bacterial Symbiosis and Insect Diversification: Genomics of Interdependence
Nancy A. Moran
Regents’ Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
Video presentation
Sharpshooter leaphopper with highlighted symbiotic bacteria.
Applications of the Tree of Life
David M. Hillis
Director, Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics,
and Roark Centennial Professor, Section of Integrative Biology
University of Texas, Austin
Video presentation
Undescribed species of salamander endemic to Austin, Texas aquifer.
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