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    Started by Yoav Ram October 31st, 2011

    The Evolution of Stress-Induced Hypermutation

The Evolution of Stress-Induced Hypermutation

A narrated video clip about my research

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Science

The Evolution of Stress-Induced Hypermutation

IMPORTANT UPDATE: I have been informed by the meeting organizers that they will waive the registration and accomodation fees to help me attend the meeting! Therefore the campaign goal is reduced by $400 (~£250).

למידע בעברית לחצו על הלינקים ואח"כ חזרו כדי לשתף ולהשתתף

מדע אחר

גל"צ

הידען

Mutations are of huge importance to evolution, the raw material on which natural selection works. Yet, most mutations are harmful and only a very small fraction is beneficial. This led to the general belief that organisms should try to avoid mutations at all cost - enhanced by the discoveries of DNA repair mechanisms.

This view of mutation as an inevitable mistake is challenged by recent discoveries that many species of bacteria produce more mutations when they are facing stress such as starvation, antibiotics, and heat. But still, many biologists believe that stressed bacteria produce more mutations simply because they cannot avoid it - don't we all make mistakes when we are under stress?

My research, which uses mathematical models and simulations, shows that this is not true. I discovered that bacteria actually benefit from having more mutations when stressed, because this allows them to acquire beneficial mutations more rapidly and escape the stress - effectively accelerating their evolution!

My findings have huge implications! We stress bacteria all the time with antibiotics, and still, the bacteria manage to develop resistance to anything we throw at them in no time. Our current understanding of bacterial drug-resistance doesn't take these results into account. This means that we still have a lot to learn about the evolution of drug-resistance in bacteria, and the same is true for other problems in biology. For example, human cancer cells behave in a similar way to bacteria, so these findings might have implications on the study of human cancer.

I need your help!

I need to get word of my research out to other evolutionary biologists. My findings can change how we understand evolution, so it's important that I talk to other scientists in my field about these ideas. This coming January, the 45th Population Genetics Group meeting will be held in Nottingham, UK. This is a great venue to present my results - the meeting brings together 200 scientists working in all areas of evolutionary biology in an informal environment which encourages contributions from early career scientists. 

You can play a part in helping me change the way we think about mutations and evolution by helping me get to this conference. Your contribution will go towards funding registration fees, flight fare, and travel expenses. And you will recieve a personal reward: see the list on the right.

Click on the big red button on the right to make your contribution!

This project is part of the "SciFund Challenge" which aims to introduce a new interface between scientists and the public, allowing folks to fund the science they like and scientists to directly engage with the people - crowdfunding science!

RocketHub is not an investment or charity. It is an exchange: funds from fans for rewards from me.

It's an All & More funding mechanism: if I don't reach my financial goal I get to keep what I raise. But if I do reach my goal, I get access to exciting opportunities.

Follow on twitter for updates!