Robustness and Fragility

Robustness is a fundamental property of many biological systems. Organisms have evolved to be able to persist and even thrive in the face of various environmental and genetic perturbations. However, it is often the case that selection for the enhancement of one property entails trade offs in other properties.

In collaboration with Arthur Lander and his colleagues at UC Irvine, I am working to understand the consequences of selection for robustness (e.g., through the imposition of environmental noise), and how this may have shaped the genetic structure underlying complex traits and complex disease.

Science, Poetry, and Current Events, where "Current" and "Events" are Broadly Construed