300155 VO Introduction in the Evolutionary Systems Biology (2013S)

How does the interplay of random mutation and selection produce a vertebrate eye? What enables complex adaptation? The explanation of evolutionary change by random mutation, selection and drift can easily appear insufficient to explain the complexity of living organisms. Evolutionary biologists have proposed theoretical solutions to this question; properties that make some outcomes more likely than others. For the first-time, recent technological advances allow us to rigorously test these proposed systemic properties, their effects on evolution, and how they themselves evolve.
We will explore the basic concepts such as genotype-phenotype maps, constraints, modularity, phenotypic integration, robustness, evolvability, etc. in the light of newly acquired insights from “big data”.