On February 19, 2009 Fred Nijhout will be leading a discussion on How do we Deduce Phenotype from Genotype?

Location: 4219 French Family Science Center

Time: 1:00 – 2:00 pm

Abstract: The relationship between genes and the higher-level properties of living things is indirect and complex. A mechanistic understanding of how genes map to traits is complicated by the fact that the generative networks that produce phenotypes are diverse, heterogeneous, and non-linear. We will discuss some unsuccessful approaches and unhelpful shortcuts (in the words of Szent-Georgyi: “For every complex problem there is a simple, easy to understand, wrong answer”). Hopefully we’ll also explore some new ways of tackling the problem.