Research

I'm a Biologist interested in Molecular Evolution. My work deals mostly with the emergence of molecular innovation, and in particular how completely new genes (de novo genes; overprinted genes) appear in nature.

Is it a continuous process, or does it happen in specific moments of history?
Where do new genes come from? What is the raw material for new genes?
What is the phenotypic impact of new genes?
How can a completely new gene become fixed in a population?

The idea of a life cycle of genes illustrates how non-genic sequences can give rise to innovation in the form of new genes, but it also helps explain how genes appear and dissappear from genomes in a dynamic way. Neme & Tautz, 2014. Curr. Biol.

A second part of my work deals with the distribution of biochemical activities along the biological sequence space. For example, if we could sample random sequences and test them experimentally, how often would we find bioactive sequences?

I'm currently a Postdoctoral Researcher working at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in the Department of Evolutionary Genetics with Diethard Tautz. Since May 2016 I will move to Columbia University Medical Center, to work at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics with Laura Landweber.