In this symposium, speakers will explore the ecology, evolution, and molecular biology of natural drive systems from theoretical and empirical perspectives. Natural selection is largely a numbers game, and diverse genetic elements have evolved to gain greater-than-random transmission via mechanisms other than (and potentially detrimental to) individual fitness. Selfish genetic elements, along with the selection they exert through individual costs and resulting compensatory/suppressor evolution, contribute to population fitness and phenotypic variation, promote species barriers and diversification, and shape the deep evolution of genome architecture and cellular processes. Further, because opportunities for and outcomes of selfish evolution strongly depend on organismal context (e.g., reproductive biology, demography) comparisons among diverse systems illuminate the origins and consequences of organismal complexity. Finally, real-world applications of the biased transmission and fitness effects of selfish genetic elements underline the importance of understanding natural drive and suppression.
Join President Lila Fishman for AGA2022, July 25-28, 2022 at beautiful IslandWood campus on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, Washington (with virtual options for speakers and attendees). The Symposium will include the Key Lecture plus two days of invited talks, panels, and poster sessions on topics spanning the field of genetic conflict and selfish evolution.
AGA Symposia are small meetings that provide excellent opportunities for cross-stage interaction, and the American Genetic Association is committed to supporting early-stage attendees.
Registration cost includes talks, all meals, and events. Early-bird registration for AGA members is $400, $450 for non-members. You can become a member after clicking the Registration button. Guest registration is $300 to cover meals and events. The symposium will open on Mon 25 July with a dinner reception and talk by AGA Key Distinguished Lecturer David Haig, followed by two full days of talks, a poster session, and an evening bonfire session. We'll depart on Thu morning following breakfast.
Any registrant may submit a poster abstract.
Islandwood is a non-profit environmental education organization. In addition to offering school and community programs, it provides a welcoming space for conferences and special events at its 250-acre campus. There are meadows, forests, and ponds, nature walks and outdoor activities, delicious and plentiful shared meals, and spacious light-filled meeting rooms and sleeping lodges. We will have the whole campus to enjoy for our symposium registrants and their guests.
