BME 280B Seminar: The evolution of structural variation across vertebrate genomes

Presenter: Peter Sudmant, Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley

Description: Structural variants (SVs) contribute substantially to genetic variation and play vital roles in adaptation and disease. However, SVs are poorly captured by short read sequencing and thus are understudied, particularly in non-model organisms. Here, taking advantage of recently generated haplotype-resolved genome assemblies from >600 vertebrate species, we present the most comprehensive survey of the diversity of SVs and single nucleotide variants (SNVs) across the vertebrate tree of life to date.

Bio: Peter Sudmant is an Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California Berkeley. Prior to joining UC Berkeley, Dr Sudmant completed his PhD at the University of Washington in the Lab of Dr Evan Eichler as HHMI International Fellow. Dr Sudmant went on to complete a postdoc with Christopher Burge at MIT as a Genentech fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation. Dr Sudmant is a recipient of the American Foundation for Aging Research Junior Faculty Award and a Hellman Fellow.

Hosted by: Professor Russ Corbett-Detig, BME Department