BIOENGINEERING SEMINAR , Oct 07, 2016, 12:00PM – 01:00PM, Engineering Room 126
Everything Not Forbidden is Allowed
Aviv Bergman , Department of Systems & Computational Biology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Abstract:
Our long-term goal is a better understanding of the functional properties of genes involved in biological processes that control key aspects of complex traits and developmental processes. We study these properties in their systems biological and evolutionary context, and utilize our findings to better understand the underlying systems level mechanisms of complex traits. In turn, we may be able to develop reliable tools aimed at predicting the behavior of complex traits in response to perturbation. The evolutionary causes and consequences of buffering (and its breakage) will be explored in relation to cancer.
Professor Aviv Bergman is the Founding Chairman of the Department of Systems & Computational Biology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. His research program addresses conceptual aspects of evolution and evolutionary systems biology. Specifically, he focuses on the development of the mathematical language necessary to support precise qualitative phenomenology that can be used to express complex questions arising in evolutionary theory such as the nature and role of multilevel selection, and the evolution of robustness, hierarchy and modularity in biological networks. In 2009 Nature magazine selected one of Aviv’s contributions as one of “15 evolutionary gems” of the decade.