Dr. Joshua Rest
“Survival and evolution in a changing world: lessons from genomes, transcripts, and proteins”
How do organisms survive in a changing world? This is a fundamental question in biology that has been difficult to answer. Dr. Rest will discuss research about how genes, proteins, and cellular circuits evolve to enable survival, using examples from yeast and plants. His lab’s research is uncovering the dramatic variation in the strategies cells use to survive, including gene thievery and altruism, and revealing that many of their cellular circuits are tuned to respond to changing environments.
Joshua Rest is an associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University. Rest studies variation in how much of a gene is expressed in different cells and variation in which nutrients cells can use, and how this variation affects the growth and reproduction of organisms and the evolution of their genomes. Rest was trained at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago. His research is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
The University Libraries STEM Speakers Series promotes student learning and awareness of STEM research across the campus through a series of lectures by the Stony Brook University scholars. Faculty members are invited to present their cutting-edge research to a broad constituency including students, faculty/staff, and the general public in an interesting and informative manner.