Welcome!
The Whiteman Laboratory is within the Department of Integrative Biology and Center for Computational Biology at the University of California, Berkeley and is affiliated with the Essig Museum of Entomology, the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and University and Jepson Herbaria.
Our research follows from Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace, who largely focused on the evolution of new traits shaped by ecological interactions between species. Such interactions are an evolutionary crucible that can lead to stunning new adaptations that increase the performance (and ultimately fitness) of their bearers. These include inter-specific competition, host-parasite, predator-prey and mutualistic interactions. Although a simplification, traits arising from these interactions are often straightforward to study because their genomic architectures tend to be simpler, and their evolutionary histories more dynamic, than those shaped by the abiotic environment. Such interactions also actually drive the evolution of reproductive isolation, resulting in the origin of new species.
On the one hand, adaptive evolution that results from directional natural selection (when a trait value in a population is pushed upwards or downwards) is a force that often erodes genetic variation associated with variation in a particular trait. On the other hand, alternative alleles may persist within populations through balancing natural selection that acts across spatially varying and temporally fluctuating environments to maintain genetic variation associated with variation in a trait. Hybridization between species can also introduce novel and divergent genes that result in the origin of new traits as well.
We use interdisciplinary approaches to study: (1) how and why new adaptations arising through ecological interactions evolve, and (2) how and why genetic variation is maintained by natural selection in species. We study a variety of taxa and integrate across levels of biological organization using techniques from behavior, biochemistry, chemical ecology, comparative anatomy/morphology /physiology, computational biology, evo-devo, genetics, genomics, molecular and cellular biology (including CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing), phylogeny and neuroscience.
Our research follows from Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace, who largely focused on the evolution of new traits shaped by ecological interactions between species. Such interactions are an evolutionary crucible that can lead to stunning new adaptations that increase the performance (and ultimately fitness) of their bearers. These include inter-specific competition, host-parasite, predator-prey and mutualistic interactions. Although a simplification, traits arising from these interactions are often straightforward to study because their genomic architectures tend to be simpler, and their evolutionary histories more dynamic, than those shaped by the abiotic environment. Such interactions also actually drive the evolution of reproductive isolation, resulting in the origin of new species.
On the one hand, adaptive evolution that results from directional natural selection (when a trait value in a population is pushed upwards or downwards) is a force that often erodes genetic variation associated with variation in a particular trait. On the other hand, alternative alleles may persist within populations through balancing natural selection that acts across spatially varying and temporally fluctuating environments to maintain genetic variation associated with variation in a trait. Hybridization between species can also introduce novel and divergent genes that result in the origin of new traits as well.
We use interdisciplinary approaches to study: (1) how and why new adaptations arising through ecological interactions evolve, and (2) how and why genetic variation is maintained by natural selection in species. We study a variety of taxa and integrate across levels of biological organization using techniques from behavior, biochemistry, chemical ecology, comparative anatomy/morphology /physiology, computational biology, evo-devo, genetics, genomics, molecular and cellular biology (including CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing), phylogeny and neuroscience.