The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology embraces education and research on all aspects of biodiversity, including the history of life on earth, the evolutionary mechanisms that generate diversity, the ecological context in which all life has evolved, and the consequences of interactions among organisms, including humans. Faculty expertise ranges from bacteria to mastodons, from the tropics to the tundra, from the theoretical to the practical.

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Featured research

PNAS cover by Ben-Yang Liao

Mouse can do without man's
most treasured genes

The mouse is a stalwart stand-in for humans in medical research, thanks to genomes that are 85 percent identical. But identical genes may behave differently in mouse and man, a study by graduate student Ben-Yang Liao and Professor Jianzhi “George” Zhang reveals.

Their results, which have implications for the use of mouse models in studying human disease, appear in the current issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"Everyone assumes that deletion of the same gene in the mouse and in humans produces the same phenotype (an observable trait such as presence or absence of a particular disease). That's the basis of using the mouse to study human disease," said Zhang, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. "Our results show that may not always be the case."

U-M News Service press release

Image by Ben-Yang Liao


News

Events

  • Come to his defense

    10 a.m., Monday, 5/19. Ben-Yang Liao presents "Expression evolution of mammalian genes.” Rackham West Conference Room.


  • Photo Video ContestEEB student and faculty photo and video contest
    Submit photos and videos of yourselves engaging in research. (more)


  • Admini golf photos
    EEB staff celebrated Administrative Professionals Day with a mini golf course through their offices. (see photos)

  • The EEB Fall Weekend: Meet, mingle, and explore!

    The 22nd annual EEB Fall Weekend (formerly known as the Retreat) will be held at the U-M Biological Station from Friday evening, Sept. 5, to Sunday, Sept. 7 at noon, (the first weekend after classes start). Mark your calendars. More information to come in late August. We hope to see you there!


  • Tuesday lunch seminars
  • TROPIBIO seminars
  • Thursday seminar series
    All resume fall term

  • Early Career Scientists Symposium 2009
    The topic for the next ECSS will be Conflicts in Ecology and Evolution. It will be held in March 2009.


 

 

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