NYU will host Biologist Eugene Koonin for its annual Darwin Lecture, “Unbeknownst to Darwin: The Key Role of Viruses in the Evolution of Life,” on Friday, Feb. 13, 4 p.m. at the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology.

Noted genomicist and author of “The Logic of Chance” (2011), Koonin is senior investigator at the National Center for Biotechnology Information, part of the National Institutes of Health. He and his colleagues employ cutting-edge computational biology methods to explore a range of areas in the field: the origin and evolution of viruses; the prediction of gene functions; and the classification and evolutionary analysis of protein domains and domain architectures, among other endeavors.

The lecture, hosted by NYU’s Department of Biology and co-sponsored with the university’s Dean for Science, is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, email biology@nyu.edu or call 212.998.8209. Reporters interested in attending must RSVP to James Devitt, NYU’s Office of Public Affairs, at 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu. Subways: N/R [8th St.], 6 [Astor Pl.])

EDITOR’S NOTE:
New York University’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology
The 14 faculty at NYU’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology are integrating vast amounts of genomic data into systems and networks to predictively model the regulatory mechanisms controlling life, at the level of single cells, tissues, and across the six kingdoms of life. These studies, which span the genomes of a range of model organisms from bacteria to animals and plants, have implications for human health and agriculture. Potential applications include the development of new diagnostics for in vitro fertilization, treatment of disease states such as malaria, and alterations of organisms for practical gain, such as biofuels or nitrogen-use efficiency. The research involves the combined skills of genomicists, bioinformaticians, systematists, and evolutionary biologists all working together in signature open plan “loft” laboratories in a new 70,000-square- foot, state-of-the-art Genome Center Science building located at the heart of NYU’s Washington Square campus. For more, go to: http://cgsb.as.nyu.edu.
 

Press Contact

James Devitt
James Devitt
(212) 998-6808