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Molecular mechanisms of evolution
Biology is built by evolution. As a way of making things, this is quite distinct from rational, human engineering. We work on the nuts and bolts of evolution: that is, to understand how the abstract notions of heritable variation and natural selection emerge from real physical and chemical mechanisms. Particular topics include the evolution of mutation rates in DNA polymerases, the mutational flexibility of binding specificity, and the evolvability of the genetic code. We combine theory (statistical physics, population genetics) with bench work (experimental evolution, molecular biology), with a keen interest in using theory to drive assay design and data analysis.