About the Authors

Nicholas H. Barton’s early research was on narrow zones of hybridization that subdivide many populations, with work on a variety of species, including grasshoppers, butterflies, and toads. More recently, his research, which has been mainly theoretical, is attempting to understand the influence of selection on complex traits, models of speciation, the evolution of sex and recombination, and the coalescent process. He is Professor of Evolutionary Genetics at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh.

Derek E.G. Briggs works on preservation and the evolutionary significance of exceptionally preserved fossils, including those of the Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia. His current research focuses on the chemical changes that occur during the transformation from living organism to fossil. He is Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Geology and Geophysics at Yale University and Director of the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies.

Jonathan A. Eisen uses a combination of genomic sequencing and evolutionary reconstruction methods to study the origin of novelty in microorganisms. Previously, he applied this phylogenomic approach to cultured organisms, such as those from extreme environments. Currently he is using phylogenomic methods to study microbes in their natural habitats, including symbionts living inside host cells and planktonic species in the open ocean. He is Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and the Department of Evolution and Ecology at the University of California, Davis.

David B. Goldstein’s principal interests include human genetic diversity, the genetics of neurological disease, population genomics, and pharmacogenetics. His laboratory currently investigates how human genetic variation influences the response to drug treatments for common neurological and cardiovascular disorders. He is Director of the Center for Population Genomics and Pharmacogenetics at the Duke University Medical Center.

Nipam H. Patel initially studied the development of several model and nonmodel species, including cows, chickens, grasshoppers, and Drosophila melanogaster. His research group studies the evolution of development, with a focus on the evolution of segmentation, neurogenesis, appendage patterning, and gene regulation. He is Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.