Conferences on Evolution and Sex

The annual meetings of the SSE are always good fun. The Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) usually organises them at some US campus and this year it will be at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (registration deadlines are approaching fast: 10th April for presentations, 2nd May for early birds, see here).

The SSE conferences are always very broad and cover almost every aspect of research in evolution. However, this year's conference seems to have a special emphasis: Sex and recombination. These two topics are of paramount importance for evolutionary theory, not only because recombination is a fundamental factor of evolution, but also because organisms spend so much energy and time to find the right mates. A large amount of interesting theoretical work revolves around these issues, and Muller's ratchet (the topic of the evolution@home Simulator005) is just one of them.

The sequence of events kicks of with an independent workshop on "Sex and recombination: in theory and in practice" (16-19 June 2008, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA). Then the Evolution 2008 conference itself follows with two symposia and a plenary lecture on the topic, both with a stellar cast of speakers:

• Symposium: "The Evolution of Sex: Recent Resolutions and Remaining Riddles"
• Symposium: "The Evolution of Recombination Rates:  From Hotspots to Whole Genomes"
• Public Lecture, "The Art of Seduction:  Evolution, Sex. and the Public",  Dr. Olivia Judson, also known for her popular science explanations of the sex life of birds and bees and other interesting creatures (See Dr. Tatjana).