Date:
Location:
Molly F. Przeworski
Alan H. Kempner Professor of Biological Sciences and Systems Biology
Columbia University
Why do human germline mutation rates depend on sex and age?
Abstract: Germline mutation is the source of all heritable differences and therefore of fundamental importance. In mammals, it has long been appreciated that mutation rates are higher in fathers, particularly older fathers. The textbook view has long been that these patterns reflect replication errors that accrue during spermatogenesis. Dr. Przeworski will present multiple lines of evidence that call this view into question. She will argue instead that current data are best explained by a much larger role of DNA damage in the genesis of germline mutations than previously appreciated, and draw implications for why mutation rates depend on sex and age and how they evolve over time.
Co-sponsored by The Departments of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Organismic and Evolutionary Biology