The Impact of Retrotransposons on Human Genome Evolution

Mark Batzer was part of the international consortium of scientists who recently decoded the orangutan genome. His research focuses on understanding the genetic diversity of humans, in particular the study of mobile DNA elements. The inclusion or omission of these "jumping genes" can lead to genetic diseases in humans as well as the creation of new genes and gene families in the genome. Batzer is the System Boyd Professor and Dr. Mary Lou Applewhite Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Louisiana State University. He earned a PhD in genetics and zoology at LSU and completed his postdoctoral education at the Human Genome Center at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he subsequently worked as a biomedical scientist. Sigma Xi Lecture.