Microarray showing a snapshot of active genes in spleen cells in four different House Finches
(Carpodacus
mexicanus) with
variable plumage. Photo:
Camille Bonneaud
MCZ Initiatives
Assembling the Tree of Life
Several research projects are sponsored by Assembling the Tree of Life (AToL), a U.S. National Science Foundation program that seeks to reconstruct the evolutionary origins of all living things by demonstrating their genealogical relationships.
AToL provides a framework for increasing knowledge of phylogenetic connections among organisms. This provides significant benefits to human health, agricultural and forestry issues, and management of natural resources, while also advancing the fundamental goals of comparative biology.
The following AToL projects are active in the MCZ at this time:
- BivAToL -- Assembling the Bivalve Tree of Life
- Assembling the Protostome Tree of Life
- Assembling the Beetle Tree of Life
- AmphibiaTree -- An Integrated Phylogenetic and Bioinformatics Approach to the Tree of Amphibians
