Science

All living beings are connected and share a common ancestor, as conceptualized in the tree of life. Life involves change, comprising such processes as reproduction, variation and inheritance. Reproduction is vital and occurs in various modes, and while sexual reproduction is dominant among them, other types of reproductive modes also evolved and persist. 

LEGE tackles fundamental questions related to the evolution of reproductive modes and seeks to understand what mechanisms underlie adaptability in the absence of sexual reproduction. We employ various tools (fieldwork, animal cytology, molecular biology, comparative genomics and bioinformatics) to study evolutionary processes at the level of populations, both experimental and natural, and genomes in various living systems. 

The model systems currently studied within LEGE are bdelloid rotifers, Corbicula clams, and Acanthamoeba amoeba…, all of which employ two different modes of asexual reproduction.