Are there Underlying Principles of Protein Evolution? Reconsidering Law and Purpose in Biology

Tue 22 October 2024

Westminster College

On 22nd October at 1pm Dr Zachary Ardern will give a seminar entitled ‘Are there Underlying Principles of Protein Evolution? Reconsidering Law and Purpose in Biology’.

A light sandwich lunch will be provided from 12:30 in the Healey Room, Westminster College, Madingley Road Cambridge.

Abstract: Organisms typically contain thousands of functional protein molecules with diverse and complex evolutionary histories. In recent years we have gained unprecedented knowledge of the structure and evolution of these proteins, particularly with the use of machine learning innovations such as AlphaFold. Through massive databases and rapid search tools we are now starting to get a sense of the overall arrangement of the protein universe, including some potential general principles of gene origin and evolution. The possibility of long-term trends, undergirded by natural laws, is reminiscent of some older “structuralist” views of evolution over against the functionalism and adaptationism of the modern synthesis. Considering both the possibility of long-term trends and the extreme intricacy of protein complexes also helps to resurrect ancient questions about the place of teleology in biology.

Cost: Free