The Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences address scientific topics of broad and current interest, cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. Each year, four or five such colloquia are scheduled, typically two days in length and international in scope. Colloquia are organized by a member of the Academy, often with the assistance of an organizing committee, and feature presentations by leading scientists in the field and discussions with a hundred or more researchers with an interest in the topic. Colloquia presentations are recorded and posted on the National Academy of Sciences Sackler colloquia website and published on CD-ROM. These Colloquia are made possible by a generous gift from Mrs. Jill Sackler, in memory of her husband, Arthur M. Sackler.

Researchers in the field of ecological genomics aim to determine how a genome or a population of genomes interacts with its environment across ecological and evolutionary timescales. Ecological genomics is trans-disciplinary by nature. Ecologists have turned to genomics to be able to elucidate the mechanistic bases of the biodiversity their research tries to understand. Genomicists have turned to ecology in order to better explain the functional cellular and molecular variation they observed in their model organisms. We provide an advanced-level book that covers this recent research and proposes future development for this field. A synthesis of the field of ecological genomics emerges from this volume. Ecological Genomics covers a wide array of organisms (microbes, plants and animals) in order to be able to identify central concepts that motivate and derive from recent investigations in different branches of the tree of life. Ecological Genomics covers 3 fields of research that have most benefited from the recent technological and conceptual developments in the field of ecological genomics: the study of life-history evolution and its impact of genome architectures; the study of the genomic bases of phenotypic plasticity and the study of the genomic bases of adaptation and speciation.

A transgenic organism is a plant, animal, bacterium, or other living organism that has had a foreign gene added to it by means of genetic engineering. Transgenic plants can arise by natural movement of genes between species, by cross-pollination based hybridization between different plant species (which is a common event in flowering plant evolution), or by laboratory manipulations by artificial insertion of genes from another species. Methods used in traditional breeding that generate transgenic plants by non-recombinant methods are widely familiar to professional plant scientists, and serve important roles in securing a sustainable future for agriculture by protecting crops from pest and helping land and water to be used more efficiently.There is worldwide interest in the biosafety issues related to transgenic crops because of issues such as increased pesticide use, increased crop and weed resistance to pesticides, gene flow to related plant species, negative effects on nontarget organisms, and reduced crop and ecosystem diversity. This book is intended to provide the basic information for a wide range of people involved in the release of transgenic crops. These will include scientists and researchers in the initial stage of developing transgenic products, industrialists, and decision makers. It will be of particular interest to plant scientists taking up biotechnological approaches to agricultural improvement for developing nations. - Discusses traditional and future technology for genetic modification - Compares conventional non-GM approaches and genetic modification - Presents a risk assessment methodology for GM techniques - Details mitigation techniques for human and environmental effects

LANDSCAPE GENETICS: CONCEPTS, METHODS, APPLICATIONS LANDSCAPE GENETICS: CONCEPTS, METHODS, APPLICATIONS Edited by Niko Balkenhol, Samuel A. Cushman, Andrew T. Storfer, Lisette P. Waits Landscape genetics is an exciting and rapidly growing field, melding methods and theory from landscape ecology and population genetics to address some of the most challenging and urgent ecological and evolutionary topics of our time. Landscape genetic approaches now enable researchers to study in detail how environmental complexity in space and time affect gene flow, genetic drift, and local adaptation. However, learning about the concepts and methods underlying the field remains challenging due to the highly interdisciplinary nature of the field, which relies on topics that have traditionally been treated separately in classes and textbooks. In this edited volume, some of the leading experts in landscape genetics provide the first comprehensive introduction to underlying concepts, commonly used methods, and current and future applications of landscape genetics. Consistent with the interdisciplinary nature of the field, the book includes textbook-like chapters that synthesize fundamental concepts and methods underlying landscape genetics (Part 1), chapters on advanced topics that deserve a more in-depth treatment (Part 2), and chapters illustrating the use of concepts and methods in empirical applications (Part 3). Aimed at beginning landscape geneticists and experienced researchers alike, this book will be helpful for all scientists and practitioners interested in learning, teaching, and applying landscape genetics.

Recently, technological progress and the rise of DNA barcoding efforts have led to a significant increase in the availability of molecular datasets on intraspecific variability. Carcinologists and other organismal biologists, who want to use molecular tools to investigate patterns on the scale of populations, face a bewildering variety of genetic m

This book focuses on the use of molecular tools to study small populations of rare and endangered mammals, and presents case studies that apply an evolutionary framework to address innovative questions in the emerging field of mammalian conservation genomics using a highly diverse set of novel molecular tools. Novel and more precise molecular technologies now allow experts in the field of mammology to interpret data in a more contextual and empirical fashion and to better describe the evolutionary and ecological processes that are responsible for the patterns they observe. The book also demonstrates how recent advances in genetic/genomic technologies have been applied to assess the impact of environmental/anthropogenic changes on the health of small populations of mammals. It examines a range of issues in the field of mammalian conservation genomics, such as the role that the genetic diversity of the immune system plays in disease protection and local adaptation; the use of noninvasive techniques and genomic banks as a resource for monitoring and restoring populations; the structuring of population by physical barriers; and genetic diversity. Further, by integrating research from a variety of areas – including population genetics, molecular ecology, systematics, and evolutionary and conservation biology – it enables readers to gain a deeper understanding of the conservation biology of mammals that are at increasing risk of extinction at local, regional and global scales. As such, it offers a unique resource for a broad readership interested in the conservation biology of mammals and conservation management strategies to better preserve biodiversity.