"Although many of the scientists currently involved in this integrative approach are united by their common interest in human evolution, I've realized over the last few years that many of us sometimes seem to speak different languages," she said.
"We often think about genetics and evolution from very different perspectives," Hlusko continued. "These conceptual divides lead to a bit of isolation and separation, and are actually holding back progress in both research and training. This symposium will give us an opportunity to come together and talk across our differences."
The true advancement in the understanding of human evolution will come primarily from two sources, Hlusko said: recovery of new fossils (fieldwork); and the integration between genetics, development and paleontology.
Speakers in the symposium who discussed their current research, in addition to Hlusko, a paleontologist incorporating quantitative genetic approaches, were Alan Walker of Pennsylvania State University, a primate paleontologist who discussed efforts to understand contradictory paleontological and genetic phylogenies; Chi-hua Chiu of Rutgers University, who gave a developmental genetics perspective on human evolution; and Hendrik Poinar of McMaster University in Canada, who studies the molecular components extracted from ancient fossils (ancient DNA).
Speaking in more general terms about the current state of integrated hominid paleontological/genetics research and where it may be headed were Kenneth M. Weiss of Pennsylvania State University, a developmental geneticist, and Raff, the author of the 1996 book "The Shape of Life: Genes, Development and the Evolution of Animal Form" and founder of "EvoDevo" (evolutionary-developmental biology).
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Contact: Jim Barlow, Life Sciences Editor
jebarlow@staff.uiuc.edu
217-333-5802
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
15-Feb-2004