Dynamic evolution of mutation rates: causes and impacts on genomic analysis

This project looks into the engine room of evolution, comparing genomes of different species to illuminate the role of mutation in generating change. Expected outcomes include more reliable genomic analyses to keep us safe from diseases, protect the environment, optimise crops and understand our history. Australia will benefit from this improved understanding of mutation because it will help us fine-tune our genomic analyses, making sure they are fit-for-purpose for applications in health, agriculture and biodiversity. We will put Australian biodiversity centre stage, using our world-leading databases on thousands of Australian species to help us understand our own ecosystems, as well as examining global patterns of biodiversity. We can use our results to identify cases where genomic analysis might be misleading, and to rigorously stress-test current methods with realistic patterns of mutation rate variation. This research can be translated into more sophisticated g