Jonathan Eisen Bio

Jonathan A. Eisen is an evolutionary biologist and a Professor at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on the mechanisms underlying the origin of novelty (how new processes and functions originate). Most of his work involves the sequencing of the genomes of microorganisms and the development and use of “phylogenomic” methods to analyze the genome data. Previously, he applied this phylogenomic approach to cultured organisms, such as those from extreme environments. Currently he is using phylogenomic methods to study microbes in their natural habitats, including symbionts living inside host cells and planktonic species in the open ocean. Dr. Eisen’s lab is in the U. C. Davis Genome Center and he holds appointments in the Section on Evolution and Ecology and the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. Eisen is also a vocal advocate for “Open Access’” to scientific publications and is the Academic Editor in Chief of PLoS Biology. He is also a active blogger at http://phylogenomics.blogspot.com and a co-author of a new Evolution textbook (http://evolution-textbook.org). Prior to moving to U. C. Davis he worked at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Rockville, MD. He earned his PhD in Biological Sciences from Stanford University where he worked on the evolution of DNA repair processes in the lab of Philip C. Hanawalt and his undergraduate degree in Biology from Harvard College.