Molly Schumer

Last updated
Molly Schumer
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Reed College
Princeton University
Known for Biological hybrids
Awards2019 Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator, Genetics Society of America

2018 Rising Star in Evolutionary Biology, Atwood Colloquium

2017 Women in Science Fellow,

Contents

L'Oréal USA
Scientific career
Fields Ecology, Evolution
Website https://schumerlab.com/

Molly Schumer is an American scientist who studies evolution, hybridization, and population genetics. She is an assistant professor of biology at Stanford University. [1] She is a member of Stanford Bio-X and a Hannah H. Grey Fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. [2] [3]

Education

Schumer completed her Bachelor of Arts in 2009 at Reed College, earning Phi Beta Kappa. [4] [5] She went on to pursue her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University (jointly supervised by Peter Andolfatto and Gil Rosenthal), finishing in February 2016. [6] [7]

After her PhD, Schumer worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University with Molly Przeworski before joining the Harvard Society of Fellows in July 2016, where she worked in the lab of David Reich. [8] [7] She became a Hanna H. Grey Fellow at HHMI in 2017, and was hired for her current assistant professorship at Stanford University in 2019. [3]

Research

Schumer's lab investigates biological hybrids and population genetics. Model organisms used in the lab are primarily fish and include the Gila topminnow, Xiphophorus (swordtail), and Julidochromis . [9]

Key Publications

Schumer has authored or co-authored multiple publications that have been cited 100 or more times. [10] As of January 2021, these include:

Awards, fellowships, and grants

Schumer won a 2019 Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator award from the Genetics Society of America and was named the 2018 Rising Star in Evolutionary Biology by the Atwood colloquium. [16] [17] She has received many other awards and honors, including:

Related Research Articles

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Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species. The biologist Orator F. Cook coined the term in 1906 for cladogenesis, the splitting of lineages, as opposed to anagenesis, phyletic evolution within lineages. Charles Darwin was the first to describe the role of natural selection in speciation in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species. He also identified sexual selection as a likely mechanism, but found it problematic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodosius Dobzhansky</span> Russian-American geneticist and evolutionary biologist (1900–1975)

Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky was a prominent Ukrainian and American geneticist and evolutionary biologist. He was a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the modern synthesis. Born in the Russian Empire, Dobzhansky emigrated to the United States in 1927, aged 27.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern synthesis (20th century)</span> Fusion of natural selection with Mendelian inheritance

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolutionary biology</span> Study of the processes that produced the diversity of life

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<i>Xiphophorus</i> Genus of fishes

Xiphophorus is a genus of euryhaline and freshwater fishes in the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes, native to Mexico and northern Central America. The many Xiphophorus species are all known as platyfish and swordtails. Platyfish formerly were classified in another genus, Platypoecilia, which is now obsolete. The type species is X. hellerii, the green swordtail. Like most other new world Poeciliids, platies and swordtails are live-bearers that use internal fertilization and give birth to live young instead of laying eggs like the bulk of the world's fishes. The name Xiphophorus derives from the Greek words ξίφος (dagger) and φόρος (bearer), referring to the gonopodium on the males. All are relatively small fishes, which reach a maximum length of 3.5–16 cm (1.4–6.3 in) depending on the exact species involved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution</span> 1973 essay by Theodosius Dobzhansky

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Genetics and the Origin of Species is a 1937 book by the Ukrainian-American evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky. It is regarded as one of the most important works of modern synthesis and was one of the earliest. The book popularized the work of population genetics to other biologists and influenced their appreciation for the genetic basis of evolution. In his book, Dobzhansky applied the theoretical work of Sewall Wright (1889–1988) to the study of natural populations, allowing him to address evolutionary problems in a novel way during his time. Dobzhansky implements theories of mutation, natural selection, and speciation throughout his book to explain the habits of populations and the resulting effects on their genetic behavior. The book explains evolution in depth as a process over time that accounts for the diversity of all life on Earth. The study of evolution was present, but greatly neglected at the time. Dobzhansky illustrates that evolution regarding the origin and nature of species during this time in history was deemed mysterious, but had expanding potential for progress to be made in its field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hybrid speciation</span> Form of speciation involving hybridization between two different species

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bateson–Dobzhansky–Muller model</span> Model of the evolution of genetic incompatibility

The Bateson–Dobzhansky–Muller model, also known as Dobzhansky–Muller model, is a model of the evolution of genetic incompatibility, important in understanding the evolution of reproductive isolation during speciation and the role of natural selection in bringing it about. The theory was first described by William Bateson in 1909, then independently described by Theodosius Dobzhansky in 1934, and later elaborated in different forms by Herman Muller, H. Allen Orr and Sergey Gavrilets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reinforcement (speciation)</span> Process of increasing reproductive isolation

Reinforcement is a process of speciation where natural selection increases the reproductive isolation between two populations of species. This occurs as a result of selection acting against the production of hybrid individuals of low fitness. The idea was originally developed by Alfred Russel Wallace and is sometimes referred to as the Wallace effect. The modern concept of reinforcement originates from Theodosius Dobzhansky. He envisioned a species separated allopatrically, where during secondary contact the two populations mate, producing hybrids with lower fitness. Natural selection results from the hybrid's inability to produce viable offspring; thus members of one species who do not mate with members of the other have greater reproductive success. This favors the evolution of greater prezygotic isolation. Reinforcement is one of the few cases in which selection can favor an increase in prezygotic isolation, influencing the process of speciation directly. This aspect has been particularly appealing among evolutionary biologists.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of speciation</span> Aspect of history

The scientific study of speciation — how species evolve to become new species — began around the time of Charles Darwin in the middle of the 19th century. Many naturalists at the time recognized the relationship between biogeography and the evolution of species. The 20th century saw the growth of the field of speciation, with major contributors such as Ernst Mayr researching and documenting species' geographic patterns and relationships. The field grew in prominence with the modern evolutionary synthesis in the early part of that century. Since then, research on speciation has expanded immensely.

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Hybrid incompatibility is a phenomenon in plants and animals, wherein offspring produced by the mating of two different species or populations have reduced viability and/or are less able to reproduce. Examples of hybrids include mules and ligers from the animal world, and subspecies of the Asian rice crop Oryza sativa from the plant world. Multiple models have been developed to explain this phenomenon. Recent research suggests that the source of this incompatibility is largely genetic, as combinations of genes and alleles prove lethal to the hybrid organism. Incompatibility is not solely influenced by genetics, however, and can be affected by environmental factors such as temperature. The genetic underpinnings of hybrid incompatibility may provide insight into factors responsible for evolutionary divergence between species.

Eukaryote hybrid genomes result from interspecific hybridization, where closely related species mate and produce offspring with admixed genomes. The advent of large-scale genomic sequencing has shown that hybridization is common, and that it may represent an important source of novel variation. Although most interspecific hybrids are sterile or less fit than their parents, some may survive and reproduce, enabling the transfer of adaptive variants across the species boundary, and even result in the formation of novel evolutionary lineages. There are two main variants of hybrid species genomes: allopolyploid, which have one full chromosome set from each parent species, and homoploid, which are a mosaic of the parent species genomes with no increase in chromosome number.

References

  1. ↑ "Molly Schumer's Profile | Stanford Profiles". profiles.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  2. ↑ University, © Stanford; Stanford; California 94305 (2019-09-10). "Molly Schumer - Assistant Professor of Biology". Welcome to Bio-X. Retrieved 2021-01-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 "HHMI Selects 15 Hanna Gray Fellows to Support Diversity in Science". HHMI.org. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  4. ↑ "REED COLLEGE Renn lab members". www.reed.edu. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  5. ↑ alan. "Alumni News from Reed Magazine, June '11 | Chemistry News" . Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  6. ↑ ORCID. "Molly Schumer (0000-0002-2075-5668)". orcid.org. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  7. 1 2 "Hybrids, Hybrids Everywhere". hms.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  8. 1 2 "Dobzhansky Prize". www.evolutionsociety.org. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  9. ↑ "Publications". Schumer lab. 2018-01-12. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  10. ↑ "Molly Schumer". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  11. ↑ Schumer, Molly; Rosenthal, Gil G.; Andolfatto, Peter (2014-04-13). "How Common is Homoploid Hybrid Speciation?". Evolution. 68 (6): 1553–1560. doi:10.1111/evo.12399. ISSN   0014-3820. PMID   24620775.
  12. ↑ Zhen, Y.; Aardema, M. L.; Medina, E. M.; Schumer, M.; Andolfatto, P. (2012-09-28). "Parallel Molecular Evolution in an Herbivore Community". Science. 337 (6102): 1634–1637. doi:10.1126/science.1226630. ISSN   0036-8075. PMC   3770729 . PMID   23019645.
  13. ↑ Cui, Rongfeng; Schumer, Molly; Kruesi, Karla; Walter, Ronald; Andolfatto, Peter; Rosenthal, Gil G. (2013-04-04). "Phylogenomics Reveals Extensive Reticulate Evolution Inxiphophorusfishes". Evolution. 67 (8): 2166–2179. doi:10.1111/evo.12099. ISSN   0014-3820. PMID   23888843.
  14. ↑ Schumer, Molly; Xu, Chenling; Powell, Daniel L.; Durvasula, Arun; Skov, Laurits; Holland, Chris; Sankararaman, Sriram; Andolfatto, Peter; Rosenthal, Gil G. (2017-11-01). "Natural selection interacts with the local recombination rate to shape the evolution of hybrid genomes". doi:10.1101/212407. S2CID   89742595 . Retrieved 2021-01-24.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ↑ Spengler, Mary L.; Kuropatwinski, Karen K.; Schumer, Molly; Antoch, Marina (2009-12-15). "A serine cluster mediates BMAL1-dependent CLOCK phosphorylation and degradation". Cell Cycle. 8 (24): 4138–4146. doi: 10.4161/cc.8.24.10273 . ISSN   1538-4101. PMC   4073639 . PMID   19946213.
  16. ↑ "2019 Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator Award Winners Announced". Genes to Genomes. 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  17. ↑ "EEB Annual Atwood Colloquium". Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  18. ↑ Schumer, Molly; Rosenthal, Gil G.; Andolfatto, Peter (April 2018). "What do we mean when we talk about hybrid speciation?". Heredity. 120 (4): 379–382. doi:10.1038/s41437-017-0036-z. ISSN   0018-067X. PMC   5842215 . PMID   29302049.
  19. ↑ "Awards & Recognition: November 2017". hms.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  20. ↑ "Five Female Biologists, Engineers and Physicists Receive L'Oréal Fellowships | American Association for the Advancement of Science". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  21. ↑ "Four Graduate Students Receive PEI Walbridge Fund Awards". High Meadows Environmental Institute. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  22. ↑ "2007 Scholars List | Barry Goldwater". goldwater.scholarsapply.org. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
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