The paper can be found here: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14963.html
Read MoreThe paper can be found here: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14963.html
Read MoreShort interview with Bill Martin about the manuscript in Nature that deals with the different kinds of gene transfer that we typically see in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
Read MoreNature have just published a full article concerning an analysis of horizontal (or lateral) gene transfer and how it is different between prokaryotes and eukaryotes [1]. Also, we examined whether eukaryotes experience significant continuous gene gains from prokaryotes over long periods of time, or whether we see evidence for discrete bursts of gene acquisitions. Hint: […]
Read MoreA workshop on the subject of phylogenetic networks was held at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Prof. McInerney spoke at the meeting on the subject of N-rooted fusion graphs, Epaktologs and generally the subject of introgression. The timetable for the meeting was as follows: The Phylogenetic Network Workshop (27 – 31 […]
Read MoreAt a luncheon at the New Orleans Mariott Hotel, Prof McInerney was inducted into the American Academy of Microbiology as a Fellow. In total, 79 fellows were elected this year. According to the academy: The American Academy of Microbiology (Academy) is the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the world’s […]
Read MoreIn late 2014, Prof. McInerney was interviewed for the RTE radio series “Bright Sparks” which sought to highlight the work of a wide variety of Irish scientists. This particular excerpt is from a program that was broadcast on Sunday May 24th, 2015.
Read MoreThere is a post-doc position available in my research group in Ireland. The position is to continue our work on the origins and early evolution of eukaryotes. In this case, we are going to dig into the metabolism of early eukaryotes. We will spend time trying to reconstruct ancestral metabolisms, analysing the origins of eukaryote-specific […]
Read MoreThis scheme is for outstanding scientists in the UK who are in the early stages of their research career and have the potential to become leaders in their field. The scheme provides the opportunity to build an independent research career. Those appointed are expected to be strong candidates for permanent posts in universities at the […]
Read MoreI am actively seeking applicants for the current call for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF). The details of this Programme of research are below. If you have an excellent track-record of consistent publication in peer-reviewed journals, then please get in contact through the contact form of this website. These grants pay incredibly well, will provide you […]
Read MoreCurrent State of Registrations: [wppb progress=100 option=”red candystripe” location=inside] We’re full. What?: Week-long, intensive phylogenetics course covering all aspects of bioinformatics and phylogenetics/phylogenomics. Where?: Department of Biology, National University of Ireland Maynooth. This is approximately 40 minutes from Dublin Airport (Aer Lingus, British Airways, Ryanair, American Airlines, Lufthansa, Air France, etc.) , 25km from the centre […]
Read MoreThe American Academy of Microbiology have elected Prof. McInerney to its membership. According to the American Society for Microbiology, which is the awarding body: Each elected Fellow has built an exemplary career in basic and applied research, teaching, clinical and public health, industry or government service. Election to Fellowship indicates recognition of distinction in microbiology […]
Read MoreProfessor McInerney has been named as one of six researchers shortlisted this year for the Irish Laboratory Awards. The winner will be announced on Wednesday the 3rd of December at an event held in the DoubleTree by Hilton Dublin. The other shortlisted scientists are: Alexander Von Kriegsheim, Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin Lester Ho, […]
Read MoreA recent comment from the lab was published in Nature in the News and Views Section on the evolution of developmental genes in animals. With the sequencing of sponge genomes, if is becoming obvious that the standard view of the evolutionary history of developmental genes is somewhat over-simplified. Sponges have ParaHox, NK and possibly HOX genes, […]
Read MoreAlthough I am the current secretary of the society, I am very much writing this as a personal perspective. I think I saw a lot as one of the co-organisers of SMBE 2012 in Dublin and maybe this will help somebody make up their mind about what is involved. First of all, this whole process […]
Read MoreProf. McInerney – in keeping with the public engagement ethos of the research unit – spoke last night at the Odessa club and restaurant on Dame Court in Dublin as part of a city-wide series of events called the Pint of Science talks. He spoke about horizontal gene transfer and how it seems to have […]
Read MoreProfessor McInerney is to give the plenary lecture at the Sociedad Española de Biología Evolutiva meeting in Barcelona on July 1st. This meeting is the premier evolution meeting in Spain and this year it is being organised by the Societat Catalana de Biologia. You can see more information about this meeting here: http://blogs.iec.cat/scb/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2014/05/XIV-JORNADA-DE-BIOLOGIA-EVOLUTIVA2014.pdf […]
Read MoreSome years ago, it occurred to me and indeed to others that the monophyly of the three groups that constitute the three domains of life might not be as robust as people had said. My PhD thesis was on ribosomal RNA phylogeny of environmental sequences and depending on the dataset I was using, I was […]
Read MoreIn 2009 I got an email from the Beijing Genomic Institute asking me if I would like to become involved in a project they are beginning, where they were going to sequence the genome of a polar bear. They asked me if I was interested in the project and if so, what I might contribute […]
Read MoreCurrent State of Registrations: What?: Week-long, intensive phylogenetics course covering all aspects of modern molecular phylogenetics and phylogenomics. Where?: Department of Biology, National University of Ireland Maynooth. This is approximately 40 minutes from Dublin Airport (Aer Lingus, British Airways, Ryanair, American Airlines, Lufthansa, Air France, etc.) , 25km from the centre of Dublin, Ireland. [symple_googlemap […]
Read MoreProf. McInerney is a joint-organiser and one of the speakers at SMBEME, the satellite meeting of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. Program Sunday, 27th April, Zoological Museum Kiel 16:00 – 18:30 Registration 18:30 – 21:00 Opening session Moderator: Tal Dagan 18:30 – 18:45 Greetings Vice President Prof. Dr. Birgit Friedl, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel […]
Read MoreProfessor McInerney has been invited to speak at the International Union of Microbiology Societies annual meeting in Montréal, Canada from July 27th-August 1, 2014. This meeting is collectively known as the International Congress of Microbiology and it consists of three separate congresses: the XIVth International Congress of Bacteriology and Applied Microbiology, the XVIth International Congress of Virology and the XIVth International […]
Read MoreSome time ago we published a method for exploring among-site rate variation in evolutionary datasets [1]. This particular problem has been of interest for more than 40 years – some characters in a dataset will evolve at different rates to other characters and this might mislead phylogeny reconstruction. There are a few principal situations where […]
Read MoreIn late 2012, I got the idea that there were a few points to make about homology that were either not in the literature or they were there, but in relatively obscure places. I thought it was time to pull these ideas together and see if there was something to be said about how homology […]
Read MoreToday we had the pleasure of welcoming an unusual visitor into the lab – a green anaconda. The snake is owned by JP Dunbar, a herpteologist and snake enthusiast who recently graduated from NUI Maynooth and who is heavily involved in helping people understand and appreciate reptiles, amphibians and all animals generally. Not everybody was […]
Read MoreEd Yong has written an excellent article on Eukaryote Origins. Professor McInerney was interviewed as part of the article and the article also includes interviews with several other people involved with trying to understand the origin of the eukaryote cell. In this article, Yong makes a distinction between the “slow fuse” type of hypothesis governing […]
Read MoreVIBE – The Virtual Institute of Bioinformatics and Evolution, which is a loose community of research groups in Ireland, held its annual get-together in Galway recently and was attended by several of our past and current members. It was a superb meeting, organised in Galway by Prof. Cathal Seoighe and Dr. Tim Downing.
Read MoreProfessor McInerney of the Bioinformatics and Molecular Evolution Unit graduated yesterday with a DSc degree from the National University of Ireland. The DSc, which is a higher doctorate, was awarded for his thesis entitled “Studies on the Evolution of Genes and Genomes”. This thesis was entirely based on published research papers. The degree was awarded on […]
Read MoreLucas Brouwers has written a very nice account, entitled “How genetic plunder transformed a microbe into a pink, salt-loving scavenger” about the Halophile work we published in PNAS. You can read it here: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtomics/2013/04/22/how-genetic-plunder-transformed-a-microbe-into-a-pink-salt-loving-scavenger/
Read MoreIn the last five years, there has been tremendous progress made in understanding the origin of the eukaryote cell. This progress has been on a number of fronts – phylogenetic, metabolic and bioenergetic and in terms of other data that relate directly to evolution. Our latest paper in PNAS is, I feel, the latest in […]
Read MoreFrom the 10th to the 17th of March, 2013 a course on phylogenetics and phylogenomics was held in the beautiful old village of Erice in Sicily and members of the Bioinformatics and Molecular Evolution Unit participated as lecturers and as practical demonstrators. The course was sponsored by EMBO, the European Molecular Biology Organisation. [ready_google_map […]
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