It is in human nature to classify everything. Mathematically, all classifications are equally legitimate. Yet, in biology, only classification that really describes evolutionary history is relevant and useful. Luckily, DNA molecules conveniently bear footprints of past generations. In this semilab, we will discuss which genes are better in uncovering relationships between organisms, are pandas real bears, and can we find out how the very first eukaryote looked like.
Molecular Phylogenetics 101
Difficulty level:
Intermediate