Dr. Robert Ogden

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University

Title: From Radioactive to RAD: Towards whole genome sequencing in wildlife genetics.

Abstract:

The application of molecular genetics to wildlife research has expanded dramatically over the past twenty years. During this period our ability to generate DNA data and investigate natural genetic variation has increased more rapidly than computing power. What does this mean for modern wildlife research? What level of genetic data do we really need?

This presentation will describe the development of wildlife genetic techniques and give examples of how they can be applied to many types of zoological and botanical research, including conservation. It will give an introduction to the recently developed ddRAD method currently being applied to several projects at Kyoto University’s WRC. As well as highlighting the opportunities of conducting wildlife genetic research in a post-genome era, the talk will consider the risk of generating vast amounts of DNA data simply because we can. Put more broadly, when conducting wildlife research in the 21^st century, do we have a responsibility to focus our efforts on applied conservation science, or is there still a role for traditional wildlife biology?