John Haynes Werren

University of Rochester, Rochester, New York ~Professor of Biology. Organisms do not always behave in their own best interests; they may be controlled by another organism or by a renegade element of their own genome. Pioneered work in this area using the parasitoid wasp, Nasonia, and its endosymbiont parasite, Wolbachia. Early studies on sex ratios in Nasonia generated some of the most precise tests of predictions of evolutionary adaptation, but also led to questions of maladaptation through conflict. Showed that cytoplasmically inherited Wolbachia bacteria bias sex ratios away from the mother's optimum, as do selfish genetic elements on Nasonia B chromosomes. Published the first general review of selfish genetic elements, defining the field. Further work showed that Wolbachia influences speciation of its hosts, and that speciation may be driven by evolutionary conflict. More recently, has become a leader in innovative genomic approaches to studying adaptation and conflict. In a series of papers, used the Wolbachia and Nasonia genomes to explore issues as diverse as genes for virulence and symbiosis, non-coding changes in wing sexual dimorphism, infection sweeps across North America, host preferences, and lateral gene transfer to a eukaryote.~~