Regular biography
Michael M. Desai is a Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and of Physics at Harvard University, affiliated with the Department of Physics. His research focuses on the dynamics and population genetics of natural selection in asexual populations, particularly microbes and viruses. Desai's work combines theoretical and experimental approaches to study how genetic variation is created and maintained, and to develop methods for inferring evolutionary history from sequence data. He has developed high-throughput techniques to observe the evolution of experimental budding yeast populations, tracking changes in fitness and genetic variation. His lab is led by Research Lab Coordinator Melinda Peterson.
Scholar-generated biography
Michael Desai is a Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and of Physics at Harvard University, specializing in Population Genetics and Experimental Evolution. His research explores the dynamics of molecular evolution, genetic hitchhiking, and the role of mutation-selection balance in adaptation. Desai's work investigates how genetic diversity and selection pressures shape evolutionary trajectories, particularly in asexual and sexual populations. He has conducted extensive studies on yeast and bacterial populations, examining adaptation to environmental stressors and the impact of epistasis on evolutionary outcomes. His research also includes the functional characterization of antibiotic resistance mechanisms in ancient bacteria and the role of sex in accelerating adaptation.