I am at the University of Oxford to read for a DPhil in Clinical Medicine (Computational Biology, WTCHG). My CV can be found here.
I am interested in how protein evolution (e.g. protein mutations and duplication events) contribute to altered phenotypes between species. Evidently, this extends to genome evolution and how genotype affects phenotype. One of the widespread phenotypes I am particularly interested in is why different animals age at different rates. Although many compelling aging theories exist, all are too simplistic to take into account the different observed aging traits across different species. It is this mysterious force of nature that fuels my scientific curiosity. My current research is on protein prediction and de novo assembly of genomes which helps us study the genome differences between species of interest (e.g. species with divergent lifespans), my algorithm is being applied to multiple organisms including the naked mole-rat, Xenoturbella and a hyperthermophile worm. Proteins are integral components of most biological processes ergo being able to predict protein function in newly sequenced species allows researchers to get a better picture of how different species evolved different phenotypes and adapted to different habitats. My motivation behind studying aging, apart from scientific curiosity, is to be able to treat age-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and many more. I believe that this line of research will greatly gain in popularity once the general population realizes the fact that the mean population age is increasing (specially in first world countries) which puts in danger our (already weak) social structure.
Recently, I have started to take an interest in crop genomics. Genetically modified plants have had very bad publicity in the last few decades (perhaps due to the recklessness of companies such as Monsanto), however, it is important to understand that genetically modified organisms are not dangerous per se but are only dangerous if the modifications have not been planned carefully. Indeed, it is unreasonable to think that any genetically modified organism is dangerous as nature itself has a very complex and robust machinery to keep the genetical pool of any organism diverse. The main reason why I am interested in genetically modified crops is their great potential to help significantly increase our global welfare by both making food cheaper and more available to third world countries. Along with crop genomics, disease genomics has also caught my interest. Next-generation sequencing allows us to sequence single cells at an affordable price and the current bottleneck is data analysis. We are entering an era where data is cheap, but dirty, and many new startups will take advantage of the need to retrieve useful information out of the vast amount of data. These startups are inexpensive to form (often only requiring a personal computer), and much alike the dot-com era, we will soon see many successful companies rising from founders starting in a rented garage. As such, I am interested in the evolution of somatic cells within an individual in order to understand the genetic basis of the increase of prevalence of diseases in the aging population and how to combat it.
Do send me an e-mail if you wish to collaborate or to discuss about anything you are pationate about.
Mail: Yang Li. Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics. Roosevelt Drive. Oxford. OX3 7BN. United Kingdom.
Email: yang.li AT well DOT ox DOT ac DOT uk