The dream of predicting evolution

by Prof. Deepa Agashe (NCBS-TIFR)

Wednesday 5 Aug 2026, 16:00 → 18:00 Asia/Kolkata

AG66

Evolutionary biology has traditionally been an “explanatory” science, uncovering the processes and mechanisms that drive evolutionary change and retrospectively understanding patterns in the natural world, such as the number and distribution of species on the planet. However, because evolutionary processes involve substantial stochasticity, predicting the future course of evolution has been much more difficult. In recent years, a combination of mathematical theory and simulations, phylogenetic analyses, molecular approaches, and laboratory evolution experiments have led to significant progress. In this talk, I will discuss key challenges, new approaches and insights, examples of successful forecasting, and relevant studies from my group that bring us closer to predicting evolution.