Masel group

Principal Investigator

masel@u.arizona.edu

Ph. 520 626 9888

Office: BSW508

I am interested in lots of different stuff, please browse the research links and publications! I don’t run a wet lab, so all these projects involve mathematics, simulations, downloading and analyzing pre-existing data, or all of the above. I try to work on systems where theoretical models can give insights that just wouldn’t be available any other way, and then to link these models to data.

Most of the work in my group these days is connected in some way to evolvability. I am most interested in models that explicitly capture mechanistic constraints, whether from biochemistry, molecular biology, cellular biology or physiology, and work out their evolutionary consequences.

I am an associate professor in the department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and am a member of Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs (GIDP) in Applied Math and Statistics, and the Ethology and Evolutionary Psychology graduate program. I am also a member of the BIO5 Institute.

Teaching:

In the past I have taught Introductory Biology 182, Genetics 320, and the graduate core course Fundamentals of Evolution 600A. Together with Lucas Mix, I currently run a discussion group on Chance, Purpose and Progress in Evolution and Religion, that can also be taken for credit as ECOL524. I am also developing a new inquiry-based course ECOL379 Evidence-Based Medicine.

Links:

• Faculty Bio Page
• Profile in Fall 2004 (Winter 2005) issue of Desert News & Views (look on p3)
• Podcast or TV broadcast of public lecture on Evolution
• Radio Interview, The Science Show, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio National, March 10 2007
• TV Interview, GrassRoots TV, Aspen CO, Jan 4 2010. 

• Article in Tucson Citizen, June 23 2007
• Op Ed in Arizona Daily Star for Darwin’s 200th Birthday, Feb 12 2009
• Article in UANews, Jan 21, 2011

Publications:

Evolution

• Trotter, M.V., Peterson, G., Peck, K., Masel, J. Cryptic genetic variation can make irreducible complexity a common mode of adaptation, in preparation.
• Rajon, E., Masel, J. Adaptation from cryptic sequences does not require genetic diversity in polygenic traits, in preparation.
• Brettner, L.M., Masel, J. Homo-oligomerizing proteins have noisier and more plastic gene expression, in preparation.
• Masel, J. Teaching Hardy‐Weinberg and genetic drift using just‐in‐time mathematics, in preparation.
• Masel, J. (2011) Genetic drift. Current Biology, 21(20), R837-R838
• Wilson, B. & Masel, J. (2011). Putatively noncoding transcripts show extensive association with ribosomes. Genome Biology & Evolution, 3, 1245-1252
• Masel, J., & Lyttle, D. N. (2011). The consequences of rare sexual reproduction by means of selfing in an otherwise clonally reproducing species. Theoretical Population Biology, 80(4), 317-322 .
• Rajon, E., & Masel, J. (2011). Evolution of molecular error rates and the consequences for evolvability. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 108(3), 1082-7. (PubMed)
• Masel, J., & Trotter, M. V. (2010). Robustness and Evolvability. Trends in Genetics, 26(9), 406-414. (PubMed)
• Lancaster, A. K., Bardill, J. P., True, H. L., & Masel, J. (2010). The Spontaneous Appearance Rate of the Yeast Prion [PSI+] and Its Implications For the Evolution of the Evolvability Properties of the [PSI+] System. Genetics, 184(2), 393-400. (PubMed) (doi)
• Masel, J., & Griswold, C. K. (2009). The strength of selection against the yeast prion [PSI+]. Genetics, 181(3), 1057-63. (PubMed) (doi)
• Masel, J., & Siegal, M. L. (2009). Robustness: mechanisms and consequences. Trends Genet. (PubMed) (doi)
• Peterson, G. I., & Masel, J. (2009). Quantitative prediction of molecular clock and Ka/Ks at short timescales. Mol Biol Evol. (PubMed) (doi)
• Griswold, C. K., & Masel, J. (2009). Complex adaptations can drive the evolution of the capacitor [PSI], even with realistic rates of yeast sex. PLoS Genet, 5(6), 1000517. (PubMed) (doi)
• Lancaster, A. K., & Masel, J. (2009). The evolution of reversible switches in the presence of irreversible mimics. Evolution, 63(9), 2350-62. (PubMed) (doi)
• Maughan, H., Masel, J., Birky Jr, C. W., & Nicholson, W. L. (2007). The roles of mutation accumulation and selection in loss of sporulation in experimental populations of Bacillus subtilis. Genetics, 177(2), 937-48. (PubMed) (doi)
• Masel, J., & Maughan, H. (2007). Mutations leading to loss of sporulation ability in Bacillus subtilis are sufficiently frequent to favor genetic canalization. Genetics, 175(1), 453-7. (PubMed) (doi)
• Masel, J., King, O. D., & Maughan, H. (2007). The loss of adaptive plasticity during long periods of environmental stasis. Am Nat, 169(1), 38-46. (PubMed) (doi)
• Giacomelli, M. G., Hancock, A. S., & Masel, J. (2007). The conversion of 3′ UTRs into coding regions. Mol Biol Evol, 24(2), 457-64. (PDF) (PubMed) (doi)
• King, O. D., & Masel, J. (2007). The evolution of bet-hedging adaptations to rare scenarios. Theor Pop Biol, 72, 560-575. (PDF) (doi)
• Masel, J. (2006). Cryptic genetic variation is enriched for potential adaptations. Genetics, 172(3), 1985-91. (PDF) (PubMed) (doi)
• Maughan, H., Callicotte, V., Hancock, A., Birky Jr, C. W., Nicholson, W. L., & Masel, J. (2006). The population genetics of phenotypic deterioration in experimental populations of Bacillus subtilis. Evolution, 60(4), 686-95. (PubMed)
• Masel, J. (2005). Evolutionary capacitance may be favored by natural selection. Genetics, 170(3), 1359-71. (PDF) (PubMed) (doi)
• Masel, J. (2004). Genetic assimilation can occur in the absence of selection for the assimilating phenotype, suggesting a role for the canalization heuristic. J Evol Biol, 17(5), 1106-10. (PubMed) (doi)
• Masel, J., & Bergman, A. (2003). The evolution of the evolvability properties of the yeast prion [PSI+]. Evolution, 57(7), 1498-512. (PubMed)

Prion biology

• Masel, J., Genoud, N., & Aguzzi, A. (2005). Efficient inhibition of prion replication by PrP-Fc₂ suggests that the prion is a PrP^Sc oligomer. J Mol Biol, 345(5), 1243-51. (PubMed) (doi)
• Masel, J., & Jansen, V. A. (2004). Prion kinetics. Biophys J, 87(1), 728. (PubMed) (doi)
• Masel, J., & Jansen, V. A. (2001). The measured level of prion infectivity varies in a predictable way according to the aggregation state of the infectious agent. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1535(2), 164-73. (PubMed)
• Masel, J., & Jansen, V. A. (2000). Designing drugs to stop the formation of prion aggregates and other amyloids. Biophys Chem, 88(1-3), 47-59. (PubMed)
• Masel, J., Jansen, V. A., & Nowak, M. A. (1999). Quantifying the kinetic parameters of prion replication. Biophys Chem, 77(2-3), 139-52. (PubMed)
• Masel, J., & Jansen, V. A. (1999). The kinetics of proteinase K digestion of linear prion polymers. Proc Biol Sci, 266(1431), 1927-31. (PubMed) (doi)

Other

• Masel, J. (2007). A Bayesian model of quasi-magical thinking can explain observed co-operation in the public good game. J. Econ. Behav. Organ., 64, 216-231. (PDF) (doi)
• Bliss, T. M., Kelly, S., Shah, A. K., Foo, W. C., Kohli, P., & Stokes, C., et al. (2006). Transplantation of hNT neurons into the ischemic cortex: cell survival and effect on sensorimotor behavior. J Neurosci Res, 83(6), 1004-14. (PubMed) (doi)
• Kelly, S., Bliss, T. M., Shah, A. K., Sun, G. H., Ma, M., & Foo, W. C., et al. (2004). Transplanted human fetal neural stem cells survive, migrate, and differentiate in ischemic rat cerebral cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 101(32), 11839-44. (PubMed) (doi)
• Masel, J., Arnaout, R. A., O’Brien, T. R., Goedert, J. J., & Lloyd, A. L. (2000). Fluctuations in HIV-1 viral load are correlated to CD4+ T-lymphocyte count during the natural course of infection. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr, 23(5), 375-9. (PubMed)
• Hazelton, N. W. J., Bennet, L. M., & Masel, J. (1992). Topological structures for 4-dimensional geographical information systems. Computers, Environment, and Urban Systems, 16, 227-237.