PEOPLE: CURRENT LAB MEMBERS

Louis Kang
Undergraduate Student
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Harvard University
12 Oxford St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: (617) 496-5499
Fax: (617) 384-9228
lkang@fas.harvard.edu

Research Summary

I am studying the evolution of mutation rate using a microscopic first-principles physical model of early evolution. Mutation rate, like any other phenotypic trait with genetic basis, can change over time in a
population due to the forces of natural selection. We simulate a population of organisms, each with genes that code for lattice proteins. Interactions between amino acids are governed by statistical mechanics and determine the birth and death rates (i.e. the fitness) of the organisms. Each organism can accumulate mutations that diversify the population and activate forces of natural selection. This first-principles model allows us to observe population evolution from a fundamentally physical perspective.

Education

Harvard University (9/2005 - present). Degree Candidate for A.B. in Chemistry and Physics and Mathematics.