Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Mike completed at PhD in Evolutionary Genetics at the Institute for Advanced Study at Massy University in New Zealand in 2009. After that he took up a Distinguished Postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of Molecular Biology at Academia Sinica in Taiwan. In 2012 Mike moved to the USA to take up a Postdoctoral fellow ship in the FAS Center for Systems Biology at Harvard University.
Research interests
Mike is interested in the genetics of adaptation. To study this question, his lab propagates populations of yeast (and other microbes) for 1000's of generations in a variety of laboratory environments. Microbes grow and divide very quickly, providing a means for directly observing evolution as it happens. The goal is to understand how organisms adapt to better fit their environment. We do this by finding the mutations that cause adaptation, determining how these mutations change the genetic program of the cell and trying to predict how organisms will respond to environmental change. Mikes lab employs methods such as high throughput robotic liquid handling, whole genome sequencing and molecular genetic techniques.
Research area keywords
- Evolution
- Genetics
- Mutations
- Genome Evolution
- Genetics, microbial
Network
Recent external collaboration on country level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots.
Projects
Novel targets from the antibiotic resistance network in multi-drug resistant Helicobacter pylori
McDonald, M. & Kwok-Schuelein, T.
1/01/20 → 31/12/22
Project: Research
Tracking the molecular dynamics of adaptation with horizontal gene transfer
1/07/17 → 30/06/21
Project: Research
Research Output
Bismuth phosphinate incorporated nanocellulose sheets with antimicrobial and barrier properties for packaging applications
Maliha, M., Herdman, M., Brammananth, R., McDonald, M., Coppel, R., Werrett, M., Andrews, P. & Batchelor, W., 10 Feb 2020, In : Journal of Cleaner Production. 246, 12 p., 119016.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Diverse hydrogen production and consumption pathways influence methane production in ruminants
Greening, C., Geier, R., Wang, C., Woods, L. C., Morales, S. E., McDonald, M. J., Rushton-Green, R., Morgan, X. C., Koike, S., Leahy, S. C., Kelly, W. J., Cann, I., Attwood, G. T., Cook, G. M. & Mackie, R. I., 1 Oct 2019, In : ISME Journal. 13, 10, p. 2617-2632 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access
File
3
Citations
(Scopus)
Microbial Experimental Evolution – a proving ground for evolutionary theory and a tool for discovery
McDonald, M. J., 1 Jan 2019, In : EMBO Reports. 20, 8, 14 p., e46992.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access
File
1
Citation
(Scopus)
Adaptive evolution of genomically recoded Escherichia coli
Wannier, T. M., Kunjapur, A. M., Rice, D. P., McDonald, M. J., Desai, M. M. & Church, G. M., 20 Mar 2018, In : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 115, 12, p. 3090-3095 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
17
Citations
(Scopus)
Beneficial Mutations from Evolution Experiments Increase Rates of Growth and Fermentation
Sezmis, A. L., Malerba, M. E., Marshall, D. J. & McDonald, M. J., 1 Feb 2018, In : Journal of Molecular Evolution. 86, 2, p. 111-117 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
1
Citation
(Scopus)