Alexey Simonovich Kondrashov () (born April 11, 1957) worked on a variety of subjects in

evolutionary genetics Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and among populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as adaptation, speciation, and popu ...

. He is best known for the ''deterministic mutation hypothesis''Kondrashov, A.S. 1988. Deleterious mutations and the evolution of sexual reproduction. ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' 336: 435-440 explaining the maintenance of sexual reproduction,Kondrashov AS & Crow JF. 1991. Haploidy or diploidy: which is better? ''

'' 351:314-315 his work on

sympatric In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...

speciation,Kondrashov AS & Kondrashov FA. 1999. Interactions among quantitative traits in the course of symaptric speciation. ''

'' 400: 351-354 and his work on evaluating

mutation rate In genetics, the mutation rate is the frequency of new mutations in a single gene, nucleotide sequence, or organism over time. Mutation rates are not constant and are not limited to a single type of mutation; there are many different types of mu ...

s.Kondrashov AS & Houle D. 1994. Genotype-Environment interactions and the estimation of the genomci mutation-reate in ''Drosophila melanogaster''. '' Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences'' 258: 221-227 Originally from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, A.S. Kondrashov has been working in the United States since the early 1990s. His work currently focuses on measuring rate of spontaneous mutation in ''

Drosophila ''Drosophila'' (), from Ancient Greek δρόσος (''drósos''), meaning "dew", and φίλος (''phílos''), meaning "loving", is a genus of fly, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or p ...

''. Also, he studies selection at the

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is cal ...

level and

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

evolution.Jordan IK, Kondrashov FA, Adzhubei IA, Wolf YI, Koonin EV, Kondrashov AS, Sunyaev S. 2005. A universal trend of amino acid gain and loss in protein evolution ''

'' 433: 633-638 He founded the laboratory of evolutionary genomics in the College of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics at

Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

Early life and education

Alexey Kondrashov was born on April 11, 1957, in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. His father was the Soviet biophysicist, Simon Shnoll. In the 1960s his family moved to Pushchino where he attended Middle School #1 (1966-1970). After some time, he transferred to the Pushchino's Middle School #2 (1970-1973). From 1973 to 1978 Kondrashov studied in the College of Genetics of Biology Department of the Moscow State University-Lomonosov. In 1984, he received his Ph.D. degree in Biology form The Moscow State University. In 1990, Kondrashov became an Associate Visiting Scientist in the Department of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He became an Assistant Professor of Ecology and Systematics at Cornell University in 1993, and associate professor in 1996. He is currently a professor at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

Professional activity

One of the works of Alexey Kondrashov is called the Kondrashov Hypothesis or the deterministic mutation hypothesis. This hypothesis explains the benefits of sexual reproduction.Kondrashov, A.S. 2013. Genetics: The Rate Of Human Mutation. ''

'' 488: 467-468 Kondrashov argues that because of the slightly deleterious effect of mutations the population will tend to be composed of individuals with a small number of mutations. Because of the recombination effect of the sex on the genotypes the individuals with fewer and more deleterious mutations will be created. Since there is a major selective disadvantage to individuals with more mutations, these individuals die out. Alexey Kondrashov also worked in the field of protein evolution.А. С. Кондрашов Научно-популярные лекции // Сайт Evolgenomics.fbb.msu.ru
/ref> Kondrashov states that amino acid composition of proteins varies between taxa, so it can evolve. For example, the organism that has more G+C base pairs in the genome will have more amino acids encoded by G+C rich codons. To support this hypothesis Kondrahov et al. compared sets of orthologous proteins from 15 taxa, which represent three domains of life. The amino acids with reducing frequencies was probably among the first incorporated into the genetic codes. Also, all amino acids except Ser, which have an increase in frequency, were probably recruited late. This process also continues to go today. On August 22, 2012, Kondrashov wrote an article in Nature, describing a link between older fathers and a rise in disorders such as autism. The paper attracted a lot of public attention and Kondrashov was interviewed by ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'' and several television networks.''Kondrashov's Nature News & Views gets media attention''
The research investigated the number of spontaneous ( ''de novo'') mutations in humans. It showed that a 40-year-old father transmits nearly two and a half times more mutations to his offspring than a 20-year-old father. As the example, a 20-year-old father can transmit nearly 25 random mutations to the offspring. The number of transmitted mutations is rising on two mutations for every more year. So, a 40-year-old father can transmit nearly 65 mutations to the offspring. The exact reason for it is not well understood, but the collecting of sperm of young men and freezing it for the future can be a clever choice.Father’s Age Is Linked to Risk of Autism and Schizophrenia // Сайт nytimes.com
/ref> The brain is usually more affected by these mutations, because more genes are expressed in the brain than in any other organ.Kondrashov, A.S. 2012. Genetics: The rate of human mutation. ''

'' 488: 467-468

References

External links

*http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v336/n6198/abs/336435a0.html *http://Evolgenomics.fbb.msu.ru {{DEFAULTSORT:Kondrashov, Alexey American geneticists Russian geneticists Moscow State University alumni Living people American evolutionary biologists 1957 births University of Michigan faculty