Genome sequences and evolutionary biology, a two-way interaction

Complete genome sequences are accumulating rapidly, culminating with the an nouncement of the human genome sequence in February 2001. In addition to ca taloguing the diversity of genes and other sequences, genome sequences will provide the first detailed and complete data on gene families and genome o rganization, including data on evolutionary changes. Reciprocally, evolutio nary biology will make important contributions to the efforts to understand functions of genes and other sequences in genomes. Large-scale, detailed a nd unbiased comparisons between species will illuminate the evolution of ge nes and genomes, and population genetics methods will enable detection of f unctionally important genes or sequences, including sequences that have bee n involved in adaptive changes.