Initiative for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies (IBEST)

The Initiative for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies (IBEST) is an interdisciplinary association of University of Idaho faculty members and students who study evolution in both natural and artificial systems and the computational tools used to analyze biological data. The group consists of biologists, computer scientists, and mathematicians.

IBEST emphasizes collaborative research. Although the group was only recently formed, its members have been successful in securing substantial extramural funding through NSF for multi-investigator projects.

Current projects include experimental evolution of both viruses and plasmids; evolution of protein strucure, especially as it relates to structural flexibility; genetic programming solutions for alignment and analysis of DNA sequences; and statistical analyses of phylogeographic data.

For more information, visit the IBEST website at www.ibest.uidaho.edu.