Cecilia Saccone (Bioinformatics)
Cecilia Saccone |
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Cecilia Saccone's group has been one of the pioneering laboratories in the study of the molecular biology of mitochondria. Their studies have led to the determination of the complete sequence of several metazoan mitochondrial genomes, reflecting Cecilia's early interest in the field of molecular evolution in which she is still active today. In particular, she has developed an original stochastic model, known as the stationary Markov clock or general time reversible, for the calculation of nucleotide substitution rates and the construction of phylogenetic trees, which has been applied to the study of the evolutionary patterns of several mitochondrial genes.
Among the main achievements in the field of molecular taxonomy are the studies on the origin and classification of life forms on earth. The study of metazoan mitochondrial genomics has now been extended to nuclear genomics. Cecilia's knowledge in these research fields is encompassed in a new discipline called comparative and evolutionary genomics, which is at the frontier of biological research.
The group's most recent research activities on molecular biodiversity link to the previous interests in genomics and bioinformatics. In particular, Cecilia Saccone has participated in the Scientific Advisory Board of the Consortium of the Barcode of Life (CBOL), Smithsonian Institute, Washington, and in the national committee of the European Infrastructure LifeWatch.
All these aspects are linked to the environmental monitoring, an issue of great importance today.