Genomic duplication followed by adaptive mutation is considered one of the primary forces for evolution of new function. Duplicated sequences are also dynamic regions of rapid structural change during the course of chromosome evolution. The long-term goal of my research is to understand the evolution, pathology and mechanism(s) of recent gene duplication and DNA transposition within the human genome.  Our work involves the systematic discovery of these regions, the development of methods to assess their variation, the detection of signatures of rapid gene evolution and ultimately the correlation of this genetic variation with phenotypic differences within and between species.