Lucknow: The Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow is organizing the ISEB5: The 5th annual Conference of the Indian Society of Evolutionary Biologists from October 17-19, 2024, the venue being AP Sen Hall.
ISEB5 is an initiative of the Indian Society of Evolutionary Biologists, stablished in 2018, as an independent society of scholars working in the broad field of evolutionary biology in India, as well as other individuals interested in evolutionary biology and the propagation of an evolutionary perspective.
The mission of ISEB is to provide a vibrant forum that promotes the study of evolutionary biology, to discuss and formulate policy suggestions on matters relating to evolutionary biology in particular, and science in general, to promote world class research and teaching in evolutionary biology, to promote evolutionary biology in India through outreach activities, to function on charitable basis, and to run the Society on ‘no profit, no loss’ basis, to promote best practices in different areas of science in general and evolutionary biology in particular, to foster interaction between evolutionary biology and other academic disciplines, and propagate an evolutionary perspective on biological phenomena.
Each year this conference is held in different academic institutions across the length and breadth of the country to provide a forum for people working in the field of evolutionary biology, ecology and animal behaviour to talk about advances in the subject and to think of ways to propagate the field of evolutionary biology. Convenor of the conference, Prof. Geetanjali Mishra, said that, “evolutionary biology for common people and even scientists is considered as something that is dispensable and archaic, something that explained how we evolved and which lacks in applied value and relevance in today’s world.
However, this is a fallacy of the highest order. Understanding the evolution of all existing biological phenomenon and the factors involved actually help us plan better for the future. Present day phenomena of pandemics, insecticide and antibiotic resistance, differential immune response, climate change and many more human problems can be easily explained as well as handled via an evolutionary lens. Evolutionary biology is not a topic to be deleted first when the syllabus is trimmed, but rather the crux of understanding all biological phenomenon.”
This conference will be hosting almost 200 people from across the country. A total of 47 talks will be held with speakers from UK, Sweden and leading institutions of the country such as IISc, JNCASR, NCBS, TIFR, IISERs, etc. The talks in this conference range from bacteria, Hydra, monogeneans, fruit flies, ladybird beetles, spiders, butterflies, birds, dogs, primates, elephants, humans, etc. and also plants. They cover studies at the level of the organisms to cellular and DNA levels.
The Keynote address will be delivered by the Prof. LS Shashidhara, Director, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru and President, International Union for Biological Sciences. He will talk about the genetics involved in the production of reduced wings, the halteres in small insects such as the house flies.
It is the aim of this conference to showcase the importance of evolutionary biology in understanding and managing real world issues in the present-day times and how for a biologist the evolutionary approach to any question is the most perceptive one.
