Swimming in the Pool of Genome Variation

Life has colonised almost every corner on Earth – from the highest mountain to the deepest sea. It goes without saying that each location features special environmental characteristics. For example, the deep sea is always buried in pitch darkness, organisms living there are constantly ‘under pressure’ and even though temperatures are stable, it’s still rather chilly down there (about 0°C). So, the question is how do organisms adapt to different environments and changing conditions? For Christian Schlötterer, professor at the Institute of Population Genetics in Vienna, this is the research question of his life.