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Updated: Nov 4, 2025

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin
Published on: August 14, 2018
What can phylodynamics bring to animal health research?
Claire Guinat1, Timothee Vergne2, Arthur Kocher3
1Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zürich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058 Basel, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Infectious diseases are a major burden to global economies, and public and animal health. To date, quantifying the spread of infectious diseases to inform policy making has traditionally relied on epidemiological data collected during epidemics. However, interest has grown in recent phylodynamic techniques to infer pathogen transmission dynamics from genetic data. Here, we provide examples of where this new discipline has enhanced disease management in public health and illustrate how it could be further applied in animal health. In particular, we describe how phylodynamics can address fundamental epidemiological questions, such as inferring key transmission parameters in animal populations and quantifying spillover events at the wildlife-livestock interface, and generate important insights for the design of more effective control strategies.
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