Faisal AlZaben
Education:
B.Sc.,University of California, Berkeley CA, USA
Research Interests:I am an evolutionary geneticist interested in the adaptation of complex traits, natural variation, and evolutionary novelty. I grew up across the Atlantic in Kuwait and then moved to California, where I studied genetics at UC Berkeley. There, I worked in genetics labs – the Brem and Whiteman labs – where I studied trait variation between species. In the Brem lab, I focused on the genetic basis of an interspecific difference in thermotolerance in different yeast species and found that this difference is underlain by a suite of essential genes. In the Whiteman lab, I investigated bill shape variation in the broad-tailed hummingbird and assisted on a project to understand the process of speciation in a spikedace minnow population. In general, I am interested in adaptation, hybridization, and speciation, and the evolutionary mechanisms and dynamics that drive these phenomena in general. I am interested in evolutionary and systems biology, especially population genetics and molecular evolution over long time scales.
I love to write, read, and teach topics inside or outside of science! And I love cooking, too…and sometimes chess. Social causes are very important to me and I believe paramount to consider as scientists. So feel free to talk to me about literally anything or exchange recipes
Other Publications:Abrams MB, Chuong JN, AlZaben F, Dubin CA, Skerker JM, Bren RB (2022) Barcoded reciprocal hemizygosity analysis via sequencing illuminates the complex genetic basis of yeast thermotolerance. G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics 12(2):jkab412.
AlZaben F, Chuong JN, Abrams MB, Brem RB (2021) Joint effects of genes underlying a temperature specialization tradeoff in yeast. PLOS Genetics 17(9): e1009793.
Abrams MB, Dubin CA, AlZaben F, Bravo J, Joubert PM, Weiss CV, Brem RB (2021) Population and comparative genetics of thermotolerance divergence between yeast species. G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics 11(7):jkab139
AlZaben, F., Vasilenko D., Gunbold, G., McClanahan S., Boyce P., Boyce G. CCD Measurements of WDS 13510+6819 STTA127. Journal of Double Star Observations 13(3): 391-394
AlZaben, F., Priest A., Priest S., Qiu R., Boyce G., Boyce P. Measurements of Multi-star Systems LEO 5 and MKT 13. Journal of Double Star Observations 12(4): 400-405
AlZaben, F., Li D., Li Y., Dennis A., Fene M., Boyce G., Boyce P. CCD Astrometry with Robotic Telescopes. Journal of Double Star Observations 12(1): 45-50