Tanja Schwander Explained

Tanja Schwander
Birth Place:	Brugg, Switzerland
Nationality:	Swiss
Field:	Evolutionary biologist
Work Institutions:	University of Lausanne
Alma Mater:	University of Lausanne
Doctoral Advisor:	Laurent Keller
Prizes:	John Maynard Smith Prize

Tanja Schwander is a Swiss evolutionary biologist and professor at the University of Lausanne. She is known for her work on the Evolution of sexual reproduction.

Education and career

Tanja Schwander obtained her PhD in 2007 from the University of Lausanne on 'Evolution, maintenance and ecological consequences of genetic caste determination in Pogonomyrmex harvester ants'.^[1] Tanja Schwander then took a postdoctoral position at Simon Fraser University in Prof. Bernard J. Crespi's lab, before being hired as an independent researcher at the University of Groningen. In 2013, she moved back to University of Lausanne to begin her own research group.^[2]

Work

Tanja Schwander's work has focused on understanding the consequences of asexuality using Timema stick insects as a model system. Her work has contributed to the current understanding of the Evolution of sexual reproduction, the Paradox of Sex,^[3] and Sexual conflict.

Awards

• 2009. John Maynard Smith Prize of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology^[4]
• 2020. European Research Council Consolidator Grant^[2]

Notable publications

• "Molecular evidence for ancient asexuality in Timema stick insects", Current Biology^[5]
• "Deleterious mutation accumulation in asexual Timema stick insects", Molecular Biology and Evolution^[6]
• "Neutral and selection-driven decay of sexual traits in asexual stick insects", ^[7]
• "Consequences of asexuality in natural populations: insights from stick insects", Molecular Biology and Evolution^[8]

Notes and References

1. Web site: PhD Tanja Schwander. 14 August 2020.
2. Web site: Career Tanja Schwander. 14 August 2020.
3. Otto. Sarah P.. Lenormand. Thomas. Resolving the paradox of sex and recombination. Nature Reviews Genetics. 1 April 2002. 3. 4. 252–261. 10.1038/nrg761. 11967550. 13502795 .
4. Web site: John Maynard Smith Prize. 14 August 2020.
5. Schwander T, Henry L, Crespi BJ (2011). Molecular evidence for ancient asexuality in Timema stick insects. Curr Biol 21: 1129–1134.
6. Henry L, Schwander T, Crespi BJ (2012). Deleterious mutation accumulation in asexual Timema stick insects. Mol Biol Evol 29: 401–408.
7. Schwander T, Crespi BJ, Gries R, Gries G (2013). Neutral and selection-driven decay of sexual traits in asexual stick insects. Proc Biol Sci 280: 20130823.
8. Bast J, Parker DJ, Dumas Z, Jalvingh KM, Tran Van P, Jaron KS, et al. (2018). Consequences of asexuality in natural populations: insights from stick insects. Mol Biol Evol 35: 1668–1677.