EPFL software aims to protect the world’s most endangered species

Researchers in Lausanne have developed software that helps biologists better identify animal and plant species most exposed to climate change and thus improve conservation methods.  Scientists at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) have built software that combines genetic and environmental databases. Their time-saving research should help evolutionary and conservation biologists as it gives them direct and simultaneous access to the databases which show how genetic variants fit with certain eco-climatic zones. The software, named R.Samada, assesses the relationship between genetic and environmental information – such as precipitation, wind, sunlight and cloud cover - and generates graphs and maps that allow researchers to visualize the data rapidly. The software was unveiled in a paper published in Molecular Ecology Resources.   “The software identifies the genes involved in the process through which a species evolves to adapt to weather conditions”, ...