Dr. Wilkinson conducts research on the evolution of social behavior, with emphasis on how genetic mechanisms may influence the outcome of evolution. Recent research in the lab has addressed genomic conflict, sexual selection, DNA methylation, aging, cooperation and communication. Stalk-eyed flies are being used as a model system for studying the evolution of sexually selected traits. Past work implicated X chromosome meiotic drive as an evolutionary agent which can catalyze sexual selection. In collaboration with Josie Reinhardt at SUNY Geneseo and Rick Baker at the AMNH we have assembled the genomes of several stalk-eyed flies and discovered a candidate genetic element for meiotic drive that influences chromatin remodeling and transposable element defense. In a separate collaboration with Steve Horvath we have used DNA methylation to predict age in bats and discovered that extreme longevity, which has evolved in multiple bat lineages, is associated with change in methylation near genes associated with immunity or mutated in tumors. Hibernation also slows epigenetic aging. Grants from the NSF and the NIH currently support projects on bats that aim to identify epigenetic changes associated with social stress, immune function, and sex differences in aging.