Computational Evolutionary Biology
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this course analyzing evolution through computational modeling and engineering methods rather than traditional wet-lab biology. Topics include why influenza and HIV resist vaccines that eliminated polio, the genetics behind traits like a proposed 'language gene', why wheeled animals never evolved, the relationship between sex and parasites, and how modern genomics both supports and complicates classical evolutionary theory. The course centers on extensive hands-on laboratory exercises in building models and analyzing real evolutionary data, treating natural selection as a system that can be simulated and tested rather than only observed. Materials include lecture notes and assignments from MIT's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Health Sciences and Technology departments. Free to access online under MIT OpenCourseWare's standard license, with no certificate offered.