Molecular Evolution of Overlapping Genes

iii Acknowledgments I thank Dr. Giddy Landan for his advice and discussions over many cups of coffee. I thank Dr. Jeff Morris for precious help in matters statistical, philosophical, and theological. I thank Dr. Eran Elhaik and Nicholas Price for enjoyable collaborations. members, for their help and advice. I thank Hoang Hoang and Itala Paz for their tremendous support with numerous cases of computer failure. Throughout the past five years, many people have listened to oral presentations of my work, critically read my manuscripts, and generously offered their opinions. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. A special thanks to Debbie Cohen for her help in finding phase bias in the English language and musical analogies for overlapping genes. Amari usque ad mare 1 , researchers point to the fact that " you never really leave work " as one of the hardships of academic life. However, working on my magnum opus 2 , rarely felt like " coming to work " , but rather enlightening since scientia est potentia 3. For that, I iv thank my advisor, Dr. Dan Graur, whom I found to be a rara avis 4. Unlike most advisors, who impose their specialized research interests on their students, Dan has encouraged me to explore various subjects and quaere 5 for a question that inspired me. Although the quest has been at times frustrating ad nauseam 6 , it enabled me to alis volare propriis 7 and to find a topic that I am passionate about. Finally, inter alia 8 , I have learned from Dan that ars longa, vita brevis 9 and that quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur 10 .