Kenneth Henry Wolfe is an Irish geneticist and professor of genomic evolution at University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland.
Ken Wolfe at the Royal Society admissions day in London, July 2017
Paleopolyploidy is the result of genome duplications which occurred at least several million years ago (MYA). Such an event could either double the genome of a single species (autopolyploidy) or combine those of two species (allopolyploidy). Because of functional redundancy, genes are rapidly silenced or lost from the duplicated genomes. Most paleopolyploids, through evolutionary time, have lost their polyploid status through a process called diploidization, and are currently considered diploids, e.g., baker's yeast, Arabidopsis thaliana, and perhaps humans.
Overview of paleopolyploidy process. Many higher eukaryotes were paleopolyploids at some point during their evolutionary history.
A diagram that summarizes all well-known paleopolyploidization events.
Detection of paleopolyploidy using Ks.