Making my career in Australia exposed me to the tyranny of distance, but it gave me opportunities to study our unique native fauna. Distantly related animal species present genetic variation that we can use to explore the most fundamental biological structures and processes. I have compared chromosomes and genomes of kangaroos and platypus, tiger snakes and emus, devils (Tasmanian) and dragons (lizards). I particularly love the challenges posed by sex chromosomes, which, apart from determining sex, provide stunning examples of epigenetic control and break all the evolutionary rules that we currently understand. Here I describe some of those amazing animals and the insights on genome structure, function, and evolution they have afforded us. I also describe my sometimes-random walk in science and the factors and people who influenced my direction. Being a woman in science is still not easy, and I hope others will find encouragement and empathy in my story.

中文翻译：

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奇怪的动物，性别和基因组进化。

在澳大利亚的职业生涯使我暴露于遥远的暴政之中，但这为我提供了研究独特的本土动物的机会。密切相关的动物物种呈现出遗传变异，我们可以用它来探索最基本的生物学结构和过程。我比较了袋鼠和鸭嘴兽，老虎蛇和em，魔鬼（塔斯马尼亚）和龙（蜥蜴）的染色体和基因组。我特别喜欢性染色体带来的挑战，这些染色体除了确定性别之外，还提供表观遗传控制的惊人实例，并打破了我们目前了解的所有进化规则。在这里，我描述了其中一些令人惊奇的动物，以及它们为我们提供的有关基因组结构，功能和进化的见解。我还描述了我有时在科学领域的随机行走以及影响我方向的因素和人。