Xena Marie Mapel

Xena Marie Mapel is a Lecturer in the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zürich. Her research focuses on genetics, molecular biology, and evolutionary biology with applications in cattle genomics, structural variation analysis, and reproductive biology. Key areas include understanding genetic mechanisms underlying traits like male fertility, depigmentation, and functional genomic variations. She has contributed to pangenome studies, genome assembly projects (e.g., wisent), and analyses of RNA-DNA discrepancies in cattle tissues.

Her work bridges computational genomics and field-based biodiversity studies, such as surveys of terrestrial vertebrates in the Solomon Islands. Publications emphasize structural variants’ roles in molecular QTL mapping, gene essentiality (e.g., adenylate kinase 9), and evolutionary constraints in intronic sequences. She has also explored gene flow dynamics in avian species and genetic factors affecting bull fertility.

Mapel’s research integrates advanced genomic tools with ecological and agricultural challenges, aiming to improve cattle breeding practices and understand evolutionary processes in diverse species.