# First person – Nikita Jhaveri

## TL;DR

This paper explores how two specific genes evolved together in nematodes and adapted to function in their species.

## Contribution

The study reveals coincident evolution and functional adaptation of taxonomically-restricted genes in Caenorhabditis nematodes.

## Key findings

- The genes ivph-3 and gon-14 evolved together in Caenorhabditis nematodes.
- These genes show functional adaptation specific to their species.
- The research contributes to understanding gene evolution in nematodes.

## Abstract

First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Biology Open, helping researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Nikita Jhaveri is first author on ‘
Coincident evolution and functional adaptation of the taxonomically-restricted genes ivph-3 and gon-14 in Caenorhabditis nematodes’, published in BiO. Nikita conducted the research described in this article while a PhD student in Bhagwati Gupta's lab at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. She is now a post-doctoral researcher in the lab of Erik Andersen at Johns Hopkins University, investigating how genetic variation shapes adaptation to different environments.