We kick started our joint BSF project on genome evolution in ants. Jessica Purcell and Alan Brelsford visited us in Haifa and we started to outline the four year project in detail. We arranged the collection of samples from ten ant genera by GAGA collaborators and us. We planned our methodologies, including sample processing, genomic sequencing, and construction of genomic maps. We’re going to use our robot for all the lab work. For the construction of linkage maps, we met with Abraham Korol, our next door neighbour and a leading expert in this field. We started to use the software package that was developed in his lab – MultiPoint. We also started a preliminary comparative analysis – comparing the chromosomes of Formica and Cataglyphis – which revealed some very interesting stuff… We’re going to get some great insights into the evolutionary stories of these genomes from such data. Finally, we did a quick tour of the south of Israel, including the Negev desert and the Dead Sea. It was great having you over Jessica and Alan!