Ecology and Evolution Seminar #6: "Lessons from old skeletons" by Prof. Tatiana Tatarinova (University of La Verne)

• Date: Wednesday, July 18th
• Time: 14:00-15:00
• Venue: B250
• Speaker: Prof. Tatiana Tatarinova (University of La Verne)
• Title: "Lessons from old skeletons"

Abstract:  

The term ‘ancient DNA’ (aDNA) is coming of age, with over 1,600 hits in the PubMed database, beginning in the early 1980s with the studies of ‘molecular paleontology’. Rooted in cloning and limited sequencing of DNA from ancient remains during the pre-PCR era, the field has made incredible progress since the introduction of PCR and next-generation sequencing. Over the last decade, aDNA analysis ushered in a new era in genomics and became the method of choice for reconstructing the history of organisms, their biogeography, and migration routes, with applications in evolutionary biology, population genetics, archaeogenetics, paleo-epidemiology, and many other areas. This change was brought by development of new strategies for coping with the challenges in studying aDNA due to damage and fragmentation, scarce samples, significant historical gaps, and limited applicability of population genetics methods. In this review, we describe the state-of-the-art achievements in aDNA studies, with particular focus on human evolution and demographic history. 

In my talk I will discuss bioinformatics treatment of ancient DNA and lessons that we are learning from this process.