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Research Groups

Human Evolutionary Genetics

The Human Evolutionary Genetics group is a new group created in November 2010. Our major research goal is to study the evolutionary forces that shaped current diversity patterns in human genes and populations. A particular emphasis is given to African population history, including the analysis of prehistoric population movements (e.g. the Bantu expansions), and more recent demographic events associated with the slave trade.

Our main areas of research include São Tomé and Príncipe and Cape Verde archipelagos, both peopled by Portuguese settlers and African slaves about 500 years ago, and Mozambique and Angola, located at the southeastern and southwestern edges of the Bantu expansions, respectively. Research on specific genes focuses on the genetic architecture of pigmentation traits, as well as the origin, evolution and spread of adaptive variants related to pigmentation, digestion of new food items or resistance to disease.

We are especially interested in studying the relationships between genetic and non-genetic aspects of human variation, like language and subsistence patterns, and have ongoing collaborations with linguistics, anthropology and history researchers; in the near future we expect to collaborate with other groups in CIBIO, especially those with an expertise in hybridization, domesticated species and host-parasite interactions.