A RANDOM WALK ACROSS HUMAN GENETIC VARIATION: RESEARCH AT THE HUMAN EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS GROUP

Jorge Rocha (CIBIO, University of Porto ) will present a seminar entitled "A random walk across human genetic variation: research at the Human Evolutionary Genetics group” on 13th of January, at 14.30, in Campus Agrário de Vairão auditorium.

Jorge Rocha will present an overview of the major research topics carried out by his group on the diversity of human genes and populations. He has been interested in genes associated with human adaptation and disease, devoting a substantial part of his work to the study of the evolutionary history and disease implications of variation in human α1-antitrypsin and related genes from the Serine Protease Inhibitor (SERPIN) family. He also became involved in the study of the evolution of lactose tolerance and the Duffy blood group.

The major research goal of the group he leads in CIBIO 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.

Right after, Marcos Nogueira will present the Student Seminar on "Multiple origin as source of genetic diversity in polyploids: Comparative sequence analyses of nuclear unigenes in wild wheats". Marcos Nogueira is a PhD student supervised by Harald Meimberg.