The genetic adaptations of modern humans to their local environments

Lead Research Organisation: University College London
Department Name: Genetics Evolution and Environment

Abstract

Modern humans lived in Africa for millions of years, colonising the rest of the world in the last 50,000-100,000 years. Each new environment differed in ecological factors as important as climate, diet or pathogens, and their colonisation was accompanied by strong pressure to adapt. The resulting genetic adaptations live today as genetic differences among populations, and contribute critically to the phenotypic diversity found in humans today. This project aims to combine modern and ancient genomes to quantify the influence of local adaptation in population differentiation, to identify the loci mediating these adaptations, and to determine their influence in phenotypic diversity.

Publications

10 25 50

Studentship Projects

Project Reference Relationship Related To Start End Student Name
BB/M009513/1 01/10/2015 31/03/2024
2241818 Studentship BB/M009513/1 01/10/2019 30/09/2023 Dean Cornish