Overslaan en naar de inhoud gaan
Thema
In serie
English
Tijd
20:00
Locatie

Academiegebouw
Broerstraat 5
Groningen
Nederland

Tickets
€3,- / free on presentation of student or SGG-discount card

Ancient Pathogen Genomics

What we learn from ancient pandemics
Johannes Krause

Infectious diseases have plagued humanity for millennia. Pathogen DNA present in fossil human remains provides direct insights into the origin, cause, spreading and evolution of major human infectious diseases, e.g., tuberculosis, plague or leprosy. Using the DNA of these fossils, it is even possible to reconstruct complete genomes from ancient pathogens and study evolutionary changes that are potentially involved in host adaptation or changes in pathogenicity. In addition, human genomic regions relating to disease susceptibility and immunity can be characterized in the skeletal material in order to observe the direct effect that pathogens have made on the genetic makeup of human populations over time. The results will allow a multidisciplinary interpretation of historical pandemics that have influenced the course of human history and provide priceless information for the field of history, evolutionary biology, anthropology as well as medicine and may have direct consequences on how we manage emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in the future.

Johannes Krause is an Evolutionary Geneticist specialized in research on ancient DNA from human remains and historical pathogens. He pioneered research on nuclear DNA of Neandertals, found the first genetic evidence of a fossil human form that was named Denisovan after the place of discovery. He furthermore pioneered genome-wide analysis of ancient pathogens by deciphering the genome of the causative agent of the Black Death. He is Professor at the University of Tübingen and was appointed in 2014 to be founding director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Ook in deze serie

Zie ook

Placeholder
Marc van Roosmalen
De bescherming van het grootste regenwoud
Nederlands

De vernietiging van het uitgestrekte woudgebied van de Amazone, dat zich uitstrekt over Brazilië, Venezuela, de Guyana’s, Colombia, Equador, Peru en Bolivia, gaat dag in dag uit

Joost de Vries in gesprek met Nina Polak en Franca Treur
Over Coming of Age in de literatuur
Nederlands

In de literatuur is de rite de passage een van de oudste, en meest geliefde, onderwerpen: het moment waarop de held zijn jeugdige naïviteit van zich afschudt en de were