Genetics in admixed populations

To understand evolution, we need to understand who gets to reproduce. Or at least have a model for it. In diploid organisms, we also need to figure out who reproduces with whom. This is very hard to understand! Geneticists often simply assume that individuals mate at random. This is mathematically convenient, but in practice geography and other barriers break this assumption.

In this project, we are interested in what happens when such barriers are removed, and previously isolated populations meet. In humans, for example, transatlantic travel and transatlantic slave trade meant that populations living in different parts of the world were brought together. We also found that this kind of process likely was common in early human history.

Sample papers:

Modelling ancestry along the genomes of admixed individuals

Inferring structure and admixture among our early modern human ancestors