1,721,005 research outputs found
Genome-based multidisciplinary approaches to the reconstruction of human demographic history
No full textIn my doctoral dissertation I summarize the scientific work leading to three papers in peer-reviewed journal, two submitted manuscripts. These entire studies share a common focus on human evolutionary history, but each of them address different scientific questions by means of a different combination of molecular and statistical methods.
Our cells contain a message from the past, written in their genomes; thus the study of genetic variation within and between populations can help us understand aspects of human demographic history over the past thousands of years, i.e. well beyond the time-limits of historical evidence.
Recently, extensive human genome data are becoming available, both from genome wide SNP data, and from the rapidly-increasing number of complete genome sequences, offering novel means of reconstructing human population history with a detail that was, until very few years ago, unthinkable. This abundant, and ever-growing amount of genomic data is of enormous relevant for understanding how and why human are different. Paper I (Barbujani et al., 2013) represents a review of human genetic variation and their implications for human evolutionary inference
Genetic data are indispensable to test hypothesis, generated in complementary discipline such as anthropology, linguistic and archaeology. Paper II (Tassi et al., submitted) and Paper III (Longobardi et al., submitted) provide examples of how it is possible to achieve a detailed picture of human history and evolution, taking advantage of archaeological and linguistic knowledge to interpret the genetic data.
For many years, studies of human genetic diversity have been necessarily limited to modern populations, severely limiting our ability to investigate the detail of past processes. Conversely, today, thanks to the advent of methods for reliably typing ancient DNA, it has been possible to increase our power to reconstruct historical demographic processes, and to explicitly test evolutionary hypotheses. In Paper IV (Ghirotto et al., 2013) and Paper V (Tassi et al., 2013) we analyzed ancient Etruscans sample and, within the ABC framework, we explicitly compared several models, differing for demographic and genealogical histories, to shed light on the origin and evolution of the Etruscans
Effect of 5-fluorouracil on growth and mophogenesis of tissue cultures of Nicotiana sylvestris
No full textGenetic data in forensic science: Use, misuse and abuse
No full textThe diffusion of databases storing genetic information and health records for many citizens is clearly beneficial both for health care and for research, but is raising problems related with the possibility of misuse and abuse of these data. In this paper, we discuss the potential and limitations of DNA-based methods of forensic interest, starting from genetic profiling. We then move on to three related areas, and show that research so far has helped us understand the genetic bases of the probability to develop diseases, but has not identified genes that might (a) predispose to aggressive behavior, (b) allow racial categorization, and (c) make the person who carries them unsuitable for certain jobs or for raising step children. However, science is often misunderstood as producing certainties, and so sensitive biological information must be protected to avoid potentially serious violations of individual rights
Glutamate dehydrogenase specific activity and its isoenzymatic pattern are carbon source dependent in callus cultures of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia.
No full textNine things to remember about human genome diversity
No full textUnderstanding how and why humans are biologically different is indispensable to get oriented in the ever-growing body of genomic data. Here we discuss the evidence based on which we can confidently state that humans are the least genetically variable primate, both when individuals and when populations are compared, and that each individual genome can be regarded as a mosaic of fragments of different origins. Each population is somewhat different from any other population, and there are geographical patterns in that variation. These patterns clearly indicate an African origin for our species, and keep a record of the main demographic changes accompanying the peopling of the whole planet. However, only a minimal fraction of alleles, and a small fraction of combinations of alleles along the chromosome, is restricted to a single geographical region (and even less so to a single population), and diversity between members of the same population is very large. The small genomic differences between populations and the extensive allele sharing across continents explain why historical attempts to identify, once and for good, major biological groups in humans have always failed. Nevertheless, racial categorization is all but gone, especially in clinical studies. We argue that racial labels may not only obscure important differences between patients but also that they have become positively useless now that cheap and reliable methods for genotyping are making it possible to pursue the development of truly personalized medicine. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Caratterizzazione dei prodotti della trascrizione e della traduzione in colture di calli di gerbera sottoposte a deprivazione di fonti di carbonio.
No full textRisposta allo stress da deprivazione di fonti di carbonio: modificazioni del metabolismo cellulare e della sintesi proteica in colture di calli di Gerbera jamesonii var. hybrida.
No full textMorfologia del mitocondrio in un mutante petite nucleare termosensibile di S. cerevisiae.
No full textInteraction between heat shock and carbohydrate regulation during eterotrophic growth in cell culture of Gerbera jamesonii.
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