Horsiontlecture with Eske Willerslev, 31.10.2017 - Hunting the past with ancient genomics
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Welcome to a Horizons lecture
Refreshments will be served from 16.00, prior to the lecture.
Dr. Eske Willerslev was one of the early pioneers of the study of ancient DNA, and today he remains at the forefront of an increasingly competitive field.
He led the first successful sequencing of an ancient human genome, that of a 4,000-year-old Greenlander. His research on a 24,000-year-old Siberian skeleton revealed an unexpected connection between Europeans and Native Americans.
Recent years have seen the field of ancient DNA moving from the sequencing of short fragments of mitochondrial DNA from bones and teeth of Holocene age to full genomes and metagenomes from skeleton remains and sediments dating to the mid Pleistocene. This transition has revolutionized our ability to understand the past both in terms of human history but also megafaunal extinctions and changes of biological communities.
Willerslev will provide a number of examples as to how ancient genomics can be used to address questions of the deeper and more shallow past.
Everybody is welcome!