Molecular Anthropology in the Genomic Era

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2010

Authors

Giovanni Destro Bisol (Author) Other; Mark A Jobling (Author) Other; Jorge Rocha (Author) FCUP; John Novembre (Author) Other; Martin B Richards (Author) Other; Connie Mulligan (Author) Other; Chiara Batini (Author) Other; Franz Manni (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Journal of Anthropological Sciences

Vol. 88

Pages: 93-112

ISSN: 1827-4765

Publisher: Istituto Italiano di Antropologia

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 20 Citations

Scopus - 21 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Social sciences > Sociology

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-003-BHS

Abstract (EN): Molecular Anthropology is a relatively young field of research. In fact, less than 50 years have passed since the symposium ''Classification and Human Evolution'' ( 1962, Burg Wartenstein, Austria), where the term was formally introduced by Emil Zuckerkandl. In this time, Molecular Anthropology has developed both methodologically and theoretically and extended its applications, so covering key aspects of human evolution such as the reconstruction of the history of human populations and peopling processes, the characterization of DNA in extinct humans and the role of adaptive processes in shaping the genetic diversity of our species. In the current scientific panorama, molecular anthropologists have to face a double challenge. As members of the anthropological community, we are strongly committed to the integration of biological findings and other lines of evidence (e.g. linguistic and archaeological), while keeping in line with methodological innovations which are moving the approach from the genetic to the genomic level. In this framework, the meeting "DNA Polymorphisms in Human Populations: Molecular Anthropology in the Genomic Era" ( Rome, December 3-5, 2009) offered an opportunity for discussion among scholars from different disciplines, while paying attention to the impact of recent methodological innovations. Here we present an overview of the meeting and discuss perspectives and prospects of Molecular Anthropology in the genomic era.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 20