Mark D. Shriver
Mark D. Shriver is an American population geneticist. His research is focused on admixture mapping,[1] signatures of natural selection, and phenotypic variability in common trait variation. A major goal of his work is to apply these methods and understanding of genomic variation to studies of common diseases (e.g. obesity, type 2 diabetes, adaptation to altitude, hypertension, and prostate cancer) and to normal variation, in particular skin pigmentation and response to UVR. More recently, his research has focused on the genetics of facial features.[2] [3] [4] [5]
Shriver has consulted for and appeared in several documentaries about ancestry, race, and recent human evolution. Most notably, he was featured in the 2006 PBS series African American Lives and the 2008 series African American Lives 2 (hosted by Henry Louis Gates) [8]. He also appeared in the BBC Two film Motherland: A Genetic Journey (2003), the BBC documentary, “The Difference”, French television’s “Tracked Down by Our Genes” (2007), and UK Channel 4’s “Human Mutants” (2004).
He has made public the discovery of his own recent West African ancestry.[6] [7]
He is currently on leave from The Pennsylvania State University and is Associate Professor of Biology at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 2007, he married science writer and former broadcast meteorologist Katrina Voss.
References
- ^ Technology Review August 11, 2008, [1] "Genealogy Gets More Precise."
- ^ The Wall Street Journal March 27, 2009, [2] "To Sketch a Thief: Genes Draw Likeness of Suspects."
- ^ ABC News Feb. 18, 2009, [3] "CS-Eye: DNA Could Reveal a Perp's Face."
- ^ ScienceDaily Feb. 17, 2009, [4] "Mixed Population Provides Insights Into Human Genetic Makeup."
- ^ The Medical News (News-Medical.Net) February 16, 2009, [5] "New insights into human genetic makeup."
- ^ ScienCentral.com August 5, 2003, [6] "Redefining Race."
- ^ The Free Library (TheFreeLibrary.com) April 9, 2005, [7] "Code of many colors: can researchers see race in the genome?"