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Centre for Geogenetics

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The Centre for Geogenetics is a Danish Basic Research Centre of Excellence (Grundforskningscenter) which officially opened in September 2010. It is located at the Natural History Museum of Denmark,[1] University of Copenhagen and financed by the Danish National Research Foundation

Research program

The centre originally focussed on questions related to evolutionary biology and geology, but has expanded into various health and disease related topics. The program currently includes:

  • Addressing the timing, routes and origin of the first human colonization of the Americas
  • Addressing the timing, nature and causes of the Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions
  • Addressing the origins, intermixing and migration routes of humans into the New World’s northern extremes
  • Providing long-term insights into the response of polar ecosystems and coastal sea ice cover to global warming
  • Advance our understanding of the fundamental behavior of ancient DNA in sediments
  • Expanding the frontiers of palaeogenetics through development of novel methods
  • Detecting novel pathogens in relation to human cancer and inflammatory diseases"[2]

People

The labs and offices host close to 50 people of some 10 different nationalities. The centre is headed by Professor Eske Willerslev.[3]

Facilities

The centre holds up to date laboratories:[4] including two ancient DNA laboratories; post-PCR/modern DNA laboratories; the National High-throughput Sequencing Centre; sediment core facility. Collections: The Quaternary zoology collections with Late Pleistocene and Holocene vertebrates from Denmark, Greenland and South America.

Publications

Results from the centre have been published in Nature, Science and other journals and include: sequencing of the first ancient human genome[5] and the first aboriginal Australian genome,[6] both revealing previously unrecognized human migrations; establishing the first Holocene sea ice record from northern Greenland,[7] underlying the causes of the Pleistocene/Holocene megafauna extinctions; and evidence of pre-Clovis occupation in North America.[8]

In June 2013 researchers at the centre moved the limit for sequencing genomes 10-fold when they sequenced a 700.000 year old horse genome.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Statens Naturhistoriske Museum eng – University of Copenhagen". Snm.ku.dk. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  2. ^ "Research program". Geogenetics.ku.dk. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  3. ^ "Eske Willerslev – University of Copenhagen". Geogenetics.ku.dk. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  4. ^ "DNA and geological work laboratories". Geogenetics.ku.dk. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  5. ^ "Ancient human genome sequence of an extinct Palaeo-Eskimo : Article". Nature. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  6. ^ "An Aboriginal Australian Genome Reveals Separate Human Dispersals into Asia". Sciencemag.org. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  7. ^ "A 10,000-Year Record of Arctic Ocean Sea-Ice Variability—View from the Beach". Sciencemag.org. 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  8. ^ "Pre-Clovis Mastodon Hunting 13,800 Years Ago at the Manis Site, Washington". Sciencemag.org. 2011-10-21. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  9. ^ http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v499/n7456/full/nature12323.html

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