Eske Willerslev
Eske Willerslev
Title: “The Genomic History of Western Eurasia, Human History, Ecosystem Change, Disease Susceptibility and Infectious Disease”
Abstract: In this presentation, I will uncover the broader population genomic history of western Eurasia. Our recent ancient genomic studies have shown that the contemporary genetic makeup of this region was formed surprisingly late in history through several migration events. I will cover these, from the early Stone Age hunter-gatherers over the late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, the Neolithic farmers, the Bronze Age pastoralists, the Iron Age, to the Viking period. I will also discuss the consequences of changing in lifestyle on pathogen pressures and differences in disease risk across the populations of western Eurasia.
Bio: Prof. Eske Willerslev is an evolutionary geneticist and researcher working in the fields of ancient DNA, DNA degradation and environmental DNA. He holds a professorship at the University of Copenhagen, where he is Director of the Centre for Ancient Environmental Genomics (CAEG), as well as a professorship at the Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge.
During his PhD studies, Eske Willerslev established the field of environmental DNA. Later, his group sequenced the first ancient human genome. Willerslev’s research in the last decade has focused on macroregional history, population genomics, pathogen evolution and paleoecological reconstructions. His achievements in this field have helped to understand ancient migration patterns, the spread of specific human traits across the world, pathogen spread and evolution and ecosystem responses to climatic changes in space and time. This work has led to the rewriting of human history across Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, and has changed how we track human genetic adaptations.
Eske Willerslev has published more than 300 peer-reviewed articles. He is among the Web of Science’s most Highly Cited researchers in his fields.
Websites:
https://globe.ku.dk/research/lundbeck-foundation-geogenetics-centre/ & https://globe.ku.dk/research/geogenetics/willerslev-group/
https://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/directory/professor-eske-willerslev &
https://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/research/evolutionary-genetics-and-genomics/geogenetics-cambridge
Affiliation: Professor, Director, Centre for Ancient Environmental Genomics CAEG, Globe institute, University of Copenhagen, Professor, Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge Excellence Chair, MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen
