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  • Human Population and Evolutionary Genetics

Human Population and Evolutionary Genetics

Ref. 96014
CategoryCertificateCategoryHealthCategoryLife sciencesCategoryCertificate
  • Duration: 6 weeks
  • Effort: 12 hours
  • Pace: ~2 hours/week
This Mooc aims to provide basic knowledge on population genetics and the help of genetics in the study of human migrations and human adaptation to extreme conditions.
No open course runs

What you will learn

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

  1. Define what is population genetics
  2. Explain the factors responsible for genetic diversity
  3. Describe the genetic history of our species on the 5 continents
  4. Identify how humans have adapted to the great diversity of environments
  5. Discuss the importance of the Neanderthal genome in our genetic heritage

Description

Almost two decades after the sequencing of the human genome, a deluge of population genomic data has been generated, depicting human genetic diversity at an unprecedented level of resolution. International efforts such as the 1,000 Genomes Project, the Exome Aggregation Consortium or the UK Biobank are providing invaluable resources for understanding the genetic architecture of human diseases and traits. These data have also helped to increase our understanding of the demographic history of our species, including how modern human populations have dispersed around the globe, how population sizes have changed over time and the extent to which they have admixed. Of particular interest over the past few years has been the knowledge we have gained through ancient DNA studies, which have shown that archaic hominins, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, contributed to the genomes of modern non-African populations. This genetic legacy has been, in some cases, beneficial for the survival of the early modern humans leaving the African continent.

Population genetic studies have also brought new insights into how natural selection, in its different forms, has shaped the patterns of diversity of the human genome at the population scale. Specifically, we have learnt about the mechanisms by which deleterious variants are removed from the population and how the demographic history of a population may affect the efficiency of natural selection to purge deleterious alleles. Genomic studies have also shed new light on how humans have adapted to the broad range of environments they occupy. Indeed, during their dispersals across the globe, humans encountered a highly diverse set of climatic, nutritional, and pathogenic conditions, to which they had to adapt. In this context, the detection of molecular signatures of past selection in the human genome has proved crucial for the identification of genes underlying the morphological and physiological diversity observed across human populations, and for increasing our understanding of the genetic architecture of adaptive traits.

This course aims to provide a basic fundamental knowledge of population and evolutionary genetics applied to humans, and illustrates this field with multiple research examples. We will describe the main drivers of our genetic diversity, including mutation, recombination, genetic drift and natural selection. Furthermore, we will explain how different approaches in population genetics can shed new light onto the demographic history of our species, our dispersals around the world, the occurrence and intensity of admixture with archaic humans and between modern human populations, and genetic adaptation to environmental changes.

Format

This MOOC is organized in 4 chapters of 5 to 8 sessions each. Each session includes a 6 to 10-minute video and 2 multiple choice questions to help you test your understanding. There are 8 to 16 multiple choice questions at the end of each chapter, followed by a certification exam.
The videos are in English, subtitled in English and French.

Prerequisites

We recommend a good scientific background (such as a bachelor of life science).

Assessment and certification

To follow this course, you have the choice between two formulas. The DISCOVERY path gives you access to videos, quizzes and exchanges in the forum. Additionnaly, the QUALIFYING path gives you access to a qualifying exam.

- Discovery path

If you opt for this path, you will have access to the videos, the quizzes and the exchanges in the forum. For this path, no certificate will be delivered. The registration is free.

- Qualifying path

In addition to the activities offered in the DISCOVERY path, the QUALIFYING formula will allow you to obtain a certificate in the form of a "certificate". To do this, you will have to take a exam, monitored remotely, lasting 1 hour, consisting of 30 multiple choice questions (MCQ) and obtaining 18 correct answers.

The registration fee for the qualifying course is 150€.

Obtaining a qualifying certification is an opportunity for you to obtain a diploma. This course is one of the MOOCs of the Institut Pasteur's Digital Diploma in Infectious Diseases program (DNM2IP). For more information, see the Institut Pasteur web page, dedicated to this new diploma

Course plan

    • Diversity of the human genome
    • Public databases of population genetic variation
    • Causes of genetic diversity: mutation and recombination
    • Factors driving genetic diversity: genetic drift
    • Factors driving genetic diversity: natural selection
    • Methods of demographic inference
    • Population splits and admixture among humans
    • The genetic history of the African continent
    • The genetic history of the European continent
    • The genetic history of Asia, Australia and Oceania
    • The genetic history of the Americas
    • The use of pathogens as markers of human migrations
    • Inferring cultural practices through genetics
    • Diversity of the human genome
    • Methods to detect natural selection
    • The effects of purifying selection in the genome and populations
    • Adaptation to nutritional resources
    • Adaptation to climate and extreme conditions
    • Adaptation to pathogens and infectious diseases
    • Alternative models of adaptation
    • Methods in ancient genomics
    • The archaic hominins and admixture with modern humans
    • Recent history through the lens of ancient DNA
    • The adaptive nature of archaic introgression
    • Public engagement and return to populations

Course runs

Archived

  • Session01, from Nov. 12, 2019 to Dec. 23, 2019
  • From Nov. 12, 2019 to Dec. 23, 2019
  • From Dec. 6, 2021 to Feb. 14, 2022

Course team

Lluis Quintana Murci

Luis is director of the Human Evolutionary Genetics Unit at the Institut Pasteur since 2007. He is a human population geneticist and professor at the Collège de France. He is the director of this MOOC.

Etienne Patin

Doctor in population genetics, Etienne is a researcher in the Human Evolutionary Genetics unit of the Institut Pasteur. He is particularly interested in the demographic and adaptive history of the human species. He is co-director of the MOOC.

Javier Mendoza Revilla

Javier is a doctor in human genetics, researcher in the Genetics of Human Evolution unit of the Pasteur Institute and member of the CANDELA consortium. He is your community manager for this MOOC.

Malgorzata GAZDA

Malgorzata is a researcher at the Institut Pasteur. She is interested in genetics in various species. She is your second community manager.

Organizations

Institut Pasteur

License

License for the course content

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives

You are free to:

  • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format

Under the following terms:

  • Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  • NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
  • NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

License for the content created by course participants

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives

You are free to:

  • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format

Under the following terms:

  • Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  • NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
  • NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

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