- Docente: Marco Sazzini
- Credits: 6
- SSD: BIO/08
- Language: Italian
- Moduli: Marco Sazzini (Modulo 1) Stefania Sarno (Modulo 2) Davide Pettener (Modulo 3)
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2) Traditional lectures (Modulo 3)
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Biodiversity and Evolution (cod. 8419)
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students will acquire knowledge on the main micro-evolutionary processes that have shaped phenotypic and genetic variation of present-day human populations. They will also acquire skills related to the use of genetic and genomic data to reconstruct demographic histories of populations, as well as evolutionary history of loci subject to natural selection and involved in adaptations of human populations to different environments. The course will finally provide students with elements useful for the understanding of evolutionary causes of differential susceptibilities of human populations to complex diseases.
Course contents
1. Brief overview on human biodiversity
2. Processes shaping diversity patterns of human populations
3. Interpreting population genetics and genomics data
4. The footprints of natural selection on the human genome
5. Phenotypic variation and adaptive processes in human populations
6. Evolutionary causes of human susceptibility to diseases
Readings/Bibliography
Jobling, Hollox, Hurles, Kivisild, Tyler-Smith. 2014. Human Evolutionary Genetics (II edition). Garland Science, Taylor & Francis Group
Teaching methods
The course is divided into three modules:
Module 1 (28 hours of lectures)
Module 2 (12 hours of exercises)
Module 3 (12 hours of lectures)
Assessment methods
The exam consists of a written test aimed at verifying the theoretical knowledge acquired by the students, as well as at evaluating their discriminating and interpretive abilities in relation to the debated topics.
Teaching tools
Projector, PC, slides of the lectures
Office hours
See the website of Marco Sazzini
See the website of Stefania Sarno
See the website of Davide Pettener