Projects
Analysis of HLA population data to reconstruct the history of modern humans and infer the role of natural selection
Alicia Sanchez-Mazas
This is a continuation of the AHPD project of 15th IHIW in Brazil. The results were published in Tissue Antigens as a collaborative study with all participating laboratories.
JM Nunes, ME Riccio, S Buhler, D Di, M Currat, F Ries, AJ Almada, S Benhamamouch, O Benitez, A Canossi, K Fadhlaoui-Zid, G Fischer, B Kervaire, P Loiseau, DCM de Oliveira, C Papasteriades, D Piancatelli, M Rahal, L Richard, M Romero, J Rousseau, M Spiroski, G Sulcebe, D Middleton, J-M. Tiercy, and A Sanchez-Mazas (2010
Analysis of the HLA population data (AHPD) submitted to the 15th International Histocompatibility/Immunogenetics Workshop by using the Gene[rate] computer tools accommodating ambiguous data (ahpd project report).
see the article on the Tissue Antigens Website
In this project, we would like to improve our knowledge on the HLA molecular diversity of present human populations in order to investigate their genetic history and to better understand the mechanisms underlying the evolution of this complex genetic system.
To achieve these goals,
- we collaborate closely with laboratories producing HLA molecular data in human population samples by discussing on their genotyping results, helping them to estimate allele and haplotype frequencies and other statistics of interest, and helping them to generate preliminary comparisons of their data to those of other populations;
- we encourage and help laboratories to become independent in these basic population genetics analyses by proposing specific statistical and computer tools to analyze their data and by assisting them in their analyses;
- we plan a common publication of the results as a main AHPD report of the 16th IHIW, where all participants are co-authors.
In addition to providing laboratories with a helpful feedback related to their data, the improvement of the HLA worldwide population dataset through IHIW projects is most useful for further research in human genetic history (e.g. “how and when modern humans expanded in different continents?”) and human molecular evolution (e.g. “did HLA genes evolve under a significant selective pressure?”).
AHPD website: http://geneva.unige.ch/ahpd hosted by the AGP lab at http://agp.unige.ch/en.
This project also benefits from the scientific achievements of the EU-funded network HLA-NET (http://hla-net.eu).
Contact:
Professor Alicia Sanchez-Mazas
Laboratory of Anthropology, genetics and peopling history (AGP lab)
Department of Anthropology,
University of Geneva,
Switzerland
Email:
alicia [dot] sanchez-mazas [at] unige [dot] ch
Phone: +4122 379 6984
Download a PDF of the ASHI 2010 Presentation - download PDF file.
Download a PDF of the EFI 2011 Presentation - download PDF file.
Download a PDF of the ASHI 2011 Presentation - download PDF file.
