For our next talk, in the BDI/CHG (gen)omics Seminar series, we will be hearing from Dr Yan Wong, Geneticist, BDI, University of Oxford. We’re delighted to host Yan in what promises to be a great talk!
Date: Tuesday 4 February
Time: 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Talk title: Dated ARGs provide a clinically useful alternative to defining discrete human populations
Location: Big Data Institute, Seminar Room 1
Bio
Yan is an evolutionary geneticist with an interest in a wide range of biological problems. After a DPhil in Plant Sciences at Oxford, he collaborated with Richard Dawkins to write The Ancestor’s Tale, a comprehensive history of life in reverse time. This was followed by a period of time as a lecturer at the University of Leeds. Yan then had a period of time as a TV and radio presenter, most notably on the BBC One show Bang Goes The Theory. Read more
Abstract
Although humans do not fall into separate, well-defined populations, genetic studies often rely on methods that make this approximation. For example, allele frequencies are defined within populations; in a clinical setting this is used, for example, to assess deleteriousness of rare alleles. However, population definitions become problematic in large datasets, with rare-allele analysis further confounded by uneven sampling. Mutation age is a more direct, population-free correlate of selective pressure, and can be estimated using scalable genealogical methods on large cohorts. We infer ARGs for 90,000 whole genomes from the Genomics England dataset, dating ancestors via an efficient Bayesian expectation-propagation algorithm. We demonstrate accuracy by comparing inferred ages against aDNA constraints and alternative calibrations of human genetic history, and show inferred dates of ultra-rare mutations can provide evidence against pathogenicity, independently of allele frequency. Large dated ARGs also provide insights into recent human history and enable phasing of singleton variants.
All members of the University are welcome to join, please let reception at BDI know you’re here for the seminar and sign-in. We hope you can join us!
We also now have a mailing list –
To be added, ping genomics_bdi_whg-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk (with any message), you should get a bounce-back with three options to confirm your subscription. Follow any of those options, and with a bit of luck you should be signed up!
As a reminder, the (gen)omics seminar series runs every other Tuesday morning and is intended to increase interaction between individuals working in genomics across Oxford. We encourage in-person attendance where possible. There is time for discussion over, tea, coffee and pastries after the talks.
Hybrid Option:
Please note that these meetings are closed meetings and only open to members of the University of Oxford to encourage sharing of new and unpublished data. Please respect our speakers and do not share the link with anyone outside of the university.
Microsoft Teams details:
Meeting ID: 392 804 850 261
Passcode: ed2sf2sU
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