{"581796":{"#nid":"581796","#data":{"type":"news","title":"International Team Examines Worldwide Human Diversity in the Genomic Era","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nature\/journal\/vaop\/ncurrent\/full\/nature19792.html\u0022\u003EA new study\u003C\/a\u003E in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E analyzes genomic diversity in 125 human populations at an unprecedented level of detail, tackling questions related to our species\u0026rsquo; demographic history and dispersal out-of-Africa. The study is based on 379 high-resolution whole-genome sequences from across the world, generated by an international collaboration led by Mait Metspalu from the Estonian Biocentre, Estonia, and Toomas Kivisild from the University of Cambridge, U.K.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This endeavor was uniquely made possible by the anonymous sample donors and the collaboration effort of nearly 100 researchers from 74 different research groups from all over the World,\u0026rdquo; Metspalu said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe lab of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/popgen.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EJoseph Lachance\u003C\/a\u003E in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.biosci.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Institute of Technology is one of these research groups. \u0026ldquo;By studying a global panel of individuals, we are able to identify genetic variants that are shared among different subsets of humanity and decipher our evolutionary past,\u0026rdquo; Lachance said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe high geographic coverage of the samples permitted the researchers to study many aspects of genetic and phenotypic differences between individuals and populations using a common spatial framework. Researchers found that the sharpest genetic gradient in Eurasia separates East and West Eurasians. This barrier runs roughly along the Ural Mountains in the north, opens in the Steppe belt connecting Central Asia to South Siberia, and becomes strong again on the Tibetan plateau, elongating south toward the Indian Ocean while separating South and Southeast Asia.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to increasing our understanding of the challenges that humans faced when settling down in ever-changing environments, the deluge of freely available data will serve as future starting point to further studies on the genetic history of modern and ancient human populations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Joseph Lachance\u2019s Georgia Tech group is one of 74 contributors worldwide"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJoseph Lachance\u0026rsquo;s Georgia Tech group is one of 74 contributors worldwide\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Joseph Lachance\u2019s Georgia Tech group is one of 74 contributors worldwide"}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2016-09-27 21:19:18","changed_gmt":"2016-09-27 21:34:53","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-09-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-09-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"581798":{"id":"581798","type":"image","title":"Joseph Lachance","body":null,"created":"1475011679","gmt_created":"2016-09-27 21:27:59","changed":"1475011679","gmt_changed":"2016-09-27 21:27:59","alt":"","file":{"fid":"221776","name":"Joe Lachance.photo_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Joe%20Lachance.photo_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Joe%20Lachance.photo_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":211893,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Joe%20Lachance.photo_.jpg?itok=PT0nMz9H"}},"581795":{"id":"581795","type":"image","title":"Geographic distribution of sequenced human genomes. Colors indicate geographic origins, and symbols refer to different sample subsets.","body":null,"created":"1475010657","gmt_created":"2016-09-27 21:10:57","changed":"1475010657","gmt_changed":"2016-09-27 21:10:57","alt":"Geographic distribution of sequenced human genomes. Colors indicate geographic origins, and symbols refer to different sample subsets.","file":{"fid":"221775","name":"Joe Lachance.press_figure_map-01.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Joe%20Lachance.press_figure_map-01.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Joe%20Lachance.press_figure_map-01.png","mime":"image\/png","size":449426,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Joe%20Lachance.press_figure_map-01.png?itok=OTchM7p2"}}},"media_ids":["581798","581795"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"166880","name":"human genomics"},{"id":"166881","name":"Joseph Lachance"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}