Collaborative Research: Genetic Bases for the Evolution of Human Diet

当代科学中最激动人心的挑战之一是揭示人类独特特征起源的基因基础。人类和其他类人猿在基因上非常相似，但人类解剖学、生理学和行为的不同方面却截然不同。最近的技术发展提供了开始识别构成这些重要特征差异的特定基因的能力。这个项目将聚焦于人类饮食的进化。饮食特征特别有趣，因为早期人类祖先和现代人的饮食与其他类人猿的饮食截然不同，而且饮食影响到人类健康和疾病的许多方面。一个由人类学家和人类遗传学家组成的跨学科团队将整合遗传、生物和生态信息，以更好地了解人类饮食特征进化的遗传基础。这个项目的主要智力目标是：(1)使用两种方法筛选人类基因组中的相关基因，使用超高通量测序测量人类和黑猩猩在几种具有饮食意义的组织中整个基因组的基因表达，并基于突变模式测试整个基因组的DNA序列的适应性；(2)通过在大型类人猿物种之间进行广泛的DNA序列比较，详细描述基因表达的详细特征，实验测试基因表达与特定饮食特征之间的关系，对与饮食相关的基因进行综合案例研究。以及(3)通过详细的遗传变异分析、自然选择测试以及与特定饮食特征的遗传关联，对在饮食和当地气候方面不同的现代非洲人口中与饮食相关的基因进行综合案例研究。这项研究的更广泛影响包括：与非洲科学家合作和建立资源，招募和培训妇女和少数民族受训人员，对小学生进行教育推广，建立两个新的和信息丰富的数据库，可以很容易地通过网络访问，以及开发用于比较分析灵长类基因组序列和基因表达的软件。

One of the most exciting challenges in contemporary science is uncovering the genetic basis for the origin of uniquely human traits. Humans and other great apes are genetically very similar, yet diverse aspects of human anatomy, physiology, and behavior are markedly distinct. Recent technological developments provide the ability to begin identifying the specific genes that underlie these important trait differences. This project will focus on the evolution of human diet. Dietary traits are particularly interesting because the diet of early human ancestors and modern humans differ so markedly from those of the other great apes and because diet affects so many aspects of human health and disease. An interdisciplinary team of anthropologists and human geneticists will integrate genetic, organismal, and ecological information to better understand the genetic basis for the evolution of dietary traits in humans. The primary intellectual goals of this project are to: (1) screen the human genome for relevant genes using two approaches, measuring gene expression across the entire genome from humans and chimpanzees in several tissues of dietary significance using ultra high-throughput sequencing and testing for adaptation in DNA sequences across the entire genome based on patterns of mutation; (2) conduct integrative case studies of diet-related genes implicated in trait changes during human origins through extensive DNA sequence comparisons among great ape species, detailed characterization of gene expression, experimental tests of functional differences, and associations between gene expression and specific dietary traits; and (3) conduct integrative case studies of diet-related genes among modern African human populations that are diverse with respect to diet and local climate, through detailed analyses of genetic variation, tests for natural selection, and genetic associations with specific dietary traits. The broader impacts of this research include: collaborations and resource building with African scientists, recruitment and training of women and minority trainees, education outreach to grade school students, building two novel and informative databases that will be easily accessible through the web, and developing software for comparative analysis of primate genome sequences and gene expression.