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Doctoral Dissertation Research: Investigating the genetic architecture and adaptive characteristics of human hair

博士论文研究：研究人类头发的遗传结构和适应性特征

基本信息

批准号：
1847845
负责人：
Nina Jablonski
金额：
$ 3.17万
依托单位：
Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2019-03-15 至 2022-02-28
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1847845&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Doctoral Dissertation Research Investigating genetic

项目摘要

Scalp hair in the absence of body hair is a uniquely human trait, whose evolutionary significance is not well understood. This doctoral dissertation project will develop a digital tool for the quantitative measurement of hair fiber morphology, to investigate the underlying genetic architecture of hair morphology across human groups, and experimentally test the function of scalp hair as a barrier to solar heat gain. The methods developed as part of this project will advance our understanding of human adaptive traits and also inform forensic and dermatological research. Data collected for this project will increase the representation of understudied groups in research. This project will provide valuable research opportunities for undergraduates from groups underrepresented in STEM research fields and will generate materials for teaching about human biological diversity in a non-racial paradigm.Human hair morphology varies on a continuous spectrum from straight to tightly curled; however, research in genetics, dermatology, and forensics incudes a range of descriptors that can be qualitative (e.g. wavy, frizzy) and racial (e.g. 'Caucasian hair,' 'African-type hair'). By developing a method to quantify hair morphology and studying the genetic variation in a diverse group of African Americans, this study leverages genetic admixture as a means of elucidating genotypes underlying hair morphology across human groups. The experimental work in this project will test the hypothesis that human scalp hair morphology evolved in early Homo as a protective mechanism against heat gain from solar radiation. This project will additionally carry out a series of tests of selection on candidate loci (previously associated with hair morphology or hair follicle development) to test whether there is evidence of selection in hair-related genes that would support a thermoregulatory explanation for the evolution of human scalp hair.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

没有体毛的头皮毛是人类独有的特征，其进化意义尚未得到很好的理解。这个博士论文项目将开发一种用于定量测量头发纤维形态的数字工具，研究人类群体头发形态的潜在遗传结构，并通过实验测试头皮头发作为太阳热增益屏障的功能。作为该项目的一部分开发的方法将促进我们对人类适应性特征的理解，并为法医和皮肤病学研究提供信息。为该项目收集的数据将增加研究中未充分研究群体的代表性。该项目将为来自STEM研究领域代表性不足的群体的本科生提供宝贵的研究机会，并将为非种族范例中的人类生物多样性教学提供材料。然而，遗传学、皮肤病学和法医学的研究包括一系列可以定性的描述符（例如波浪，卷曲）和种族（例如“高加索头发”，“非洲型头发”）。通过开发一种方法来量化头发形态和研究遗传变异在一个不同的群体的非洲裔美国人，这项研究利用遗传混合作为一种手段，阐明基因型的头发形态在人类群体。该项目的实验工作将验证一个假设，即人类头皮毛发形态在早期人属中进化为一种保护机制，以防止太阳辐射的热量增加。本项目还将对候选位点进行一系列的选择试验（以前与毛发形态或毛囊发育有关），以测试毛发中是否存在选择的证据-该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值的支持和更广泛的影响审查标准。