Genealogical-based inference in statistical genetics

今天观察到的人类基因组的变化是遗传过程的结果，例如突变，随着时间的推移作用于我们祖先的DNA。来自不相关个体的基因样本的“基因谱系”是一棵树，描述了导致这种变异的历史祖先遗传事件和关系。然而，由于时间尺度是数万年的量级，真正的基因谱系无法获知。我对使用遗传标记--可变DNA位点--的信息来推断无关个体之间的谱系关系很感兴趣。我的研究借鉴了统计学和种群遗传学，涉及到发展和传播纳入这些祖先树的统计方法。

The variation observed today in the human genome is a result of genetic processes, such as mutation, acting over time on the DNA of our ancestors. The 'gene genealogy' for a sample of genes from unrelated individuals is a tree describing the historical ancestral genetic events and relationships giving rise to this variation. However, since the time scale is on the order of tens of thousands of years, the true gene genealogy cannot be known. I am interested in using information from genetic markers - variable DNA sites - to infer genealogical relationships between unrelated individuals. My research, which draws on statistics and population genetics, involves the development and dissemination of statistical approaches incorporating these ancestral trees.