Collaborative Research: Using paleogenomic data to decipher genomic effects of European Colonization on indigenous North Americans

该项目利用遗传学的最新进展，将现存的美洲原住民与其祖先群体的个人进行比较。将从欧洲人到达北美之前的人类骨骼遗骸中提取遗传信息（古代DNA），从而能够调查欧洲殖民主义导致的基因组变化。 通过使用涉及现代和古代DNA的比较方法，将揭示土著人民和欧洲殖民者之间的混合过程。此外，还将调查与欧洲传播疾病有关的人类基因组区域以及殖民主义对土著人民的其他环境影响。 与研究相协调，将举办为期一周的密集研讨会，在此期间，美洲原住民社区成员和学生将接受分子生物学和生物信息学方面的实践培训以及领导力培训，以增加基因组学和相关科学领域的多样性。该项目还促进人类学和基因组学交叉领域的跨学科研究生培训，其主要目标是利用基因组技术和人口遗传学方面的进展，研究欧洲殖民化对美洲土著人民的基因和进化影响。将采用一种创新的研究设计，将古代前欧洲接触和来自北美地理区域的现代人群配对。 对于每个个体，将分析完整的外显子组和侧翼区，包括60，000，000个碱基对。配对人口的比较分析将提供一个基础，检查共享和独特的方面，欧洲殖民地的历史跨地区，重点是推断历史的混合物和自然选择。该项目的重点是每个群体中非土著祖先的数量以及为美洲土著社区贡献非土著祖先的混合事件的性质。欧洲殖民者改变了美洲的社会和自然环境，因此，选择性力量可能迅速改变了一个地理区域的古代和现代土著人口之间的遗传变异频率。该研究将采用多种方法来检查在欧洲殖民主义时期受到选择压力的基因组区域。这项研究的结果将被用来作为一个模型来推断欧洲殖民化的进化影响，并提供一个新的方法来调查这一全球性的历史事件。此外，有关古代人口的结果也将用于更好地了解美洲原住民的早期人口统计历史，因为这些数据不受欧洲殖民影响。该项目将继续成功的美国原住民基因组学暑期实习（SING）计划，并通过创建一个SING校友会议，其中将包括一个公共活动，重点是介绍基因组研究的社会和伦理方面与土著社区，以及为期一天的研讨会，以研究与基因组研究和土著社区有关的问题，以提高其影响力。长期目标是增加美洲原住民在涉及科学的职业中担任领导者的人数，并为美洲原住民利用基因组学作为振兴工具的自主权提供机会。最后，作为这个项目的一部分，两个人类学博士。学生将接受基因组学培训。随着跨学科研究方法的重要性增加，整合社会科学和生命科学的学生将有能力确保该领域未来的职业生涯。

This project uses recent advances in genetics to compare living Native American peoples with individuals from their ancestral groups. Genetic information (ancient DNA) will be extracted from human skeletal remains from the time period prior to the arrival of Europeans in North America, enabling investigation of changes in the genome that have resulted from European colonialism. By use of a comparative method involving both modern and ancient DNA, the process of intermixing between indigenous peoples and European colonists will be uncovered. In addition, regions of the human genome associated with European-borne disease and other environmental impacts of colonialism on indigenous peoples will be investigated. Coordinated with the research, there will be an intensive one-week workshop during which Native American community members and students will receive hands-on training in molecular biology and bioinformatics as well as leadership training to increase diversity in the field of genomics and related sciences. The project also promotes interdisciplinary graduate training at the intersection of anthropology and genomics.The main objective of this project is to use genomic technology and population-genetic advances to study the genomic and evolutionary effects of European colonization on indigenous peoples of the Americas. An innovative study design will be employed, pairing ancient pre-European contact and modern populations from geographic regions in North America. For each individual, the full exome and flanking regions, including 60,000,000 base pairs, will be analyzed. Comparative analysis of paired populations will provide a basis for examining shared and distinctive aspects of the history of European colonization across regions, with an emphasis on inferring the history of admixture and natural selection. The project focuses on the amount of non-indigenous ancestry in each group and the properties of admixture events that contributed non-indigenous ancestry to Native American communities. European colonists changed the social and natural environments of the Americas, and as a result, selective forces might have rapidly changed the frequency of genetic variants between paired ancient and modern indigenous populations of a geographic region. The study will employ multiple approaches to examine regions of the genome that were subject to selective pressures during the period of European colonialism. Results from this study will be used as a model to infer evolutionary effects of European colonization and to provide a novel approach to investigating this global historical event. Moreover, results concerning ancient populations will also be used to better understand the early demographic history of the Native Americans, as such data are not influenced by the effects of European colonization. The project will continue the successful Summer Internship for Native Americans in Genomics (SING) program and enhance its impact by creating a SING alumni conference that will include a public event with a focus on presentations of social and ethical aspects of genomic research with indigenous communities, as well as a one-day workshop to examine issues related to genomic research and indigenous communities. The long-term goal is to increase the number of Native Americans serving as leaders in careers involving the sciences and to provide opportunities for Native American autonomy in the use of genomics as a tool for revitalization. Lastly, as part of this project, two anthropology Ph.D. students will be trained in genomics. As the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to research increases, students who integrate both social and life sciences will become equipped to secure future careers in the field.