Priya Moorjani, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, joined by colleagues from the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UC Berkeley, publishes new study titled “Reconstructing the history of founder events using genome-wide patterns of allele sharing across individuals.” During their research, the team developed a new method of analysis called ASCEND, allowing the researchers to infer the timing and the strength of founder events even with sparse datasets of only few samples or limited coverage. They used ASCEND to analyze ~460 worldwide human populations and ~40 modern dog breeds. They found evidence for recent human founder events, associated with geographic isolation, modes of sustenance, or cultural practices such as endogamy. They also found extreme founder events in most dog breeds that occurred in the last 25 generations, concordant with the establishment of new breeds during the Victorian times.
Read more about it here.
