ASET Colloquium
We are all Africans and "Eve" is older than "Adam"
by Prof. Gyan Bhanot (Rutgers University; Visiting Professor, TIFR)
Friday, March 25, 2011
from
to
(Asia/Kolkata)
at Colaba Campus ( AG-66 )
at Colaba Campus ( AG-66 )
Description |
Mitochondria, the energy factories of the human cell, have their own DNA that is transmitted purely from mother to offspring (without any paternal contribution). Likewise, the Y chromosome is transmitted purely from father to male offspring (without any maternal contributions). Any mutations in these respective DNA sequences can therefore be used to infer relatedness between individuals; the more closely related you are, the more similar the DNA of the mitochondria or the Y choromosome. This provides an excellent tool to infer human migration history. I will describe the evidence which shows that the mitochondria of all humans alive today came from a single woman, "Mitochondrial Eve", who lived in Africa approx. 150,000-200,000 years before the present. The evolutionary tree for the Y chromosome reveals that "Y chromosome Adam" appeared 70,000 years ago. I will describe the basic biology needed to understand these ideas and show how they can identify astonishing new connections between diverse groups such as the European Gypsies, Banjaras from Rajasthan, the Vikings and the Irish. The talk will be presented at a general level and will be accessible to non experts. SPEAKER'S PROFILE: Gyan Bhanot is a professor in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry & Physics departments at Rutgers University. Presently he is a visiting professor at TIFR. This talk is being presented by special request and popular demand since most of the TIFR community missed the "Chai and Why?" version a few weeks ago. Please don't miss an opportunity to hear this engaging, insightful and stimulating talk! |
Organised by | Dr. Satyanarayana Bheesette |