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Centre for Geogenetics

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The Centre for Geogenetics is a Danish Basic Research Centre of Excellence (Grundforskningscenter) which officially opened in September 2010. It is located at the Natural History Museum of Denmark,[1] University of Copenhagen and financed by the Danish National Research Foundation.

Research program

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The centre originally focused on questions related to evolutionary biology and geology, but has expanded into various health and disease related topics. The program currently includes:

  • How did the first human colonization of the Americas happen. The centre addresses the timing, routes and origin of these questions
  • Why, how and when did the timing, nature and causes of the Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions happen
  • Origins, intermixing and migration routes of humans into the New World’s northern extremes (North America, Greenland)
  • Providing long-term insights into the response of polar ecosystems and coastal sea ice cover to global warming
  • Advance our understanding of the fundamental behavior of ancient DNA in sediments (Environmental DNA, eDNA, "dirt" DNA)
  • Environmental DNA (eDNA) of water systems like oceans, lakes and streams from polar to tropical regions
  • Detecting novel pathogens in relation to human cancer and inflammatory diseases

People

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The labs and offices host close to 110 people of some 20 different nationalities from all over the world. CGG has five research groups, each headed by a PI. The groups are: The Willerslev Group (headed by Professor Eske Willerslev), the Orlando/Paleomix Group (headed by Professor Ludovic Orlando), the Gilbert Group (headed by Professor Tom Gilbert), the Anthropocene-Quaternary Group (headed by Professor Kurt Kjær), and the Genetic Identification and Discovery (GID) Group headed by Deputy Director Anders J. Hansen. The centre is headed by Professor Eske Willerslev.[2]

Facilities

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The centre holds up to date laboratories:[3] including two ancient DNA laboratories; post-PCR/modern DNA laboratories; the National High-throughput Sequencing Centre; sediment core facility. Collections: The Quaternary zoology collections with Late Pleistocene and Holocene vertebrates from Denmark, Greenland and South America.

Publications

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Results from the centre have been published in Nature, Science and other journals and include: sequencing of the first ancient human genome[4] and the first aboriginal Australian genome,[5] both revealing previously unrecognized human migrations; establishing the first Holocene sea ice record from northern Greenland,[6] underlying the causes of the Pleistocene/Holocene megafauna extinctions; and evidence of pre-Clovis occupation in North America.[7]

In June 2013 researchers at the centre moved the limit for the oldest full genome sequence 10-fold when they sequenced a 700.000 year old horse genome.[8]

As of August 2017 the centre's scientists have published more than 551 publications[9] of which 32 were published in Nature and Science.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Statens Naturhistoriske Museum eng – University of Copenhagen". Snm.ku.dk. 3 August 2006. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  2. ^ "Eske Willerslev – University of Copenhagen". Centre for Geogenetics. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  3. ^ "DNA and geological work laboratories". Centre for Geogenetics. Archived from the original on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  4. ^ Rasmussen, M; Li, Y; Lindgreen, S; et al. (2010). "Ancient human genome sequence of an extinct Palaeo-Eskimo : Article". Nature. 463 (7282): 757–762. doi:10.1038/nature08835. PMC 3951495. PMID 20148029.
  5. ^ Rasmussen, Morten; et al. (2011). "An Aboriginal Australian Genome Reveals Separate Human Dispersals into Asia". Science Magazine. 334 (6052): 94–98. doi:10.1126/science.1211177. hdl:10072/43493. PMC 3991479. PMID 21940856.
  6. ^ Funder, Svend; Goosse, Hugues; Jepsen, Hans; Kaas, Eigil; Kjær, Kurt H.; Korsgaard, Niels J.; Larsen, Nicolaj K.; Linderson, Hans; Lyså, Astrid; Möller, Per; Olsen, Jesper; Willerslev, Eske (2011-08-05). "A 10,000-Year Record of Arctic Ocean Sea-Ice Variability—View from the Beach". Science. 333 (6043). Sciencemag.org: 747–750. doi:10.1126/science.1202760. PMID 21817051. S2CID 2237936. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  7. ^ Waters, Michael R.; Stafford, Thomas W.; McDonald, H. Gregory; Gustafson, Carl; Rasmussen, Morten; Cappellini, Enrico; Olsen, Jesper V.; Szklarczyk, Damian; Jensen, Lars Juhl; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Willerslev, Eske (2011-10-21). "Pre-Clovis Mastodon Hunting 13,800 Years Ago at the Manis Site, Washington". Science Magazine. 334 (6054): 351–353. doi:10.1126/science.1207663. PMID 22021854. S2CID 26346378. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  8. ^ Willerslev, Eske; Wang, Jun; Shapiro, Beth; Ludovic, Orlando; et al. (1 July 2013). "Recalibrating Equus evolution using the genome sequence of an early Middle Pleistocene horse". Nature. 499 (7456): 74–78. Bibcode:2013Natur.499...74O. doi:10.1038/nature12323. PMID 23803765. S2CID 4318227. Retrieved 18 May 2019 – via www.nature.com.
  9. ^ Featherston, David (7 August 2017). "Publications". Centre for Geogenetics. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  10. ^ Featherston, David (22 August 2016). "Publications". Centre for Geogenetics. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016.
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