title: Genome diversity and biological history of human populations
reg no: SF0182474Bs03
project type: targeted financing
subject: 1.6-1.9. Chemistry and Molecular Biology
3. Medical Sciences
6. Humanities
status: accepted
institution: Estonian Biocentre
head of project: Richard Villems
duration: 01.01.2003 - 31.12.2007
description: To be finished shortly, the elucidation of the primary structure of the human genome has opened doors for many new directions in research and developmental work, among others to the study of genome diversity. The latter is a prerequisite to find "disease genes", as well as to the reconstruction of the genetic history of human populations. These problems overlap in a deep but so far poorly understood ways. The scope of the present proposal is to study genetic variability of human populations worldwide.In coming years we will concentrate on the global variation of uniparentally inherited Y chromosome and mtDNA, including, in a course of new possibilities, autosomal polymorphisms. Our main aim is to understand the emergence of the diversity of Homo sapiens sapiens populations from its beginning - in a global scale and, specifically, bearing in mind the biological history of northern Eurasian populations. The programm will be carried out in a tight collaboration with researchers from many countries.

project group
no name institution position  
1.Oleg BalanovskiEstonian Biocentreteadur 
2.Svetlana CvietevaEstonian Biocentreteadur 
3.Alexandra da Silva RosaEstonian Biocentreteadur 
4.Carolina FernandezEstonian Biocentreteadur 
5.Georgi HudjasovEstonian Biocentrev.insener 
6.Toomas KivisildEstonian Biocentrevanemteadur 
7.Ildus KutuevEstonian Biocentreteadur 
8.Jaan LindEstonian Biocentrev.ins. 
9.Mait MetspaluEstonian Biocentreteadur 
10.Maido RemmEstonian Biocentrevanemteadur 
11.Siiri RootsiEstonian Biocentreteadur 
12.Kristiina TambetsEstonian Biocentreteadur 
13.Helle-Viivi TolkEstonian Biocentreteadur 
14.Richard VillemsEstonian Biocentreprofessor