Methods for Assessing Population Relationships and History Using Genomic Data.

Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet

UCL Genetics Institute and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom; email:

Published: August 2023

Genetic data contain a record of our evolutionary history. The availability of large-scale datasets of human populations from various geographic areas and timescales, coupled with advances in the computational methods to analyze these data, has transformed our ability to use genetic data to learn about our evolutionary past. Here, we review some of the widely used statistical methods to explore and characterize population relationships and history using genomic data. We describe the intuition behind commonly used approaches, their interpretation, and important limitations. For illustration, we apply some of these techniques to genome-wide autosomal data from 929 individuals representing 53 worldwide populations that are part of the Human Genome Diversity Project. Finally, we discuss the new frontiers in genomic methods to learn about population history. In sum, this review highlights the power (and limitations) of DNA to infer features of human evolutionary history, complementing the knowledge gleaned from other disciplines, such as archaeology, anthropology, and linguistics.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11040641PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-genom-111422-025117DOI Listing

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