Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2025
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E42
Höfundar / Authors: Arnar Pálsson (1), Benedikt Hallgrímsson (2), Francois Bernier (2)
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. University of Iceland. 2. University of Calgary
Kynnir / Presenter: Arnar Pálsson
Fields of biology differ in terms of focus and vocabulary. A recent workshop aimed at gathering scholars studying evolutionary, ecological, model organismal and medical questions and engage them in conversations about advances, challenges and commonalities. This paper attempts to pull together ideas under the academic umbrella of what advances in human genetics can illuminate future studies of ecology and evolution? The main topics are the following. Fundamental knowledge of genes implicated in comparisons of evolving populations, now increasingly comes from human genetics studies (including OMIM and GWAS catalog). Environment strongly influences many human diseases, including those with notable genetic components. The mismatch of environment and genetic constitution, is highly relevant for disease, and for organisms in man made world. Many traits have shared genetic architecture, very notable in analyses of psychotic disorders. It is likely evolution and ecology of animal behavior will be influenced similarly, and quite possible other trait families. Rare variants are quite prominent in human genetics, contributing a notable fraction of each disease. Rare variants can also shape evolution, particularly in junction with bottlenecks and colonizations. Other examples will be touched on and a synthesis attempted.