Population genetics

Studies on the genetic structure of human populations provide insights on the patterns of diversity and distribution, opening a window into the study of evolutionary history, and a better comprehension of the association between genes and disease. Population genetic structure is also useful for forensics, as it can be used to infer biogeographical ancestry for individuals whose DNA is found in a crime scene. In our group, we have two main population genetic projects:

1. Swiss population genetics: investigation of the fine scale structure in Alpine populations, exploring how historical and geographical factors have shaped genetic variation utilising both uniparental as well as biparental markers.
2. Prediction of biogeographical ancestry: investigation of the markers and algorithms for accurate matching of individuals to one or more populations, for forensic phenotyping.

Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich

Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich

• Resutik P, Aeschbacher S, Krützen M, Kratzer A, Haas C, Phillips C, Arora N. Comparative evaluation of the MAPlex, Precision ID Ancestry Panel, and VISAGE Basic Tool for biogeographical ancestry inference. Forensic Sci Int Genet. 2023;64:102850.