Human Evolutionary Genetics

Book Summary

Human Evolutionary Genetics is a groundbreaking text which for the first time brings together molecular genetics and genomics to the study of the origins and movements of human populations.

Starting with an overview of molecular genomics for the non-specialist (which can be a useful review for those with a more genetic background), the book shows how data from the post-genomic era can be used to examine human origins and the human colonisation of the planet, richly illustrated with genetic trees and global maps. For the first time in a textbook, the authors outline how genetic data and the understanding of our origins which emerges, can be applied to contemporary population analyses, including genealogies, forensics and medicine.

Section 1: Introduction
1. Why Study Human Evolutionary Genetics?

Section 2: How do we study Genome Diversity?
2. Structure, Function and Inheritance of the Human Genome
3. The Diversity of the Human Genome
4. Discovering and Assaying Genome Diversity

Section 3: How do we Interpret Genetic Variation?
5. Processes Shaping Diversity
6. Making Inferences from Diversity

Section 4: Where and When did Humans Originate?
7. Human Apes 
8. Origins of Modern Humans

Section 5: How did Humans Colonize the World?
9. The Distribution of Diversity - Out of Africa and into Asia, Australia and Europe
10. Agricultural Expansions
11. Into New Found Lands
12. What Happens When Populations Meet?

Section 6: What use is an Evolutionary Perspective?
13. Understanding the Past and Future of Phenotypic Variation
14. Health Implications of Our Evolutionary Heritage
15. Identity and Identification