This project investigates the peopling of South America, the last continental terra incognita (other than Antarctica) to be colonised by humans.
Reconstructing past environments using ancient environmental DNA (eDNA) in the Paleo Environmental Genomics Group
The Paleo Environmental Genomics Group (PEGG) focus is to use shotgun sequenced ancient DNA and DNA metabarcoding. The aim is to reconstruct past environments in order to address scientific questions concerning the interaction between past humans – environments – climatic changes and their effect on species distribution, speciation, evolution, population structure and community compositions.
We operate across a range of research fields including geology, archaeology, biology and geography where we extract and analyse ancient DNA data to answer questions about the past. The different projects currently cover 5 different continents, Africa, North America, South America, Europe and Asia, and includes reconstruction of past environments, speciation, and human activities.
“Being part of developing this new methodology – it is important to constantly explore and evolve the boundaries of the method – while still addressing important scientific question. We are therefore constantly working on improving and expanding its possibilities in both the laboratory and computational”, says Mikkel W. Pedersen, group leader.
Pedersen et al. 2021. Environmental genomics of Late Pleistocene black bears and giant short-faced bears. Current Biology Vol. 31, Issue 12, Pages 2728-2736.e8.
Pedersen et al. 2021. Ancient human genomes and environmental DNA from the cement attaching 2,000 year-old head lice nits. Molecular Biology and Evolution, msab351.
Wang, Y. Pedersen, M. et al. 2021 Late Quaternary dynamics of Arctic biota from ancient environmental genomics. Nature 600, 86-92.
Kjær, K.H. Pedersen, M. et al. 2022 A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA. Nature 612, 283–291.
Holman, L. et al. 2023 Perspectives and Future Developments Within Sedimentary DNA Research in Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments Vol 6. pp. 393–416.
Full list of publications by Mikkel Winther Pedersen.
Swiss National Science Foundation:
Carlsberg Foundation:
European Research Council:
Group Leader
Mikkel Winther Pedersen,
Assistant professor
Phone: +45 2927 5342
E-mail: mwpedersen@sund.ku.dk
Projects
Group members
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sawafuji, Rikai | Guest Researcher | +4535328189 | |
| Sønderborg, Frederikke Marie | Research Assistant | ||
| Thomasen, Nils August | Student | +4531665633 |
| Name | Title | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicola Alexandra Vogel | PhD Fellow | ||
| Yi Zhang | Master student | ||
| Kimberly Jørgensen | Master student | ||