Skov Group - Archaic introgression
The Skov group develops new methods to understand Neanderthals, Denisovans and how the gene they gave to our ancestor shape present-day humans today.
We are interested in the evolutionary history of humans, and Neanderthals and Denisovans (archaic humans). Because humans met Neanderthals/Denisovans and produced offspring their DNA survive in present-day humans today. Studying this introgressed DNA allows us to study:
- What is the population history of archaic humans?
How many archaic human groups contributed to our genomes. What are some key parameters of their evolutionary history such as mutation rate, generation time, admixture history with other archaic humans, historic population size and selective forces which shaped their genome. How many times did they encounter modern humans, how long did they coexist with modern humans and where did they interact with modern humans. - How did archaic humans shape our genome?
The second research focus will establish how the introgressed DNA from archaic humans shaped our genomes. Specifically, how did introgressed variation shape a diverse set of worldwide human populations. Leveraging genotype-phenotype associations in modern humans, we want to investigate the phenotypes that may have existed in archaic populations, in particular morphological and behavioral traits. - Which parts of the genome resist introgression?
What pieces of archaic DNA were beneficial and which were detrimental to modern human groups. Furthermore are these the same regions that are never exchanged between other archaic groups when they interbred.
In order to accomplish these goals we develop and apply new computation methods to study the genetic data. In order to interpret this data we will collaborate experts from other fields of research such as public health, medical researchers, archaeologist and geologists.
Note: * indicates shared first authors.
Laurits Skov*, Moisès Coll Macià*, Garðar Sveinbjörnsson, Fabrizio Mafessoni, Elise A Lucotte, Margret S Einarsdóttir, Hakon Jonsson, Bjarni Halldorsson, Daniel F Gudbjartsson, Agnar Helgason, Mikkel Heide Schierup, Kari Stefansson. (2020), The nature of Neanderthal introgression revealed by 27,566 Icelandic genomes. Nature 582, 78-83.
Laurits Skov, Ruoyun Hui, Vladimir Shchur, Asger Hobolth, Aylwyn Scally, Mikkel Heide Schierup, Richard Durbin. (2018), Detecting archaic introgression using an unadmixed outgroup. PLOS Genetics 9, e1007641.
Laurits Skov*, Moisès Coll Macià*, Elise Lucotte, Maria Izabel Alves Cavassim, David Castellano, MH Schierup, Kasper Munch. (2022), Extraordinary selection on the human X chromosome associated with archaic admixture. Cell Genomics 3.
Laurits Skov, Stéphane Peyrégne, Divyaratan Popli, Leonardo NM Iasi, Thibaut Devièse, Viviane Slon, Elena I Zavala, Mateja Hajdinjak, Arev P Sümer, Steffi Grote, Alba Bossoms Mesa, David López Herráez, Birgit Nickel, Sarah Nagel, Julia Richter, Elena Essel, Marie Gansauge, Anna Schmidt, Petra Korlević, Daniel Comeskey, Anatoly P Derevianko, Aliona Kharevich, Sergey V Markin, Sahra Talamo, Katerina Douka, Maciej T Krajcarz, Richard G Roberts, Thomas Higham, Bence Viola, Andrey I Krivoshapkin, Kseniya A Kolobova, Janet Kelso, Matthias Meyer, Svante Pääbo, Benjamin M Peter. (2022), Genetic insights into the social organization of Neanderthals. Nature 610, 519-525.
Moisès Coll Macià*, Laurits Skov* Benjamin Marco Peter, Mikkel Heide Schierup. (2021), Different historical generation intervals in human populations inferred from Neanderthal fragment lengths and mutation signatures. Nature communications 1, 1-11.
Diyendo Massilani, Laurits Skov, Mateja Hajdinjak, Byambaa Gunchinsuren, Damdinsuren Tseveendorj, Seonbok Yi, Jungeun Lee, Sarah Nagel, Birgit Nickel, Thibaut Devièse, Tom Higham, Matthias Meyer, Janet Kelso, Benjamin M Peter, Svante Pääbo. (2020), Denisovan ancestry and population history of early East Asians. Science 370, 579-583.
Molly Schumer, Chenling Xu, Daniel L Powell, Arun Durvasula, Laurits Skov, Chris Holland, John C Blazier, Sriram Sankararaman, Peter Andolfatto, Gil G Rosenthal, Molly Przeworski. (2018), Natural selection interacts with recombination to shape the evolution of hybrid genomes. Science 350, 656-660.
Kay Prüfer, Cesare De Filippo, Steffi Grote, Fabrizio Mafessoni, Petra Korlević, Mateja Hajdinjak, Benjamin Vernot, Laurits Skov, Pinghsun Hsieh, Stéphane Peyrégne, David Reher, Charlotte Hopfe, Sarah Nagel, Tomislav Maricic, Qiaomei Fu, Christoph Theunert, Rebekah Rogers, Pontus Skoglund, Manjusha Chintalapati, Michael Dannemann, Bradley J Nelson, Felix M Key, Pavao Rudan, Željko Kućan, Ivan Gušić, Liubov V Golovanova, Vladimir B Doronichev, Nick Patterson, David Reich, Evan E Eichler, Montgomery Slatkin, Mikkel H Schierup, Aida M Andres, Janet Kelso, Matthias Meyer, Svante Pääbo. (2017), A high-coverage Neandertal genome from Vindija Cave in Croatia. Science 358, 655-658.
Reviving extinct archaic humans through the surviving lineages in modern humans. NNF23OC0081723 in the call "NovoNordisk Hallas-Møller Emerging Investigator - Bioscience and Basic Biomedicine"
