Current dynamics of the Lausanne population genetics

Background: The colaus study has genotyped a few thousand individuals living in and around lausanne. Additional data such as place of orign, date of birth and a large number of medical traits have also been collected. While this data is primarily used for the inference of genetic aspects of medical or physiological traits, it can also be used to study certain genetic aspects of the local population as whole.

Goal: The goal of this project is to look for potential markers of a selective pressure that currently acts on the Lausanne population. If we find such markers, we can identify the genes that are under pressure, hinting at aspects of our lifestyles (e.g. food consumption) that trigger a genetic adaptation at the population level.

Mathematical tools: The students will mainly use statistics to identify relevant markers and potentially difference equations to simulate the genetic adaptation process.

Biological or Medical aspects: The students will get more familiar with the field of population genetics with hands-on experience with real data.

Supervisor: Micha Hersch

Students: