Prof Dan Bradley - Speaker Profile

Presentation - Prehistoric genomics at the Atlantic Edge

Affiliation - Professor of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin (TCD)

Membership 

• Member of International Society of Animal Genetics 
• Member of the Royal Irish Academy
• Five times juror in the European Contest for Young Scientists 
• Fellow of Trinity College Dublin

Position - Dan holds a Personal Chair in the Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, and has written or co-authored over 110 publications including many in premier journals (e.g. Science, PNAS, Nature) – see Publications below.

Involvement with genetic genealogy?

Dan has researched in the following areas: 

• Y chromosome diversity, Irish medeival genealogies, and the genetic architecture of Irish surnames
• Irish human population structure
• Ancient DNA
• Detection of signatures of selection in human, bovine, salmon and chicken genomes
• Origins of livestock as discerned using genetic diversity
• Genetic basis of disease resistance in cattle

So what will be the topic of the presentation at GGI2017?
It is now known from ancient genomic investigation that massive migrations were part of cultural transitions in European prehistory. It is interesting to discover if Ireland and Portugal underwent these massive migrations. This lecture explores the evidence for such migrations and discusses the implications of the results for understanding the origins of modern populations and the languages they speak.

This year, the four lectures on Friday afternoon (including Dan's lecture) were made possible by the kind support of CITIGEN, a HERA Project. CITIGEN is an international collaborative research project that looks at the uses of modern and ancient genomic data in shaping public understandings of the past and our individual and collective identities.

Previous presentations

Each year since the inception of Genetic Genealogy Ireland, Dan has spoken about the ground-breaking work of his lab on ancient genomes and the relevance of the research to anthropology, genetic genealogy, & the study of disease.

Many ancient Irish skeletons are currently undergoing ancient DNA analysis. They vary in age and some are up to 6000 years old. 2016 saw the publication of the first of several papers reporting on the analysis of four such skeletons which were found in Rathlin Island and Ballynahatty. Further research is ongoing and Dan returns annually to GGI to give us an update on his team's research.

Where can people get more information?

For more information just click on the links below:

Publications relevant to genetic genealogy - 

• Busby GB, et al. The peopling of Europe and the cautionary tale of Y chromosome lineage R-M269. Proc Biol Sci. 2011 Aug 24. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID:21865258Direct link
• Tong P, et al. Sequencing and analysis of an Irish human genome Genome Biol. 2010 Sep 7;11(9) PMID: 20822512.
• Mattiangeli V, McEvoy B, Bradley DG. Irish genetic affinities : the mosaic genome.Ir Nat J Spec Suppl. 2008; pg127-133.
• McEvoy B, Simms K, Bradley DG. Genetic investigation of the patrilineal kinship structure of early medieval Ireland. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2008 Aug;136(4):415-22. Epub 2008 Mar 18. PMID: 18350585
• Bauchet M, et al. Measuring European population stratification with microarray genotype data. Am J Hum Genet. 2007 May;80(5):948-56. Epub 2007 Mar 22. PMID: 17436249
• Norton HL, et al. Genetic evidence for the convergent evolution of light skin in Europeans and East Asians. Mol Biol Evol. 2007 Mar;24(3):710-22. Epub 2006 Dec 20. PMID: 17182896
• McEvoy B, Brady C, Moore LT, Bradley DG. The scale and nature of Viking settlement in Ireland from Y-chromosome admixture analysis. Eur J Hum Genet. 2006 Dec;14(12):1228-94. Epub 2006 Sep 6. PMID: 16957681
• Mattiangeli V, Ryan AW, McManus R, Bradley DG. A genome-wide approach to identify genetic loci with a signature of natural selection in the Irish population.Genome Biol. 2006;7(8):R74. Epub 2006 Aug 11. PMID: 16904005
• McEvoy B, Bradley DG. Y-chromosomes and the extent of patrilineal ancestry in Irish surnames. Hum Genet. 2006 Mar;119(1-2):212-9. Epub 2006 Jan 12. PMID: 16408222
• Moore LT, McEvoy B, Cape E, Simms K, Bradley DG. A y-chromosome signature of hegemony in gaelic ireland. Am J Hum Genet. 2006 Feb;78(2):334-8. Epub 2005 Dec 8. PMID: 16358217
• McEvoy B, Richards M, Forster P, Bradley DG. The Longue Duree of genetic ancestry: multiple genetic marker systems and Celtic origins on the Atlantic facade of Europe. Am J Hum Genet. 2004 Oct;75(4):693-702. Epub 2004 Aug 12.PMID: 15309688
• Edwards CJ, Connellan J, Wallace PF, Park SD, McCormick FM, Olsaker I, Eythorsdottir E, MacHugh DE, Bailey JF, Bradley DG. Feasibility and utility of microsatellite markers in archaeological cattle remains from a Viking Age settlement in Dublin. Anim Genet. 2003 Dec;34(6):410-6. PMID: 14687070
• Hill EW, Jobling MA, Bradley DG. Y-chromosome variation and Irish origins.Nature. 2000 Mar 23;404(6776):351-2. PMID: 10746711
• Rosser ZH, et al. Y-Chromosomal Diversity in Europe Is Clinal and Influenced Primarily by Geography, Rather than by Language. Am J Hum Genet. 2000 Dec;67(6):1526-1543. PMID: 11078479
• Helgason A, et al. Estimating Scandinavian and Gaelic ancestry in the male settlers of Iceland. Am J Hum Genet. 2000 Sep;67(3):697-717. PMID: 10931763

Publications from the unit at TCD - http://www.gen.tcd.ie/molpopgen/publications.php

The lectures were sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy).