The Population Genetics of Jewish Diaspora Groups
Project Description
My ongoing work focuses on understand the population and disease genetics of contemporary Jewish Diaspora and related groups using the tools of genomics – DNA sequencing and genotyping. This work has always been informed by the history and demography of these groups. Currently, I am collecting sequencing data on thousands of Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi Jews. During the fellowship, I propose to partner with an archeologist and
physical anthropologist to understand key events that contributed to the formation of these groups and their genomes – migration, introgression, stability, wars, pogroms and epidemics.
Selected Publications
Atzmon G, Hao L, Pe’er I, Velez C, Pearlman A, Palamara PF, Morrow B, Friedman E, Oddoux C, Burns E, Ostrer H. Abraham’s children in the Genome Era: Major Jewish Diaspora populations comprise distinct genetic clusters with shared Middle Eastern ancestry. Am J Hum Genet. 2010; 86:850-9.
Ostrer H. Non-Mendelian Genetics in Humans, New York, Oxford University Press, 1998.
Ostrer H. Legacy: A Genetic History of the Jewish People, New York, Oxford University Press, 2012.