BL.0049 Population Genetics [HS 23]

SBL.00049 Population Genetics, Fall Semester

Teacher: Prof. Thomas Flatt  & Prof. Daniel Wegmann

thomas.flatt@unifr.ch

Teaching assistant: Dr. Margot Paris (margot.paris@unifr.ch)

  • Always Thursdays, 13:15-15:00
  • 14 weeks, 2 hours per week
  • Building Biologie végétale (PER04), Salle 0.110 (Auditoire de biologie végétale)

  • 3 ECTS, obtained when passing written exam (90 min)
  • Attendance is not compulsory, but strongly advised
  • Each week, you will be asked to read specific chapters and solve exercises
  • Text book: Nielsen & Slatkin: Introduction to Population Genetics
  • Up to date info and all slides and exercises are found on Moodle

Summary: This course gives a thorough introduction into population genetics which is a fundamental part of evolutionary biology. Population genetics describes how the frequencies of genetic variants change through space and time. For this, mathematical and statistical models are developed which describe the effects of mutation, genetic drift, migration and selection. The models then allow us to detect and quantify evolutionary processes in natural populations.

Study Aims: Students will learn to understand the basic principles of population genetics, including the effects of mutation, genetic drift, migration, recombination and selection. They will be able to understand these processes in terms of mathematical and statistical models and apply these models to real-world genetic data. They will further be able to formulate expectations from such models for how the genetic diversity of a population changes under different evolutionary conditions. Finally, they will learn to understand what genetic data observed or collected today tells us about the evolutionary past of a species and how population genetic models can be used to quantify this evolutionary past.

Prerequisites: An understanding of basic algebra, calculus and statistics is highly recommended.

Book: This course is based on the following book: “An introduction to Population Genetics - Theory and Applications” by Rasmus Nielsen und Montgomery Slatkin (ISBN: 978-1-60535-153-7)

It is highly recommended that students read to proposed chapters for a proper understanding of the course material (a pdf copy is available).

Exercises: In most weeks students will be asked to solve exercises (see pdf files on main course page); solving these exercises is highly recommended for a proper understanding of the course, besides reading the book and following the lectures, the best preparation for the exam.