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Call for papers - Ancient DNA

Guest Editors:
Laura S Weyrich, PhD, Pennsylvania State University, USA
Bastien Llamas, PhD, University of Adelaide, Australia

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 11 September 2024


Genome Biology is calling for submissions to our Collection on advances in ancient DNA sequencing and analysis, with insights into paleogenomics, ancient metagenomics, pathogen genomics, and evolution.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Bastien Llamas: University of Adelaide, Australia

Bastien Llamas is currently Associate Professor and Reader in Human Genetics at the University of Adelaide, Australia, where he leads the Molecular Anthropology group of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA. He is a genomics and paleogenomics expert whose research ranges from population history to personalized genomics. He integrates past and present human genetic diversity to assess the relationships between peoples and places through time, and to investigate molecular mechanisms that underpin human adaptation to environmental and cultural stressors.

Laura S Weyrich: Pennsylvania State University. USA

Dr Weyrich is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Bioethics at The Pennsylvania State University. She is Head of the Penn State Ancient Biomolecules Research Environment (PSABRE). The cornerstone of her research is using calcified dental plaque to reconstruct ancient human oral microbiomes. Dr Weyrich’s team was the first to reconstruct the microbiome of an extinct species -Neandertals- and is now reconstructing the evolutionary history of the human oral microbiome on six continents, leveraging the information from our ancestors to improve our health today. 
 

About the collection

Genome Biology is calling for submissions to our Collection on the extraction, sequencing, and analysis of genetic material from ancient biological remains, providing a unique window into the past. 

The study of ancient DNA represents a pivotal frontier in genomics with profound implications for our understanding of history, evolution, ecology, and disease dynamics. By unlocking the genetic information in ancient samples, we gain unprecedented insights into past populations, their migrations, admixture events, and adaptations to environmental changes. Ancient DNA analysis also allows for the reconstruction of ancient microbial communities, providing a unique perspective on the evolution of microorganisms in hosts, environments, and unique ecosystems, and it contributes to our knowledge of historical disease outbreaks.

This Collection welcomes submissions on advances in ancient DNA sequencing and analysis, with insights into paleogenomics, ancient metagenomics, pathogen genomics, and evolution. Submission topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Paleogenomics and historical migrations, population dynamics, and adaptation to changing environments in humans, animals, and other species.
  • Metagenomics of ancient microbial communities and the evolution of microorganisms, including ancient pathogen genomics.
  • Sedimentary DNA (sedaDNA) or ancient environmental DNA (eDNA) applications to reconstruct past ecologies.
  • Evolutionary dynamics, adaptive changes, selective pressures, and genetic variation.


Image credit: The Natural History Museum / Alamy Stock Photo

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research, Method, Short Report, Review, and Database article types. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read our submission guidelines.

To submit your manuscript to this Collection, please use our online submission system and indicate in your covering letter that you would like the article to be considered for inclusion in the "Ancient DNA" Collection.

All articles submitted to Collections are peer reviewed in line with the journal’s standard peer review policy and are subject to all of the journal’s standard editorial and publishing policies. This includes the journal’s policy on competing interests. 

The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editor or Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.