The focus of my resaerch is to trace back human population history and how culure has an impact on human genetic diversity. I am the writter of "L'Odyssée des gènes" 2020, a book that was awarded several prices in scientific communication. Translated in Italian, Chinses, Roumanian, Russian
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2018
International audienceLe Manifeste du Muséum Migrations explore le phénomène migratoire dans le m... more International audienceLe Manifeste du Muséum Migrations explore le phénomène migratoire dans le monde du vivant en s’appuyant sur les précieux outils d’analyse que fournit l’Histoire naturelle. En proposant une approche fondée sur le temps long, il se propose d’éclairer une thématique complexe bien trop souvent réduite à sa dimension polémique, et d’aider les citoyens à déconstruire les idées reçues véhiculées à tort dans l’opinion. De la crise des migrants qui frappe de plein fouet l’Europe occidentale en passant par le déplacement des populations Rohingyas ou l’édification de murs aux frontières (Hongrie, Mexique), les migrations saturent l’actualité internationale de ces dernières années et génèrent un sentiment d’anxiété qui tend à détériorer le tissu social. Issu d’un travail collaboratif, à la croisée de plusieurs disciplines universitaires comme la sociologie, l’histoire, la démographie, la biologie, l’ethnologie, l’anthropologie ou encore la philosophie, ce nouveau Manifeste offre des clés de compréhension cruciales pour appréhender et décrypter le phénomène migratoire sans angélisme ni dramaturgie
Evelyne Heyner, professeur en anthtopologie genetique, nous montre au travers de cette premiere c... more Evelyne Heyner, professeur en anthtopologie genetique, nous montre au travers de cette premiere conference que les avancees recentes de la genetique ont permis d’eclairer nos connaissances sur l'origine et l'evolution de notre espece. Ainsi, ces nouveaux outils ont permis de preciser les ressemblances et differences que nous avons avec nos proches cousins, les chimpanzes
International audienceLa grave crise pandémique que nous vivons n’est pas seulement sanitaire, el... more International audienceLa grave crise pandémique que nous vivons n’est pas seulement sanitaire, elle est aussi écologique et sociale. Si elle remet en cause le dualisme nature/culture, elle appelle également à renouveler les rapports qu’entretiennent science et société. Changement d’usage des terres, déforestation et fragmentation, élevage intensif, exploitation minière ou forestière, chasse, urbanisation, diminution de la biodiversité : autant d’éléments qui perturbent la faune sauvage, et favorisent les transferts de pathogènes entre espèces. La mondialisation des échanges rend ensuite possible la diffusion de virus à l’échelle planétaire.Mais les sociétés humaines ne sont pas toutes égales face au risque infectieux. Il y a à cela des causes génétiques, parce que les populations humaines ne sont pas génétiquement uniformes et que les pathogènes ont une grande capacité d’adaptation, mais aussi des causes culturelles et sociales, en raison du rôle majeur des comportements. Si les épidémies d’ampleur sont relativement fréquentes dans l’histoire humaine, celles du passé, et leur gestion par les sociétés d’alors, ne sont que depuis peu étudiées en profondeur. Or cette étude est un élément indispensable pour modéliser, et donc prévoir, l’évolution de la pandémie actuelle comme des prochaines, et l’impact qu’elles auront sur nos sociétés.L’Institut Écologie et Environnement du CNRS, dont l’objectif est de répondre aux enjeux planétaires posés par le changement global aux interfaces entre les sciences de la Terre, de la vie, de l’Homme et de la société, réunit toutes les compétences nécessaires pour étudier cet ensemble
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2018
International audienceLe Manifeste du Muséum Migrations explore le phénomène migratoire dans le m... more International audienceLe Manifeste du Muséum Migrations explore le phénomène migratoire dans le monde du vivant en s’appuyant sur les précieux outils d’analyse que fournit l’Histoire naturelle. En proposant une approche fondée sur le temps long, il se propose d’éclairer une thématique complexe bien trop souvent réduite à sa dimension polémique, et d’aider les citoyens à déconstruire les idées reçues véhiculées à tort dans l’opinion. De la crise des migrants qui frappe de plein fouet l’Europe occidentale en passant par le déplacement des populations Rohingyas ou l’édification de murs aux frontières (Hongrie, Mexique), les migrations saturent l’actualité internationale de ces dernières années et génèrent un sentiment d’anxiété qui tend à détériorer le tissu social. Issu d’un travail collaboratif, à la croisée de plusieurs disciplines universitaires comme la sociologie, l’histoire, la démographie, la biologie, l’ethnologie, l’anthropologie ou encore la philosophie, ce nouveau Manifeste offre des clés de compréhension cruciales pour appréhender et décrypter le phénomène migratoire sans angélisme ni dramaturgie
Evelyne Heyner, professeur en anthtopologie genetique, nous montre au travers de cette premiere c... more Evelyne Heyner, professeur en anthtopologie genetique, nous montre au travers de cette premiere conference que les avancees recentes de la genetique ont permis d’eclairer nos connaissances sur l'origine et l'evolution de notre espece. Ainsi, ces nouveaux outils ont permis de preciser les ressemblances et differences que nous avons avec nos proches cousins, les chimpanzes
International audienceLa grave crise pandémique que nous vivons n’est pas seulement sanitaire, el... more International audienceLa grave crise pandémique que nous vivons n’est pas seulement sanitaire, elle est aussi écologique et sociale. Si elle remet en cause le dualisme nature/culture, elle appelle également à renouveler les rapports qu’entretiennent science et société. Changement d’usage des terres, déforestation et fragmentation, élevage intensif, exploitation minière ou forestière, chasse, urbanisation, diminution de la biodiversité : autant d’éléments qui perturbent la faune sauvage, et favorisent les transferts de pathogènes entre espèces. La mondialisation des échanges rend ensuite possible la diffusion de virus à l’échelle planétaire.Mais les sociétés humaines ne sont pas toutes égales face au risque infectieux. Il y a à cela des causes génétiques, parce que les populations humaines ne sont pas génétiquement uniformes et que les pathogènes ont une grande capacité d’adaptation, mais aussi des causes culturelles et sociales, en raison du rôle majeur des comportements. Si les épidémies d’ampleur sont relativement fréquentes dans l’histoire humaine, celles du passé, et leur gestion par les sociétés d’alors, ne sont que depuis peu étudiées en profondeur. Or cette étude est un élément indispensable pour modéliser, et donc prévoir, l’évolution de la pandémie actuelle comme des prochaines, et l’impact qu’elles auront sur nos sociétés.L’Institut Écologie et Environnement du CNRS, dont l’objectif est de répondre aux enjeux planétaires posés par le changement global aux interfaces entre les sciences de la Terre, de la vie, de l’Homme et de la société, réunit toutes les compétences nécessaires pour étudier cet ensemble
We computed mean inbreeding coefficients (FIT, FIS, and FST)
based on approximately 2,700 ascendi... more We computed mean inbreeding coefficients (FIT, FIS, and FST) based on approximately 2,700 ascending pedigrees of contemporary people from Saguenay Lac-St-Jean (Quebec, Canada). This allowed us to appreciate the accumulated inbreeding and to follow the evolution of these coefficients since the founding of Quebec. One of the results was the expected increase in FST. Relying on this parameter, we computed the effective size (Ne) of the contemporary population, obtaining a value around 1,000, in agreement with previous estimations. We noticed a decrease of Ne through history despite the population‘s growing size.
High frequencies of some rare inherited recessive disorders can be found in the Saguenay region o... more High frequencies of some rare inherited recessive disorders can be found in the Saguenay region of Quebec, Canada. Four disorders have a carrier frequency of about 0.04 (in the range 0.035-0.05): pseudovitamin D-dependent rickets, hereditary tyrosinemia type 1, Charlevoix-Saguenay spastic ataxia, and sensorimotor polyneuropathy with or without agenesis of the corpus callosum. Molecular data suggest that only 1 mutation has been introduced into the population since its founding in the 17th century. The carrier frequencies are much higher than one would expect under a theoretical model that includes variance in family size and population growth (Thompson and Neel 1978). I present a methodology called allele dropping to test the hypothesis that only 1 founder introduced a given mutation. This study is based on 891 ascending genealogies and enables one to measure the extent of allele frequency changes resulting from the demographic history of the population. Two scenarios are tested: neutral and lethal alleles. Lethality has a minor effect because the alleles never reach a frequency high enough for selection to be strong. Twenty-five founders have a probability greater than 1% that a lethal mutation they introduced into the population will reach a carrier frequency between 0.035 and 0.05 in the contemporary population. Moreover, 2 founders have a probability greater than 20% that a lethal allele they introduced into the population will reach this target frequency. Therefore the simplest hypothesis that 1 founder introduced 1 disorder into the population is consistent.
The aim of this paper is to account for the effect of mother&... more The aim of this paper is to account for the effect of mother's death on child survival in a historical population. Using comprehensive data on the early French Canadian population of Quebec, evidence is provided for a higher risk of dying for motherless children that remains significant over all childhood and long after the death of the mother. The specific effect of the loss of maternal care was estimated by comparing mortality before and after mother's death, furnishing a means to control for family heterogeneity. No differential in investment between genders was detected before age 3, but older girls suffered a three-fold higher susceptibility to mother's death than their male counterparts. This suggests that grown-up girls assuming the responsibilities of the missing mother had a lower chance of survival.
Marriage-first birth intervals are examined in two historical populations, Quebec (1608-1765) and... more Marriage-first birth intervals are examined in two historical populations, Quebec (1608-1765) and Haut-Jura (1689-1980), comparing intervals in mothers and daughters, and in sister-sister pairs. The results point to a weak relationship between intervals of mothers and daughters, though it does not attain significance. Shared environment does not seem to be responsible since there is no association between pairs of sisters from the same populations.
The demographic history of modern humans constitutes a combination of expansions, colonizations, ... more The demographic history of modern humans constitutes a combination of expansions, colonizations, contractions, and remigrations. The advent of large scale genetic data combined with statistically refined methods facilitates inference of this complex history. Here we study the demographic history of two genetically admixed ethnic groups in Central Asia, an area characterized by high levels of genetic diversity and a history of recurrent immigration. Using Approximate Bayesian Computation, we infer that the timing of admixture markedly differs between the two groups. Admixture in the traditionally agricultural Tajiks could be dated back to the onset of the Neolithic transition in the region, whereas admixture in Kyrgyz is more recent, and may have involved the westward movement of Turkic peoples. These results are confirmed by a coalescent method that fits an isolation-with-migration model to the genetic data, with both Central Asian groups having received gene flow from the extremiti...
The genetic history of African populations is increasingly well documented, yet their patterns of... more The genetic history of African populations is increasingly well documented, yet their patterns of epigenomic variation remain uncharacterized. Moreover, the relative impacts of DNA sequence variation and temporal changes in lifestyle and habitat on the human epigenome remain unknown. Here we generate genome-wide genotype and DNA methylation profiles for 362 rainforest hunter-gatherers and sedentary farmers. We find that the current habitat and historical lifestyle of a population have similarly critical impacts on the methylome, but the biological functions affected strongly differ. Specifically, methylation variation associated with recent changes in habitat mostly concerns immune and cellular functions, whereas that associated with historical lifestyle affects developmental processes. Furthermore, methylation variation-particularly that correlated with historical lifestyle-shows strong associations with nearby genetic variants that, moreover, are enriched in signals of natural selection. Our work provides new insight into the genetic and environmental factors affecting the epigenomic landscape of human populations over time.
The human gut microbiota is impacted by host nutrition and health status and therefore represents... more The human gut microbiota is impacted by host nutrition and health status and therefore represents a potentially adaptive phenotype influenced by metabolic and immune constraints. Previous studies contrasting rural populations in developing countries to urban industrialized ones have shown that industrialization is strongly correlated with patterns in human gut microbiota; however, we know little about the relative contribution of factors such as climate, diet, medicine, hygiene practices, host genetics, and parasitism. Here, we focus on fine-scale comparisons of African rural populations in order to (i) contrast the gut microbiota of populations inhabiting similar environments but having different traditional subsistence modes and either shared or distinct genetic ancestry, and (ii) examine the relationship between gut parasites and bacterial communities. Characterizing the fecal microbiota of Pygmy hunter-gatherers as well as Bantu individuals from both farming and fishing populati...
The establishment of the genealogies and biographies of inhabitants of selected villages from the... more The establishment of the genealogies and biographies of inhabitants of selected villages from the Haut-Jura from the 17th century up to the present day has enabled us to demonstrate the major role of immigration on the genetic structure of a population. The evaluation of the effective descendance of native versus immigrant couples shows the imbalance of demographic contribution in favour of the first category. Immigrant couples account for 26% of all couples with at least one offspring in the valley, but account for 7.2% of all couples with an effective descendance. In our opinion, this effective immigration reflects in a much better way the measurement of immigration impact on population genetic parameters, especially the genetic 'opening' of the population due to immigration. This measurement of the effective descendance divides the population into two major groups: a core of stable lineage characterized by 70% of couples with an effective descendance, 'surrounded' by an unstable group from which only 30% of couples have an effective descendence in the population. Furthermore, from any given point in time this difference between the two groups can be observed among their descendants during the following generations. The existence of such a core can be explained by the social history of the valley, and shows that any specific unfavorable genetic fostered by the core can be locked within the population and transmitted throughout generations.
An important concentration of patients with Rendu-Osler disease occurs in the Valserine valley of... more An important concentration of patients with Rendu-Osler disease occurs in the Valserine valley of the French Jura. A study of marriages shows that, in spite of its somewhat remote location, the valley cannot be considered an isolate, but that, on the contrary, exogamy is widely practised. Only 17.8% of the genes of inhabitants during the present century can be traced to the original population, but persons affected with the disease belong to a subgroup of the population which has lived in the villages for more than 10 generations. All the patients in 85 sibships are related. The smallest number of originator couples who lived at the beginning of the eighteenth century amounts to 16, the unique originator may therefore have lived approximately four generations earlier. However, as other patients who lived at the periphery of the Valserine valley do not appear to be related to any patients living in the valley, and because there has been considerable immigration into the valley, a number of hypotheses to explain the distribution of the disease in the region remain possible.
Three coalescent-based methods allowed us to infer some aspects of the history of three Bulgarian... more Three coalescent-based methods allowed us to infer some aspects of the history of three Bulgarian Gypsies populations belonging to the Vlax linguistic group: the Lom, Rudari and Kalderas. We used several kinds of genetic markers: HV1 sequences of the maternally inherited mitochondrial genome and microsatellites of the paternally inherited Y chromosome and of the biparentally inherited chromosome 8. This allowed us to infer several parameters for men and women: the splitting order of the populations and the ages of the splitting events, the growth rate in each population and the migration rates between populations. Altogether, they enabled us to infer a demographic scenario that could explain the genetic diversity of Vlax Roma: recent splits occurring after the arrival in Europe, asymmetric migration flows especially for males and unequal growth rates. This represents a considerable contribution to the Vlax Roma history in comparison with the inferences from classical population genetics.
Genetic data corresponding to four negrito populations (two Aeta and two Agta; n = 120) from the ... more Genetic data corresponding to four negrito populations (two Aeta and two Agta; n = 120) from the Luzon region of the Philippines have been analyzed. These data comprise mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable segment 1 haplotypes and haplogroups, Y-chromosome haplogroups and short tandem repeats (STRs), autosomal STRs, and X-chromosome STRs. The genetic diversity and structure of the populations were investigated at a local, regional, and interregional level. We found a high level of autosomal differentiation, combined with no significant reduction in diversity, consistent with long-term settlement of the Luzon region by the ancestors of the Agta and Aeta followed by reduced gene flow between these two ethnolinguistic groups. Collectively, the Aeta have a much higher ratio of female:male effective population size than do the Agta, a finding that supports phylogenetic analysis of their mtDNA and Y-chromosome haplogroups, which suggests different genetic sex-biased contributions from putative Austronesian source populations. We propose that factors of social organization that led to the reduction in Agta female effective population size may also be linked to the limited incorporation of female lineages associated with the settlement of the Philippines by Austronesian speakers; conversely, the reduction in Aeta male effective population size, relative to females, could be indicative of a limited incorporation of male lineages associated with this demographic process.
The geographic location of Egypt, at the interface between North Africa, the Middle East, and sou... more The geographic location of Egypt, at the interface between North Africa, the Middle East, and southern Europe, prompted us to investigate the genetic diversity of this population and its relationship with neighboring populations. To assess the extent to which the modern Egyptian population reflects this intermediate geographic position, ten Unique Event Polymorphisms (UEPs), mapping to the nonrecombining portion of the Y chromosome, have been typed in 164 Y chromosomes from three North African populations. The analysis of these binary markers, which define 11 Y-chromosome lineages, were used to determine the haplogroup frequencies in Egyptians, Moroccan Arabs, and Moroccan Berbers and thereby define the Y-chromosome background in these regions. Pairwise comparisons with a set of 15 different populations from neighboring European, North African, and Middle Eastern populations and geographic analysis showed the absence of any significant genetic barrier in the eastern part of the Mediterranean area, suggesting that genetic variation and gene flow in this area follow the "isolation-by-distance" model. These results are in sharp contrast with the observation of a strong north-south genetic barrier in the western Mediterranean basin, defined by the Gibraltar Strait. Thus, the Y-chromosome gene pool in the modern Egyptian population reflects a mixture of European, Middle Eastern, and African characteristics, highlighting the importance of ancient and recent migration waves, followed by gene flow, in the region.
Jerba is an island situated in the South-East of Tunisia were some ethnic groups (Arabs, Berbers,... more Jerba is an island situated in the South-East of Tunisia were some ethnic groups (Arabs, Berbers, Blacks, Jewishs and others) cohabit for centuries. The religion and cultural differences have represented an obstacle to a mixture between these groups. In order to evaluate the genetic differentiation between the muslim groups (Arabs, Berbers and Blacks), we have analysed the polymorphism of a mitochondrial DNA coding region. The cytochrome oxydase coding region (COII) was amplified by PCR in 57 Arabs, 42 Berbers and 16 Blacks. The amplified products were analysed by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP). Genetic distances were calculated by using the AMOVA program. The values of these distances were significantly different between Arabs and Blacks, and between Berbers and Blacks but not between Arabs and Berbers. So That, to refine the evaluation of genetic diversity between Arabs and Berbers, we have analysed the polymorphism of a second mitochondrial coding region which en...
How and when the Americas were populated remains contentious. Using ancient and modern genome-wid... more How and when the Americas were populated remains contentious. Using ancient and modern genome-wide data, we find that the ancestors of all present-day Native Americans, including Athabascans and Amerindians, entered the Americas as a single migration wave from Siberia no earlier than 23 thousand years ago (KYA), and after no more than 8,000-year isolation period in Beringia. Following their arrival to the Americas, ancestral Native Americans diversified into two basal genetic branches around 13 KYA, one that is now dispersed across North and South America and the other is restricted to North America. Subsequent gene flow resulted in some Native Americans sharing ancestry with present-day East Asians (including Siberians) and, more distantly, Australo-Melanesians. Putative…
Three coalescent-based methods allowed us to infer some aspects of the history of three Bulgarian... more Three coalescent-based methods allowed us to infer some aspects of the history of three Bulgarian Gypsies populations belonging to the Vlax linguistic group: the Lom, Rudari and Kalderas. We used several kinds of genetic markers: HV1 sequences of the maternally inherited mitochondrial genome and microsatellites of the paternally inherited Y chromosome and of the biparentally inherited chromosome 8. This allowed us to infer several parameters for men and women: the splitting order of the populations and the ages of the splitting events, the growth rate in each population and the migration rates between populations. Altogether, they enabled us to infer a demographic scenario that could explain the genetic diversity of Vlax Roma: recent splits occurring after the arrival in Europe, asymmetric migration flows especially for males and unequal growth rates. This represents a considerable contribution to the Vlax Roma history in comparison with the inferences from classical population genetics.
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Papers by Evelyne Heyer
based on approximately 2,700 ascending pedigrees of contemporary people from Saguenay Lac-St-Jean (Quebec, Canada). This allowed us to appreciate the accumulated inbreeding and to follow the evolution of these coefficients
since the founding of Quebec. One of the results was the expected increase in FST. Relying on this parameter, we computed the effective size (Ne) of the contemporary population, obtaining a value around 1,000, in agreement with
previous estimations. We noticed a decrease of Ne through history despite the population‘s growing size.
The extent to which social organization of human societies impacts the patterns of genetic diversity remains an open question. Here, we investigate the transmission of reproductive success in patrilineal and cognatic populations from Central Asia using a coalescent approach.
METHODS:
We performed a study on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome polymorphism of patrilineal and cognatic populations from Central Asia. We reconstructed the gene genealogies in each population for both kind of markers and inferred the imbalance level of these genealogies, a parameter directly related to the level of transmission of reproductive success.
RESULTS:
This imbalance level appeared much stronger for the Y chromosome in patrilineal populations than in cognatic populations, while no difference was found for mtDNA. Furthermore, we showed that this imbalance level correlates negatively with Y-chromosomal, mtDNA, and autosomal genetic diversity.
CONCLUSIONS:
This shows that patrilineality might be one of the factors explaining the male transmission of reproductive success, which, in turn, lead to a reduction of genetic diversity. Thus, notwithstanding the fact that our population genetic approach clearly shows that there is a strong male-biased transmission of reproductive success in patrilineal societies, it also highlights the fact that a social process such as cultural transmission of reproductive success could play an important role in shaping human genetic diversity, although we cannot formally exclude that this transmission has also a genetic component. Am J Phys Anthropol :1-7, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.