Research InterestsI. Demographic history of domestic dogs.
As the first domesticated animal and man’s closest friend, domestic dog (canis familiaris) has followed human beings and travelled across a wide variety of ecological niches with us. The main interest is to draw a picture of where, when, and how the domestic dog originated, and understand the migration history of dogs. II. Decipher the genetics of dog behavior Domestic dogs have special skills in comprehending human communicative behaviors, which have evolved as a result of domestication. The goal of this part is to understand the genetic basis of dog behavior, and mental diseases shared with humans, like obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and autism. The study will shed light on the genetic architecture of these disorders in humans. III. Artificial selection. The genetic bases of artificial selection underlying domestication are of great interest in evolutionary biology. Through the whole-genome sequencing approaches, we try to learn the genetic bases of artificial selection, and compared it with natural selection. IV. Evolutionary history of circadian rhythm activity period in primates. The evolutionary history of circadian rhythm activity period in primates has been contentious. The lack of strong evidence and the controversy of the ancestral activity format of primates have made it hard to determine whether circadian rhythm transformation occurred in the common ancestor of haplorrhines or anthropoids. We try to perform genome-wide scans for positive selected genes (PSGs) to investigate the genetic bases of adaptation during circadian rhythm transformation in primates. |
NewsSep 2015, site updated
Oct 2014, site created |