title: Molecular anthropology in the genomic era.
abstract: Molecular Anthropology is a relatively young field of research. In fact, less than 50 years have passed since the symposium "Classification and Human Evolution" (1962, Burg Wartenstein, Austria), where the term was formally introduced by Emil Zuckerkandl. In this time, Molecular Anthropology has developed both methodologically and theoretically and extended its applications, so covering key aspects of human evolution such as the reconstruction of the history of human populations and peopling processes, the characterization of DNA in extinct humans and the role of adaptive processes in shaping the genetic diversity of our species. In the current scientific panorama, molecular anthropologists have to face a double challenge. As members of the anthropological community, we are strongly committed to the integration of biological findings and other lines of evidence (e.g. linguistic and archaeological), while keeping in line with methodological innovations which are moving the approach from the genetic to the genomic level. In this framework, the meeting "DNA Polymorphisms in Human Populations: Molecular Anthropology in the Genomic Era" (Rome, December 3-5, 2009) offered an opportunity for discussion among scholars from different disciplines, while paying attention to the impact of recent methodological innovations. Here we present an overview of the meeting and discuss perspectives and prospects of Molecular Anthropology in the genomic era.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Italiano di Antropologia, Rome, Italy. isita@isita-org.com
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Destro-Bisol
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Jobling
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Novembre
authors.forename: Martin B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mulligan
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Batini
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Manni
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D000569:Americas; D000883:Anthropology / Q000379:methods*; D001208:Asia; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003710:Demography; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005060:Europe; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans