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DESCRIPTION:Human Immunology through the Lens of Evolutionary Genetics\n\nL
 luis Quintana-Murci\, Institut Pasteur\n	Tuesday May 4\, 12-1pm\n	Zoom Link:
  https:/mcgill.zoom.us/j/91589192037\n\nAbstract: Unravelling the contribu
 tions of host and environmental factors to inter-individual and inter-popu
 lation variability in immune responses is crucial to understand immune pat
 hology. There is growing biomedical interest in studies of the variation o
 f the immune response and its determinants in the healthy population ¾ in 
 a strategy known as systems or population immunology. Here\, I will presen
 t our recent studies aiming to dissect the genetic\, non-genetic and evolu
 tionary determinants of immune response variation. The role played by path
 ogens in shaping human immune diversity is clearly attested by population 
 genetic studies\, indicating that immunity and host defense functions are 
 among those most frequently subject to natural selection. Notably\, we hav
 e shown that population adaptation to novel pathogen pressures can be faci
 litated by the acquisition\, via admixture\, of advantageous alleles from 
 local “adapted” populations\, such as Neanderthals or modern humans. I wil
 l also discuss our work on how genetic variation affects the diversity of 
 molecular phenotypes (i.e.\, gene expression-eQTL\, alternative splicing-s
 QTL\, and DNA methylation-meQTL)\, and highlight the importance of inferri
 ng the causality behind the detected associations between genetic\, epigen
 etic and transcriptional variation. Finally\, I will present our most rece
 nt data on how adopting an evolutionary genetics approach can inform the h
 istory of human exposure to major infectious diseases\, such as malaria an
 d tuberculosis. The integration of population genetics and systems immunol
 ogy thus holds great promise for the increased understanding of the factor
 s driving immune response variation between individuals and populations\, 
 with impacts on infectious disease risk.\n
DTSTART:20210504T160000Z
DTEND:20210504T170000Z
LOCATION:CA\, QC
SUMMARY:QLS Seminar Series - Lluis Quintana-Murci
URL:https://www.mcgill.ca/qls/channels/event/qls-seminar-series-lluis-quint
 ana-murci-330523
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