Objective
Recent ancient DNA studies have discovered a basal form of Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of bubonic plague, in 5,000 year-old individuals from Eastern and Central Europe. Even though this strain is an early form that does likely not survive in fleas and might have been less transmissible, the timing intriguingly coincides with a period of substantial societal changes. The archaeological record of 3rd millennium BC Europe clearly demonstrates the demise of terminal Stone Age and the rise of Bronze Age societies across the continent. This turnover has so far been explained by factors such as climatic changes or the advent of new metal working technologies and associated trading networks, which led to a reorganization of past societies. However, contemporaneous genomic data from ancient Europeans have attested major genetic upheavals in Europe 5,000 years ago, with an introgression of 75% genetic ancestry from mobile groups from the eastern steppes appearing in Central Europe. This substantial contribution suggests that early outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as plague, are a vital alternative explanation for large-scale population replacements and thus an attractive hypothesis for investigation. With well-preserved ancient human samples from relevant time periods and key regions in Europe at our disposal, we have a unique and ideal test case to track evolutionary relationships between the human genome and pathogens through time. We will specifically target an extensive number of variants in human immune-related loci using state-of-the-art DNA capture assays alongside deep sequencing of microbial shotgun and pathogen data, which permits a direct characterization of human-pathogen co-evolution. This unique temporal framework will allow us to detect loci under selection in humans and pathogens, and explore the role of infectious diseases and human mobility in past societies via an innovative paleo-epidemiological database and explicit modeling approaches.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history prehistory
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases
- natural sciences biological sciences evolutionary biology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2017-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.