Genetic Truths Through Time

How did people live in the past? How did they adapt to new environments, changing climates or shifts in their diet? How did the genetic differences we see in people today come about, and where did certain traits even come from? Is it at all possible to estimate how old someone was when they died, to then better understand their lives? Thanks to modern technology, we can now start answering some of these questions, by studying DNA from ancient human remains found at archaeological sites: the ancient DNA (aDNA).

Can a fathers’ exposure to agents that damage his DNA affect the health of his children? Our research helps shed light on the origins of diseases inherited from the paternal side. We discovered in fact that DNA damage in the sperm, caused for instance by aging or radiation-exposure, can lead to long-term genome instability in the following generations, but strangely enough it's not the same if the maternal DNA in the oocytes is damaged.