Gene Genealogies, Variation and Evolution A Primer in Coalescent Theory [Paperback]

Coalescent theory tells us what gene genealogies are expected to look like if populations have different demographic histories - i.e, population size, structure, etc. The aim of this book is to provide an accessible introduction to Coalescent Theory with a view towards data analysis. Coalescent Theory has in the last two decades moved from being an obscure technique that appealed to mathematical population geneticists to a central tool in data analysis of DNA sequences. The completion of the sequencing of the human genome and accompanying determination of SNPs and haplotypes will increase its importance even further. This textbook, rich in examples and illustrations, is suitable for a graduate course in statistics, population-, molecular-, and medical genetics.

1. The basic coalescent
2. From genealogies to sequences
3. Trees and topologies
4. Extensions to the basic coalescent
5. The coalescent with recombination
6. Getting paramaters from data
7. LD mapping and the coalescent
8. Human evolution

There has been a dire need for a good book introducing coalescent theory to biologists.Gene Genealogies, Variation and Evolutionfills this important gap this book should be mandatory reading for any graduate student working on population-level molecular data. -Evolution