Genetic History group led by Zuzana Hofmanová
In our group, we investigate genetic diversity in order to contribute to understanding of our past. The main research line is to uncover, describe and understand demographic events in history and prehistory. We particularly focus on the recent past and combine our work with historical and archaeological hypotheses and interpretation. We are also concerned with sensitive bias-free population genetic data analysis, theory of interdisciplinary interpretation and societal impact of our results.
Computational Pathogenomics group led by Alexander Herbig
The focus of our research is on the development and application of computational tools in the field of pathogenomics.
The reconstruction of genomes of ancient bacterial pathogens is the basis for studying their evolution. This involves phylogenetic analyses for the elucidation of a pathogen's ancestry, and for the identification of functional variants potentially causing phenotypic differences. In this context we work on various human pathogens such as Yersinia pestis, Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium tuberculosis in order to gain insights into the evolution of mechanisms of pathogenicity and host adaptation. In addition, studying coevolution of bacteria and humans is of major interest in particular with respect to microbes that evolved together with their human host for millennia, such as the stomach populating bacterium Helicobacter pylori.