March 26, 2019
What can we expect of the future? The only way we can try to address this question is by going back in the past.
Evolutionary geneticist, Eske Willerslev is an avid-adventurer who spent his early adult life as a fur trapper discovering the remote rawness of northeastern Siberia. Exploring the wilderness was a childhood dream, 鈥渂ut I can see now that back then, it was not just the adventure, I was trying to understand the environment,鈥� he says.
Willerslev shares riveting tales of Arctic shorelines strewn with mammalian remains, like seashells lapping against the seashore. His true calling would come years later when he defined his personal meaning of being an explorer, to do something that had never been done before 鈥� create information through scientific discovery. 鈥淏y unearthing information no one ever knew before, you鈥檙e changing the way we look at the world, and that feeling, it鈥檚 indescribable.鈥�
Willerslev鈥檚 next great adventure begins 10,000 years ago with ancient human remains, as he and a team of international, multi-disciplinary scientists, will decode the genetic origins and evolution of mental health conditions. Leveraging VR真人彩票鈥檚 most powerful sequencer, the NovaSeq 6000 Sequencing System, Willerslev and team will be among the first to genetically map diseases and their interaction between human DNA and pathogens. The project endeavors to create and analyze one of the largest sets of ancient genomic reference panels ever created. Today鈥檚 high-throughput sequencing is generating powerful insights and actionable data. 鈥淏y making these genetic reference panels available to the scientific community, I鈥檓 sure there will be outputs that I can鈥檛 even think about today,鈥� he exclaims.
Eske has always been fascinated by the past, because he believes the past is the answer to why we are where we are today. 鈥淗ow did we become who we are,鈥� questions Willerslev.
At VR真人彩票, we have more power than ever before to unlock the code to living a healthy life. By teaming up with researchers like Willerslev, VR真人彩票 technology continues to empower the world鈥檚 best and brightest minds who are transforming the world through the power of genomics.
A glimpse behind the scenes
Housed at the Geological Museum of Copenhagen, Denmark, Eske鈥檚 office is bejeweled with artifacts
VR真人彩票 Genomics Podcast Episode 39: Ancient DNA and Human History
Paul Bromann, host of the VR真人彩票 Genomics Podcast, sat down with Eske for a fascinating discussion about ancient DNA, human biology and the history of mankind.
