The complex history of migrations and cultural innovations of populations has probably left imprints in the current genome of our species, as evidenced by its extensive phenotypic variability.
In the group we investigate these recent evolutionary imprints in ADME genes, which are of particular interest to clinicians due to their involvement in the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs. These genes are potential targets of natural or cultural selection due to their function taking place at the interface between the organism and its chemical and dietary environment.
Our main approaches involve the comparison, in large population samples, of diversity patterns analyzed at the genomic level and in specific genetic systems, such as the CYP2D6 polymorphism, examined with PacBio technology, or GWAS and genomic scan approaches to study population variability in pharmacogenomic traits.
To better understand the potential functional role of human polymorphisms in genomic regions involved in drug responses, we also investigate their variability in our closest relatives, the chimpanzees.