Parlour Talks are Magdalene's informal, interdisciplinary seminars designed to bring MCR members together with Fellows to hear accessible, interesting talks across a wide range of subjects. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet people from across different disciplines as well as the fellows who you might not otherwise encounter.

Talks take place at 18.00 in the Parlour and will finish in good time for Formal Hall afterwards. Wine and nibbles will be provided, and there is no need to book.

Tuesday 10 February
Dr Will Barrie, Magdalene Junior Research Fellow

Title
10,000 Years in the Making: Unravelling Human History, Health and Evolution Through Ancient DNA

Abstract
The recent ability to extract DNA from ancient human skeletons has transformed our understanding of human history and evolution. As the number of sequenced ancient genomes has gone from the tens to the thousands, and to the soon to be tens of thousands, the types of questions we can answer is changing fast: we are moving from broad scale demographic inferences to fine scale histories and more complex evolutionary questions, like the origins of complex traits. I will give an introduction to this exciting field, before talking more in depth about my own research. I will discuss how we can extract pathogen DNA from human bones, from bacteria and viruses in the blood at the time of death, to reconstruct past epidemics, and examine the impact these have had on the human genome. I will then discuss the legacy of these changes, one of which is the high modern prevalence of autoimmune disease.