Mercoledì 5 Giugno 2024, ore 13
Edificio Asclepio U8-Aula 6
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About 270 viruses are known to infect humans and most of them also infect other mammals. Some of these viruses have been known for centuries, whereas others have emerged only recently. During their evolutionary history, humans have moved out of Africa to populate the world. In historical times, human migrations resulted in the displacement of large numbers of people.
All these events left signatures in the genomic make-up of present-day humans, but also determined the movement and dispersal of human-infecting viruses. Recent technological advances have resulted in the characterization of the genetic variability of human viruses, both in extant and in archaeological samples. Field studies have investigated the diversity of viruses hosted by other animals. In turn, these advances allow us to trace the evolutionary history of human viruses back in time and to define the key events through which they originated and spread. The availability of extensive genomic data also makes it possible to investigate how some viruses, including the endemic ones, have adapted to the human host and which strategies they have evolved to elude our immune system. These recent insights will be the focus of this seminar.
Manuela Sironi
I received my Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine from the University of Milan. I am presently a PI in the Computational Biology unit of the IRCCS E. Medea.
After an initial focus on the genetics of human neuromuscular disorders, I developed an interest for comparative genomics and for the evolution of non-coding sequences. Since 2007 I have been coordinating a research team with a focus in computational biology. In recent years, my research has mainly centered on the application of evolutionary approaches to study host-pathogen interactions in mammals and to investigate the evolutionary history of human pathogens. I apply computational approaches to identify positive selection signals, to achieve molecular dating, and to perform phylogeographic
analyses. I use wet-lab approaches to validate the predictions generated in silico.
I am a member of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV, Arenaviriadae Study Group) and I serve as the Chief Editor of Infection, Genetics and Evolution. I also serve as an editor for Scientific Reports and Viruses