Guido Barbujani | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | January 31, 1955 (age 68) |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Citizenship | Italy |
| Alma mater | University of Ferrara |
| Known for | Contributions to Population genetics |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Genetics, Evolutionary Biology |
| Institutions | State University of New York, Stony Brook; University of Ferrara |
Guido Barbujani (born January 31, 1955) is an Italian population geneticist, evolutionary biologist and literary author born in Adria, who has worked with the State University of New York at Stony Brook (NY), University of Padua, and University of Bologna. He has taught at the University of Ferrara since 1996.
A population geneticist by training, Barbujani has been working on several aspects of human genetic variation. In collaboration with Robert R. Sokal, he pioneered the statistical comparison of patterns of genetic and linguistic variation, showing that language differences may contribute to reproductive isolation, and hence promote genetic divergence between populations.
His analyses of geographic patterns of genetic variation in Europe support Luca Cavalli-Sforza's Neolithic demic diffusion model, or the idea that farming spread in the Neolithic mainly because farmers did, and not by cultural transmission.[1] There are two implications of this finding: first, that most Europeans' ancestors, up to Neolithic times, did not live in geographical Europe, but rather in the Near East; and second, that the early farmers expanding west carried with them their genes, their technologies, and possibly their languages.
His studies of the amount of DNA differentiation among human populations, and of its spatial distribution, led to the conclusion that traditional human racial classifications fail to account for most of the existing patterns of genetic variation.[2] Rather, it seems that genetic variation is largely uncorrelated across genes, which, if confirmed, would explain why no consensus was ever reached on a catalog of human biological races. This activity has also resulted in publications for the general public.
His recent DNA studies focus on genetic characterization of ancient human populations, such as Paleolithic anatomically modern humans of Cro-Magnoid morphology, and groups like the Etruscans[3][4][5] and the Sardinians from the Nuragic era in the Neolithic.[6]
Barbujani is the author of three novels.
