ABSTRACT
André Flores Bello, PhD. He is a geneticist biologist and researcher focused on population genetics and the study of ancestry.
He began his professional career at the Centro de Extensión Universitaria y Divulgación Ambiental de Galicia as a researcher of the flora and its ecological characteristics in the Bay of Santa Cruz in Oleiros, A Coruña. Subsequently, he worked as a research assistant in the Botany group of the University of A Coruña with the project "Studying South American populations of Eurosiberian species of Antoxantum odoratum".
In 2015, he completed his master studies at the University of Barcelona, where he began his specialization in the area of evolutionary and human population genetics.
Subsequently, he continued his academic training at the Pompeu Fabra University, in Barcelona, to obtain his PhD degree in Evolutionary Biology with the thesis "Population Genetic Landscape of Basques". It is in this university where he continued his postdoctoral research, which resulted in several scientific articles and in which he was able to develop as a teacher in different subjects of the Degree in Human Biology including: Genetics, Evolution, Zoology and Ecology.
Currently, he works at 24Genetics as a product developer and researcher, participating in the development of several genetic analysis products at 24Genetics.
FOCUS AREAS
- Biology
- Human Evolution
- Population Genetics
EDUCATION
PhD
Pompeu Fabra University
Evolutionary Biology
Excellent - CUM LAUDE
MASTER
University of Barcelona
Genetics and Evolutionary Genomics
GRADUATE
University of A Coruña
Biology and Biological Sciences
RESEARCH
- The genetic landscape of the Mercheros: an underrepresented group in the Iberian Peninsula - 2021
The overall picture of human genetic variation has been greatly shaped in recent years, yet many populations remain largely understudied. In this paper, we analyze for the first time the Mercera population, a poorly studied and historically persecuted Spanish ethnic minority group. The Merceros have been characterized by an itinerant history, common traditional occupations and the use of their own language.
- Genetic origin, uniqueness and heterogeneity of the Basques - 2021
The Basques have historically lived along the western Pyrenees, in the French-Cantabrian region, straddling the current Spanish and French territories. In recent decades they have been the subject of intense research due to their unique cultural and biological traits, which, with great controversy, placed them as a heterogeneous, isolated and unique population. Their non-Indo-European language, Basque, is believed to be an important factor shaping the genetic landscape of the Basques. However, there is still a lively debate about its history and supposed uniqueness due to the limitations of previous studies. Here, we analyze genome data from Basque and surrounding non-Euskera speaking groups. Surrounding non-Basque-speaking groups at the microgeographical level. We analyzed a total of ∼629,000
Whole genome variants in 1,970 modern and ancient samples, including 190 new individuals from 18 sampling localities in the Basque area. For the first time, local and large-scale analyses have been performed on whole-genome data covering the entire French-Cantabrian region, combining allele frequency and haplotype-based methods. Our results show a clear differentiation of Basques from surrounding populations, with non-Basque Basque French-Cantabrians situated in an intermediate position. In addition, a strong genetic heterogeneity within the Basques is observed with a significant correlation with geography. Finally, the Basque differentiation detected cannot be attributed to an external origin in comparison with other Iberian and surrounding populations. Instead, we show that such differentiation is the result of a genetic continuity since the Iron Age, characterized by periods of isolation and lack of recent gene flow that could have been reinforced by the language barrier.
- Patterns of genetic structure and adaptive positive selection in the Lithuanian population from high-density SNP data - 2019.
Analysis of geographically specific regions and characterization of fine-scale patterns of genetic diversity can facilitate a much better understanding of microevolutionary processes affecting local human populations. Here, we generated high-density SNP genotype data on 425 individuals from six geographic regions of Lithuania and combined our dataset with available ancient and modern data to explore population genetic structure, ancestry components, and signatures of positive natural selection in the Lithuanian population.Our results show that Lithuanians are a homogeneous population, genetically differentiated from neighboring populations, but within the expected general European context. Moreover, we not only confirm that Lithuanians retain one of the highest proportions of Western, Scandinavian and Eastern hunter-gatherer ancestry components found in European populations, but also that of Early to Middle Bronze Age steppe herders, which together shape the distinctive genetic character of the Lithuanian population. Finally, among the main signatures of positive selection detected in Lithuanians, we identified several candidate genes related to diet (PNLIP, PPARD), pigmentation (SLC24A5, TYRP1 and PPARD) and immune response (BRD2, HLA-DOA, IL26 and IL22).
- Sequence diversity of the Rh blood group system in Basques - 2018
The Basques present specific cultural, demographic and genetic characteristics that have positioned them as an isolated and unique population within Europe, such as their non-Indo-European language, Euskara. Historically they have lived along the western Pyrenees, between Spain and France, in one of the most important European glacial refuges during the Last Glacial Maximum. The most striking genetic characteristic is their higher frequency of the negative allele of the RhD blood group, a variant related to hemolytic disease of the newborn. Both demographic and adaptive processes have been suggested as possible causes of the high frequency of RhD negative in Basques, but neither hypothesis has been clearly demonstrated. While previous studies on the Rh system in Basques have mainly focused on serological and genotypic diversity, in this work we analyze genotyping and next-generation sequencing data in order to provide a general framework of the genetic scenario of the system in Basques. In particular, we genotyped the most relevant variants of the system (D/d, E/e, and C/c), and sequenced three ~6 kb flanking regions surrounding the Rh genes in Basques and also in other populations for comparison. Our results agree with those of previous studies, with Basques having the highest frequency of RHD deletion (47.2%). Haplotype analyses of the D/d, E/e and C/c variants confirmed an association between the RhC allele, previously suggested to be under positive selection, and the RhD-positive variant in non-sub-Saharan populations, including Basques. We also found extreme differentiation for the C/c variant when comparing sub-Saharan and non-sub-Saharan populations.
COURSES
- Paleogenomics of ancient DNA - Physalia
- Associated with Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
- Research Ethics and Personal Data Protection
- Associated with Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
- Illustrating science 7
- Associated with Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
- DNA sequencing by capillary electrophoresis Associated with University of A Coruna
RELATED LINKS:
