Publications

Representative Publications
*For a full publication list, please visit Google Scholar.

Increased homozygosity due to endogamy results in fitness consequences in a human population

N. A. Swinford, S. P. Prall, S. Gopalan, C. M. Williams, J. Sheehama, B. A. Scelza, B. M. Henn (2023). Increased homozygosity due to endogamy results in fitness consequences in a human population. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120 (43) e2309552120 (link)

ScienceDaily article (October 2023): Study suggests that having common ancestors can jeopardize fertility for generations

Genome Center article (October 2023): Study Reveals How Genetic Uniformity Affects Offspring Fertility for Generations

Hunter-gatherer genomes reveal diverse demographic trajectories during the rise of farming in Eastern Africa

S Gopalan, R. E. W. Berl, J. W. Myrick, Z. H. Garfield, A. W. Reynolds, B. K. Bafens, G Belbin, M Mastoras, C Williams, M Daya, A. N. Negash, M. W. Feldman, B. S. Hewlett, B. M. Henn. (2022) Hunter-gatherer genomes reveal diverse demographic trajectories during the rise of farming in Eastern Africa. Cell, 32(8), 1852-1860. (link)

An Unexpectedly Complex Architecture for Skin Pigmentation in Africans

AR Martin, M Lin, JM Granka, JW Myrick, X Liu, A Sockell, EG Atkinson, CJ Werely, M Möller, DM Kingsley, EG Hoal, X Liu, MW Feldman, CR Gignoux, CD Bustamante, BM Henn. (2017) An Unexpectedly Complex Architecture for Skin Pigmentation in Africans. Cell. 171(6), 1340-1353. e14 - (link)

Newsweek article (November 2017): Why Is Skin Color Different? Huge Genetic Study Reveals Prevailing Theory of Pigmentation is Wrong

A weakly structured stem for human origins in Africa

AP Ragsdale, TD Weaver, EG Atkinson, EG Hoal, M Möller, BM Henn, S Gravel. (2023) A weakly structured stem for human origins in Africa. Nature. 617, 755-763. (link)

McGill Newsroom article (May 2023): A new understanding of human origins in Africa

New York Times article (May 2023): Study Offers New Twist in How the First Humans Evolved

Rapid evolution of a skin-lightening allele in southern African KhoeSan

M Lin, RL Siford, AR Martin, S Nakagome, M Möller, EG Hoal, CD Bustamante, CR Gignoux, BM Henn. (2018) Rapid evolution of a skin-lightening allele in southern African KhoeSan. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 115(52), 13324-13329. (link)

BBC Radio 4 Inside Science interview (December 2018): Rapid evolution in Khoe San

BBC Science In Action interview (December 2018): Skin tone study in Southern African populations

Loss and Gain of Natural Killer Cell Receptor Function in an African Hunter-Gatherer Population

G Hilton, PJ Norman, N Nemat-Gorgani, A Goyos, JA Hollenbach, BM Henn, CR Gignoux, LA Guethlein, P Parham. (2015) Loss and Gain of Natural Killer Cell Receptor Function in an African Hunter-Gatherer Population. PLoS Genetics. 11(8): e1005439 - (link)

New York Times article (August 2015): Mutation Reduces Pregnancy Complications for Africa’s Khoe-San People

Predicting environmental and ecological drivers of human population structure

Evlyn Pless, Anders M Eckburg, Brenna M Henn, Predicting Environmental and Ecological Drivers of Human Population Structure, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 40, Issue 5, May 2023, msad094, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msad094 (link)

No Evidence for Recent Selection at FOXP2 among Diverse Human Populations

EG Atkinson, AJ Audesse, JA Palacios, DM Bobo, AE Webb, S Ramachandran, BM Henn. (2018) No Evidence for Recent Selection at FOXP2 among Diverse Human Populations. Cell. 174(6), 1424-1435. (link)

EMBO reports article (January 2019): The riddle of speech

Nature article (August 2018): FOXP2 tells a cautionary tale