Lluis Quintana-Murci, Professor at the Collège de France and Director of the Laboratoire de génétique évolutive humaine of the Institut Pasteur (Paris), gave a conference on July 5, 2022 at UBC on the topic “From Neanderthal to COVID-19 : genetic and evolutionary sources of human immune response variation”. His intervention is part of the Embassy of France in Canada and the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies’ “French Scholar Lectures Series”.
Many students and professionals were present at UBC to listen to Pr Quintana-Murci. He explained how natural selection and the demographic history of the human spieces influenced the genetic diversity of populations. This phenomenon is also influenced by the interbreeding between populations linked to migrations, as well as ways of life. The geneticist emphasized how pathogens’ selection pressures on the human genome led each population to adapt according to its infectious environment. The Covid-19 pandemic illustrates the way gene polymorphism influences individuals’ susceptibility to SARS-CoV2.
INTERVIEW – Lluis Quintana-Murci is invited by Radio Canada (Deuxième heure, 4 juillet 2022) : « Why are we all different facing the Covid-19? »
