# Deciphering The Evolutionary and Biological Impact of Human Admixture

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2024 · $275,627

## Abstract

Project Summary
Admixture is a vital evolutionary process that profoundly shapes human genetic diversity and health.
Current evidence suggests that admixture is ubiquitous throughout human evolution and has been
accelerating during our recent evolutionary history. However, despite the paramount importance of
admixture, we still lack sufficient means to infer a complete admixture history in humans. Due to the
underrepresentation of non-European populations in biobanks, we also do not fully understand the
genetic basis of complex traits in admixed populations. Furthermore, constrained by our long
generation time, we do not have a holistic view of how admixture interacted with other evolutionary
processes such as selection, and how they shaped genomes over time. Synthesizing computational
methods development and empirical population genomics, my lab will decipher the evolutionary history
and biological impact of human admixture via three lines of work. First, we will develop machine learning
methods to investigate some of the oldest admixture events, the archaic introgression, in understudied
non-European populations. Specifically, we will search for evidence of introgression with unknown,
“ghost” hominins in East Asians, and leverage the evolutionary trajectory of adaptive introgression gene
regions to infer a comprehensive population history for South Americans. Next, we will focus on the
impact of recent admixture in shaping complex traits in modern humans. We will use simulations to
model changes in the underlying genetic architecture of complex traits caused by admixture and
develop novel statistical methods to improve the accuracy of complex trait phenotype predictions in
populations that experienced recent and ongoing admixture. Finally, we aim to elucidate the real-time
process and functional consequences of admixture using two nonhuman study systems with shorter
generations. We will use interbreeding Drosophila species to experimentally track the dynamics
between admixture and selection on admixed genomes over time. We will couple the work with an
admixed captive colony of rhesus macaques that has longitudinal records of genomic and phenotypic
data to investigate how admixture changes individual fitness and phenotypes directly relevant to
humans. Overall, this research will provide invaluable empirical evidence and powerful quantitative
tools to enhance our understanding of human admixture from complementary perspectives.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10937270
- **Project number:** 1R35GM154856-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Xinjun Zhang
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $275,627
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-04 → 2029-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10937270

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10937270, Deciphering The Evolutionary and Biological Impact of Human Admixture (1R35GM154856-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10937270. Licensed CC0.

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