EDUCATION

Postdoc Rasmus Nielsen Lab, UC Berkeley, CA, USA, 2011 - 2013

Postdoc Philipp Khaitovich lab, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology (PICB), Shanghai, People's Republic of China, 2008 - 2011

Ph.D Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Leipzig / Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany, 2004-2008

M.Sc Department of Biotechnology, METU, Ankara, 2001-2003

B.Sc Department of Biology, METU, Ankara, 1996-2001

AREA OF RESEARCH

We address questions on human history and evolution using genomic data. This includes ancient DNA analyses (archaeogenomics) of humans and domestic animals and population genomics of modern-populations. We work as part of the METU/Hacettepe Archaeogenomics Laboratory. We also use comparative genomic and transcriptomic data to address questions on two main processes: evolution and aging. We have previously studied molecular mechanisms of brain aging, evolutionary and molecular dynamics of aging, and adaptive and non-adaptive evolution in diverse organisms, including primates and fish.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Turan ZG, Parvizi P, Dönertaş HM, Tung J, Khaitovich P, Somel M. Molecular footprint of Medawar's mutation accumulation process in mammalian aging. Aging Cell. 2019 Aug;18(4):e12965. doi: 10.1111/acel.12965

Kılınç GM, Koptekin D, Atakuman Ç, Sümer AP, Dönertaş HM, Yaka R, Bilgin CC, Büyükkarakaya AM, Baird D, Altınışık E, Flegontov P, Götherström A, Togan İ, Somel M. Archaeogenomic analysis of the first steps of Neolithization in Anatolia and the Aegean. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 2017 Nov 29;284(1867). pii: 20172064. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2064

Dönertaş HM, İzgi H, Kamacıoğlu A, He Z, Khaitovich P, Somel M. Gene expression reversal toward pre-adult levels in the aging human brain and age-related loss of cellular identity. Scientific Reports. 2017 Jul 19;7(1):5894. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-05927-4

Kılınç GM, Omrak A, Özer F, Günther T, Büyükkarakaya AM, Bıçakçı E, Baird D, Dönertaş HM, Ghalichi A, Yaka R, Koptekin D, Açan SC, Parvizi P, Krzewińska M, Daskalaki EA, Yüncü E, Dağtaş ND, Fairbairn A, Pearson J, Mustafaoğlu G, Erdal YS, Çakan YG, Togan İ, Somel M, Storå J, Jakobsson M, Götherström A. The Demographic Development of the First Farmers in Anatolia. Current Biology. 2016 Oct 10;26(19):2659-2666. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.057

Somel M, Liu X, Khaitovich P. Human brain evolution: transcripts, metabolites and their regulators. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 2013 Feb;14(2):112-27. doi: 10.1038/nrn3372. Epub 2013 Jan 17. Review