Lynn Jorde
Professor and Chair of Human Genetics
B.A. University of New Mexico
Ph.D. University of New Mexico
Research
My laboratory is involved in two major areas of research: gene mapping and evolutionary genetics. We are analyzing variation in genes in the renin-angiotensin pathway in a series of Utah families and in a cohort of hypertensive subjects to better understand the role of these genes in hypertension susceptibility. We are also involved in studies of the genetics of schizophrenia, polycythemia, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Our evolutionary genetic research involves the analysis of worldwide genetic variation in human mitochondrial and nuclear DNA (including the Y chromosome). We have been focusing especially on mobile elements, such as Alu and L1 insertion polymorphisms. We are using these data to test a variety of evolutionary hypotheses, and we are investigating the impact of mobile elements on processes such as recombination and linkage disequilibrium. We have been exploring the implications of population genetic data for current questions about the relevance of “race” in biomedical settings.
References
1. Marchani EE, Xing J, Witherspoon DJ, Jorde LB, Rogers AR (2009) Estimating the age of retrotransposon subfamilies using maximum likelihood. Genomics, In Press
2. Xing J, Watkins WS, Witherspoon DJ, Zhang Y, Guthery SL, Thara R, Mowry BJ, Bulayeva K, Weiss RB, Jorde LB (2009) Fine-scaled human genetic structure revealed by SNP microarrays. Genome Res 19(5):815-25
3. Pont-Kingdon G, Bohnsack J, Sumner K, Whiting A, Clifford B, Guthery SS, Jorde LB, Lyon E, Prahalad S (2009) Lack of association between beta 2-adrenergic receptor polymorphisms and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Scand J Rheumatol 38(2):91-5
4. Watkins WS, Thara R, Mowry BJ, Zhang Y, Witherspoon DJ, Tolpinrud W, Bamshad MJ, Tiripati S, Padmavati R, Smith H, Nancarrow D, Filippich C, Jorde LB (2008) Genetic variation in South Indian castes: evidence from Y-chromosome, mitochondrial, and autosomal polymorphisms. BMC Genet 9(1):86
5. Xing J, Watkins WS, Zhang Y, Witherspoon DJ, Jorde LB (2008) High Fidelity of Whole-Genome Amplified DNA on High-Density Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Arrays. Genomics 92:452-6
6. Yang Z, Stratoon C, Francis PJ, Jorde LB, Zhang K (2008) A Common TLR3 Variant Confers Protection from Geographic Atrophy in Age-Related Macular Degeneration. N Engl J Med 359:1456-63
7. Eriksson AW, Fellman J, Jorde LB, Pitkanen K (2008) Temporal, seasonal, and regional differences in births and deaths in Aland (Finland). Hum Biol 80(2):125-40
8. Prahalad S, Bohnsack JF, Whiting A, Clifford B, Jorde LB, Guthery SL, Thompson SD, Glass DN, Bamshad MJ (2008) Lack of association of functional CTLA4 polymorphisms with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 58(7):2147-52
9. Marchani EE, Watkins WS, Bulayeva K, Harpending HC, Jorde LB (2008) Culture creates genetic structure in the Caucasus: Autosomal, mitochondrial, and Y-chromosomal variation in Daghestan. BMC Genet 9(1):47
10. Holliday EG, Nyholt DR, Tirupati S, John S, Smith H, Filippich C, Nertney DA, Watkins WS, Jorde LB, Thara R, and others (2009) Evidence for a novel schizophrenia risk locus in 1p31.1 in homogeneous pedigrees from Tamil Nadu, India. Am J Psychiat 166: 206-15
11. Gangwal K, Sankar S, Hollenhorst PC, Kinsey M, Haroldsen SC, Shah AA, Boucher KM, Watkins WS, Jorde LB, Graves BJ, et al. (2008) Microsatellites as EWS/FLI response elements in Ewing’s sarcoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105(29):10149-54
12. Xing J, Witherspoon DJ, Watkins WS, Zhang Y, Tolpinrud W, Jorde LB (2008) HapMap tagSNP transferability in multiple populations: General guidelines. Genomics 92:41-51
13. Tong Z, Yang Z, Patel S, Chen H, Gibbs D, Yang X, Hau VS, Kaminoh Y, Harmon J, Pearson E, Jorde LB, Zhang K (2008) Promoter polymorphism of the erythropoietin gene in severe diabetic eye and kidney complications. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105(19):6998-7003
14. Xing J, Witherspoon DJ, Ray DA, Batzer MA, Jorde LB (2007) Mobile DNA elements in primate and human evolution. Yearb Phys Anthrop 50:2-19
15. Witherspoon DJ, Wooding S, Rogers AR, Marchani EE, Watkins WS, Batzer MA, Jorde LB (2007) Genetic Similarities Within and Between Human Populations. Genetics 176:351-9
