Lluís Quintana-Murci (born 1970 in
Palma de Mallorca,
Spain) is a French-Spanish
biologist and
population geneticist known for his research on human evolution, population genomic diversity and its relationship with immune diversity and infectious diseases.
Biography
After studying biology at the
University of Barcelona, he obtained a
PhD in
Human Genetics at the
University of Pavia in Italy, and his habilitation to direct research at the
Sorbonne University in Paris. After postdoctoral training at the
Pasteur Institute and several internships at the Universities of
Tucson (USA) and
Oxford (UK), Lluis Quintana-Murci joined the
CNRS as a researcher in human
population genetics in 2001. He heads the Unit of Human Evolutionary Genetics (CNRS UMR2000) at the Institut Pasteur since 2007, and has been Scientific Director of the Institut during 2016-2017. He is presently Professor at the
Collège de France (Chair of Human Genomics and Evolution) and
Institut Pasteur.[1][2]
Research interests
Lluis Quintana-Murci is a
population geneticist whose research focuses on the study of the genetic architecture of human populations and the role of genetic diversity in human adaptation. In particular, his laboratory uses genomic data to infer the past demographic history of human populations, with a special focus on
Africa and the
Pacific, and dissect the different forms in which
natural selection can act on the
human genome. His team is especially interested in exploring the extent to which
pathogens have exerted pressures on human
innate immunity genes. Over the last years, his team also correlates
genetic and
epigenetic variation in populations with different ancestries and lifestyles with molecular phenotypes related to immune responses, to identify mechanisms that have been crucial for our past and present survival against
infection. In this context, his research focuses on the study of the genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors driving variation in immune responses, as this helps to lay the foundations of
precision medicine related to infectious and immune-related disorders. His laboratory combines molecular and population genetics approaches, with computational modelling and development of new statistical frameworks.
Lluis Quintana-Murci has co-authored over 200 publications on fundamental population genetics as well as evolutionary genetics of infection and published 12 book chapters. He has been a laureate of the
European Research Council (ERC), and is a member of
EMBO, the
Academia Europaea, and the
French Academy of Sciences.
Choin J, Mendoza-Revilla J, Arauna LR, Cuadros-Espinoza S, Cassar O, Larena M, Min-Shan Ko A, Harmant C, Laurent R, Verdu P, Laval G, Boland A, Olaso R, Deleuze JF, Valentin F, Ko YC, Jakobsson M, Gessain A, Excoffier L, Stoneking M, Patin E, Quintana-Murci L (2021) Genomic insights into population history and biological adaptation in Oceania.
Nature 592(7855):583-589
PMID: 33854233
Kerner G, Laval G, Patin E, Boisson-Dupuis S, Abel L, Casanova JL, Quintana-Murci L (2021) Human ancient DNA analyses reveal the high burden of tuberculosis in Europeans over the last 2,000 years.
American Journal of Human Genetics 108(3):517-524
PMID: 33667394
Quintana-Murci L (2019) Human Immunology through the Lens of Evolutionary Genetics.
Cell 177(1):184-199
PMID: 30901539
Piasecka B, Duffy D, Urrutia A, Quach H, Patin E, Posseme C, Bergstedt J, Charbit B, Rouilly V, MacPherson C, Hasan M, Albaud B, Gentien D, Fellay J, Albert M, Quintana-Murci L. & the Milieu Intérieur Consortium (2018). Distinctive Roles of Age, Sex and Genetics in Shaping Transcriptional Variation of Human Immune Responses to Microbial Challenges.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 115(3):E488-E497
PMID: 29282317
Lopez M, Kousathanas A, Quach H, Harmant C, Mouguiama P, Hombert JM, Froment A, Perry GH, Barreiro LB, Verdu P, Patin E, Quintana-Murci L (2018). The demographic history and mutational load of African hunter-gatherers and farmers.
Nature Ecology and Evolution 2(4):721-730
PMID: 29531345
Patin E, Lopez M, Grollemund R, Verdu P, Harmant C, Quach H, Laval G, Perry GH, Barreiro LB, Froment A, Heyer E, Massougbodji A, Fortes-Lima C, Migot-Nabias F, Bellis G, Dugoujon JM, Pereira JB, Fernandes V, Pereira L, Van der Veen L, Mouguiama-Daouda P, Bustamante CD, Hombert JM, Quintana-Murci L (2017) Dispersals and genetic adaptation of Bantu-speaking populations in Africa and North America.
Science 356: 543–546
PMID: 28473590
Quach H, Rotival M, Pothlichet J, Loh YE, Dannemann M, Zidane N, Laval G, Patin E, Harmant C, Lopez M, Deschamps M, Naffakh N, Duffy D, Coen A, Leroux-Roels G, Clément F, Boland A, Deleuze JF, Kelso J, Albert ML, Quintana-Murci L (2016) Genetic Adaptation and Neandertal Admixture Shaped the Immune System of Human Populations.
Cell 167(3):643-656
PMID: 27768888
Fagny M, Patin E, MacIsaac JL, Rotival M, Flutre T, Jones MJ, Siddle KJ, Quach H, Harmant C, McEwen LM, Froment A, Heyer E, Gessain A, Betsem E, Mouguiama-Daouda P, Hombert JM, Perry GH, Barreiro LB, Kobor MS, Quintana-Murci L (2015) The epigenomic landscape of African rainforest hunter-gatherers and farmers.
Nature Communications 6:10047
PMID: 26616214
Manry J, Laval G, Patin E, Fornarino S, Itan Y, Fumagalli M, Sironi M, Tichit M, Bouchier C, Casanova JL, Barreiro LB & Quintana-Murci L (2011) Evolutionary genetic dissection of human interferons.
Journal of Experimental Medicine 208, 2747-2759
PMID: 22162829
Barreiro LB, Quintana-Murci L (2010) From evolutionary genetics to human immunology: how selection shapes host defence genes.
Nature Reviews Genetics 11(1):17-30
PMID: 19953080
Barreiro, L.B., Laval, G., Quach, H., Patin, E. & Quintana-Murci, L. (2008) Natural selection has driven population differentiation in modern humans.
Nature Genetics 40, 340-345
PMID: 18246066
Quintana-Murci, L., Semino, O., Bandelt, H.J., Passarino, G., McElreavey, K. & Santachiara- Benerecetti, A.S. (1999) Genetic evidence of an early exit of Homo sapiens sapiens from Africa through eastern Africa.
Nature Genetics 23, 437-441
PMID: 10581031