Foreword

The Genome science encompasses many scientific areas and is essential to advancing knowledge of different disciplines as Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Medicine and Biological Anthropology, among others. With respect to this last discipline, the understanding of our place in nature has benefited in recent years of the Genomic research that is being essential in the analysis of the biological origin of our species, and to measure in a more precise way human biological variation. The main genome projects have had a great impact in Biological Anthropology, and the anthropological studies are benefiting more and more from the genomic data. The developments in genome bioinformatics and computational biology have helped make the advances possible in the field of Anthropological Genetics, as well as in Forensic Anthropology and the population studies. Briefly, the current genomic revolution constitutes a turning point in our understanding of human evolution, and a fascinating insight into what can be revealed from the study of genomes.

The book deals with the genomic approaches in Biological Anthropology and how the DNA markers can provide insight into the processes of evolution and human variability; in addition, explanations of the technological developments and how they affect the fields of Forensic sciences and population studies are shown, alongside the methods of field investigations and their contribution to the Molecular Anthropology. But in turn, this volume reveals how the modern Anthropology can contribute to redefine the ways we have come to understand the genetic issues.

This volume, written by experts in their respective field, provides a rigorous overview about a subject so promising like Genomics and its present and future applications in the study of Human Biology. Through the different chapters authors are providing essential information for the area of Biological Anthropology that could change the traditional vision in this field and contribute to resolve numerous anthropological questions that have not yet been answered.

Esther Rebato
Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology
University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU)
Bilbao
Spain
E-mail: esther.rebato@ehu.es