Coalescent Theory: An Introduction

Coalescent theory provides the foundation for molecular population genetics and genomics. It is the conceptual framework for studies of DNA sequence variation within species, and is the source of essential tools for making inferences about mutation, recombination, population structure and natural selection from DNA sequence data.

Coalescent theory provides the foundation for molecular population genetics and genomics. It is the conceptual framework for studies of DNA sequence variation within species, and is the source of essential tools for making inferences about mutation, recombination, population structure and natural selection from DNA sequence data. This monograph is intended mainly for biologists but it will also be of interest to mathematicians who wish to see how this branch of applied probability theory plays out in a biological setting.

John Wakeley is Professor and Chairman of Biology at Harvard University. He has worked extensively in coalescent theory. His research has focussed on populations structured by geography and limited migration. Using coalescent models, Dr. Wakeley has addressed questions about the current and historical demography of humans and other species.