Microsatellites: Evolution and Applications

Microsatellites are short stretches of repeated D.N.A. that show exceptional variability in humans and most other species. This variability has made microsatellites the genetic marker of choice for numerous applications, including genetic mapping and studies of evolutionary connections between species and populations. This book details the molecular processes which give rise to microsatellite D.N.A. and then describes the wide range of applications in medical genetics, forensics, the study of human evolution, and conservation genetics. Drawing from an international group of researchers, the book presents the theoretical background and the hands-on details for many of the popular analytic methods using microsatellites, including methods for estimating coalescent times, population divergences, and migration.