Primate genomics

Abstract

Since the completion of the human genome project, numerous nonhuman primate genomes have been sequenced and assembled. As a result, we are beginning to understand how primate genome content, structure, and function differ across species, and how these genomic differences relate to morphological, physiological, and behavioral differences among taxa from across the Order Primates. Genomic data have also been used to more accurately infer population history and patterns of genetic diversity within primate species. Primate genomics is therefore an important tool for the study of primate ecology, evolution, and behavior, as well as a valuable resource in biomedical research where some primates are used as models for human disease. The power and potential of primate genomics is rapidly increasing as technologies improve and the cost of genomic data acquisition and analysis drops, and therefore holds great promise for biological anthropology as a whole.