Ancient to Modern DNA (CUSO Biology Symposium)

Sept 8-10, 2025

Alicia Sanchez-Mazas

• Prof Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, UNIGE
• Dr Estella Poloni, UNIGE
• Dr Mathias Currat, UNIGE
• Dr Catherine Suarez, UNIGE

• Nadir Alvarez (Naturéum & Dpt Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne)
• Jan Pawlowski (Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland)
• Laurent Excoffier (Computational and Molecular Population Genetics, University of Bern)
• Verena Schünemann (Dpt Environmental Sciences, University of Basel)
• Caroline Pont (PaleoLab, Cézeaux Campus, Aubière, France)
  
  Collaborators
  
• Sarah Schmid (Dpt Computational Biology, University of Lausanne)
• Inès Barrenechea Angeles (The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
• Nina Marchi (Eco-Anthropologie, CNRS-MNHN-Université Paris Cité, Paris, France)
• Marta Pla-Diaz (Dpt Environmental Sciences, University of Basel)
• Jérôme Salse (PaleoLab, Cézeaux Campus, Aubière, France)

Join us in an exciting exploration of how ancient and modern DNA technologies are transforming biological research. This interdisciplinary symposium brings together leading experts in museomics, environmental DNA, ancient pathogens, demographic inference, and paleogenomics. Through a series of inspiring keynote lectures and hands-on workshops, participants will delve into the latest methods and discoveries in evolutionary biology, ecology, and archaeology. The event also features networking dinners and an optional excursion, providing plenty of opportunities for interaction and exchange.

Sunday 7 September 2025

• 20h00: Arrival - Welcome & aperitif-dinner

Monday 8 September 2025

• Morning (∼8h30-9h00 to 12h00, flexible)Conference 1: Nadir AlvarezNatural Sciences in the Era of Museomics


Workshop 1: Nadir Alvarez & Sarah Schmid
From natural history collections to biological research: how museomics can tackleimportant questions in ecology and evolution
In this interactive session, participants will identify key research questions that can be tackled
with museum collections and genetic/genomic tools. Through groups discussion/synthesis,
they will highlight how museomics can address challenges in ecology and evolution.

• Lunch (12h-12h30 to 13h30-14h)

• Afternoon (∼13h30-14h to 17h00, flexible)


Conference 2: Jan Pawlowski
Reconstructing the history of marine ecosystems using sedimentary ancient DNA


Workshop 2: Jan Pawlowski & Inès Barrenechea AngelesDNA Barcoding and Metabarcoding with Oxford Nanopore Technology
This workshop will provide a theoretical overview of nanopore sequencing, highlighting its
use in barcoding and environmental DNA analysis, with a focus on sedimentary eDNA. By the
end of the session, we will delve into potential applications, including sedimentary ancient
DNA, and discuss research opportunities with this technology. Participants will also have the
chance to work with two datasets (barcoding and metabarcoding), engaging in hands-on
analysis throughout the session

• Evening (18h30-21h): dinner & networking students-speakers


Tuesday 9 September 2025

• Morning (∼8h30-9h00 to 12h00, flexible)
Conference 3: Verena Schünemann,
Past Pandemics and One Health: Tracing pathogens through time with ancient DNA

Workshop 3: Verena Schünemann & Marta Pla-Diaz

Ancient pathogen genomics pose different challenges compared to modern genomic
analyses. Here the participants will obtain insights into critical steps of the analysis as well as
experience on how an established pipeline for ancient pathogen analysis works.

• Lunch (12h-12h30 to 13h30-14h)

• Afternoon (∼13h30-14h to 17h00, flexible)

Conference 4: Laurent ExcoffierOrigin and spread of early European Neolithic farmers


Workshop 4: Laurent Excoffier & Nina Marchi
Estimation of demographic parameters from ancient DNA samples
After familiarizing students with the basics of coalescent theory connecting genomic diversity
with past demography, they will be introduced to the fastsimcoal2 program to estimate past
population history from the site frequency spectrum and will estimate parameters under
simple scenarios. The accent will also be put on raw data quality checking and result
validation.

• Evening (18h30-21h): dinner & networking students-speakers


Wednesday 10 September 2025

Conference 5: Caroline Pont
History, origin and spread of Agriculture: ongoing work from Archaeobotany and
Paleogenomics


Workshop 5: Caroline Pont & Jérôme Salse
Concept of semi-domestication, neo-domestication, de-domestication and feralization
This presentation will be followed by analyses and discussion of papers on ancient DNA

• Lunch (12h30-13h30)

• Afternoon: excursion (optional)

Leysin, Hotel Alpine Classic ***

Map

Full board is included during the event.

Accommodation: Participants will be housed in twin rooms. If you would like to share a room with someone specific, please let us know by email by the 22nd of August 2025.

Hotel in Leysin: www.classic-hotel.ch

Travel reimbursement:
CUSO PhD candidates: Train ticket, 2nd class, half-fare from the main train station of your university location to the place of the activity (to be claimed at the end of the smposium on "myCUSO").

Fees:
CUSO PhD candidates: CHF 30.-. Bank details will be sent in the confirmation e-mail.
Other participants: 250 CHF includes full-board and accommodation.

Deadline for registration: extended until Aug 20

PhD candidates: 30 CHF fee (includes full board and event)
Postdocs from UNIBE, UNIFR, UNIGE, UNIL, UNINE : A few postdocs may be accepted under the same conditions as PhD candidates (30CHF - first come, first served). Feel free to register and we will come back to you with more details.

External participants: 250 CHF (includes full-board and accommodation)

Cancellation policy:
Cancellation before the 1st deadline (15.06.2025): free
Late cancellation or 'no-show': 100 CHF administrative fee.

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