Leicester geneticists to present at Who Do You Think You Are Live

Geneticists from the University of Leicester will discuss the discovery of Richard III and genealogical research in presentations at Who Do You Think You Are? Live at the NEC Birmingham on Thursday 6 April and Friday 7 April.

Dr Turi King and Professor Mark Jobling will give talks at the event, based on the popular BBC One programme, which is the world’s largest family history show.

Dr King will tell the story of the genetic, genealogical and archaeological research which led to the discovery and identification of the remains of King Richard III.

Her lecture will outline the underlying archaeological work leading up to the discovery of the skeletal remains, the DNA analysis and genealogical research carried out in parallel to help identify the skeleton, and the statistical analysis of the evidence.

The talk will take place between 13:15 and 14:15 on Thursday 6 April.

Professor Jobling will discuss how the paternally-inherited Y chromosome and maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been widely used in population genetic studies and also in genealogical research.

His talk will include a comparison of Europe-wide patterns of Y and mtDNA diversity, and what this tells us about the behaviours of the different sexes in past demographic transitions.

Professor Jobling’s talk will run between 13:15 and 14:15 on Friday 7 April.