24 november 2021 / 19 uur
Online lecture and debate: 
https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/0680a18d655e41bfb32d51ec45a3a163​

Can your DNA also be considered as heritage? For a geneticist/biologist, the answer is obvious: of course! DNA is the hereditary material and therefore each of us carries in every cell of our body a living record that we have inherited from our parents and ancestors. The genetic variation in humans is the result of a long process and genetic research therefore provides fascinating insights into human evolution and even our own family history. As heritage experts, geneticists search for such traces from the distant and recent past of a population or family based on DNA present in archaeological material and in living individuals, whether or not linked to family trees.

During this lecture, Maarten Larmuseau focuses on the unique heritage of our genome - or the collection of DNA of an individual - and highlights several aspects from his own scientific research that have greatly broadened our view of the past in recent years.

This lecture is a cooperation between the Edmond Delhougne Foundation and the University of Antwerp

About Maarten Larmuseau

Prof. Maarten Larmuseau is a biologist specialised in genetic genealogy and genetic heritage. Thanks to a cooperation agreement between the Edmond Delhougne Foundation and the University of Antwerp, he is a guest lecturer at the UAntwerpen (ARCHES). He is also head of the Laboratory of Human Genetic Genealogy at the KU Leuven (Department of Human Heredity) and senior scientist at Histories vzw. His scientific research on the historical frequency of children born out of wedlock, the genetic background of maternal lines and surnames, the genetic identification of historical relics of saints, French and Belgian kings, and genetic research based on archaeological finds, receive frequent international recognition among colleagues, the media and the general public.