DEPARTMENT OF GENETICS

Dr Turi E. King

Wellcome Trust Post-doctoral Research Associate

Contact Details

Building: Adrian Building
Room: G2-3
Telephone (lab): internal 3377 external +44 (0)116 2523377
Fax: +44 (0)116 2523378
Email: tek2 at le.ac.uk

Research Interests

I became interested in how the discipline of genetics can be married with those of archaeology, anthropology and history while studying biological anthropology at the University of Cambridge. This interest in interdisciplinary research took me on to the University of Leicester to study for a Masters degree in molecular genetics and where I had the good fortune of carrying out my research project in Professor Mark Jobling's lab characterizing two Y chromosome polymorphisms. I was hooked!

I am fascinated by the relationship between Y chromosome types and paternally inherited surnames. While my doctoral research examined the link between surname and Y chromosome type in Britain, my current research explores this relationship further and how it can find an application in the fields of genealogy, forensics, population history.

I am interested in furthering interdisciplinary research combining the field of genetics with history, archaeology, anthropology, forensics and epidemiology: using other genetic markers, in combination with the Y chromosome, to elucidate past migration and population structure; the social impact of genetic genealogy testing and how the results of these tests can affect a person's perception of their identity; exploring the potential differences between differing classes of surnames in Britain and the link between Y chromosome type and paternally inherited surnames in other parts of the world.

Current projects

Collaborations

The Social Impact of DNA Testing: This is a sociology study being carried out by Wendy Roth at the University of British Columbia about how getting information about your ancestry from genetic tests may affect your identity, attitudes, or activities. It consists of an online survey that should take about 10-15 minutes to complete. If you would like to participate, please click here.
People of the British Isles project. If you are interested in taking part in the project, please click here.

PhD Thesis

Surnames and genetic structure: a molecular analysis using Y-chromosomal DNA polymorphisms
Winner of School of Biological Sciences PhD Prize 2008

Selected as part of the Doctoral Inaugural Lecture series 2008-2009

Publications

Patricia Balaresque, Georgina R. Bowden, Susan M. Adams, Ho-Yee Leung, Turi E. King , Zoë H. Rosser, Jane Goodwin, Jean-Paul Moisan, Christelle Richard, Ann Millward, Andrew G. Demaine, Guido Barbujani, Carlo Previderè, Ian J. Wilson, Chris Tyler-Smith, Mark A. Jobling (2010) PLoS Biol. 8, e1000285. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000285. A predominantly Neolithic origin for European paternal lineages.
King, T.E. and Jobling, M.A. (2009) Trends Genet. 25, 351-360. What’s in a name? - Y chromosomes, surnames, and the genetic genealogy revolution. Authors' revised version of this article available here, published version here. Please visit the journal website.
King, T.E. and Jobling, M.A. (2009) Mol. Biol. Evol. 26, 1093-1102. Founders, drift and infidelity: the relationship between Y chromosome diversity and patrilineal surnames. Article available as Open Access.
King, T.E., Parkin, EJ., Swinfield, G., Cruciani, F., Scozzari, R., Rosa, A., Lim, S., Xue, Y., Tyler-Smith, C., and Jobling, M.A. (2007) Eur. J. Hum. Genet. 15, 288-293. Africans in Yorkshire? - the deepest-rooting clade of the Y phylogeny within an English genealogy. Article available as Open Access from journal website.
King, T.E., Bowden, G.R., Balaresque, P., Adams, S.M., Shanks, M.E. and Jobling, M.A. (2007) Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 132, 584-589. Thomas Jefferson's Y chromosome belongs to a rare European lineage.
Bowden, G.R., Balaresque, P., King, T.E., Hansen, Z., Lee, A.C., Pergl-Wilson, G., Hurley, E., Roberts, S.J., Waite, P., Jesch, J., Jones, A.L., Thomas, M.G., Harding, S.E. and Jobling, M.A. (2007) Mol. Biol. Evol. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msm255. Excavating past population structures by surname-based sampling: the genetic legacy of the Vikings in northwest England. Article available as Open Access.
King, T.E., Ballereau, S.J., Schurer, K. and Jobling, M.A. (2006) Curr. Biol. 16, 384-388. Genetic signatures of coancestry within surnames. You can download the final pre-publication version of the article here, and obtain the published pdf from the Current Biology website.
Adams, S.M., King, T.E., Bosch, E., and Jobling M.A. (2006) Forensic Sci. Int. 159, 14-20. The case of the unreliable SNP: recurrent back-mutation of Y-chromosomal marker P25 through gene conversion.
King, T.E., Bosch, E., Adams, S. Parkin, E.J., Rosser, Z.H., Jobling, M.A. (2005) J. Med. Genet. 42, 366-368. Inadvertent diagnosis of male infertility through genealogical DNA testing. Article available as Open Access from journal website.
Jobling, M.A. and King, T.E. (2003) The distribution of Y-chromosomal haplotypes: forensic implications. Progress in Forensic Genetics 10, 70-72.
The Y Chromosome Consortium (2002) Genome Res. 12, 339-348. A nomenclature system for the tree of human Y-chromosomal binary haplogroups.
Pandya, A., King, T.E., Santos, F.R., Taylor, P.G., Thangaraj, K., Singh, L., Jobling, M.A. and Tyler-Smith, C. (1998) A polymorphic human Y-chromosomal G to A transition found in India. Indian Journal of Human Genetics 4, 52-61.

Education

BA Hons, University of Cambridge
MSc in Molecular Genetics, University of Leicester
PhD, University of Leicester

Teaching, Tutorials

DNA and the Past
Genes MB1005
Genes BS1005
Medical Genetics MB3050

To Mark Jobling's Homepage

Last updated: January 21, 2010
Turi E. King
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