Ke's Lab · School of Life Sciences, Fudan University
Reading human history from ancient DNA
We combine ancient genomes with computational methods to study how human populations across Eurasia and Africa diverged, stayed apart and came together.
1,001
5×
From the Nile to the Yellow River
Follow the map through the regions we study.
Africa
Movement, interaction and replacement across sub-Saharan Africa
4,000-year-old Middle Nile hair: unusual DNA degradation and a possible source of early East African herders
Read the paper (opens in a new tab)Ancient genomes reveal complex movement, interaction and replacement in sub-Saharan Africa
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Central Europe & the Alps
Avar-period communities and the Tyrolean Iceman
Ancient DNA reveals a reproductive barrier despite a shared Avar-period culture
Read the paper (opens in a new tab)The Tyrolean Iceman’s high-coverage genome reveals unusually high Anatolian farmer ancestry
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Siberia & the Eastern Steppe
Six thousand years on the Eastern Steppe, and North Asia’s gene pools
Middle Holocene Siberian genomes reveal highly connected gene pools across North Asia
Read the paper (opens in a new tab)A dynamic 6,000-year genetic history of Eurasia’s Eastern Steppe
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Northern China & Xinjiang
The Yellow River Bend and Bronze-to-Iron-Age Xinjiang
Yellow River Bend genomes reveal long-distance ties to the Central Plains, the Steppe and southern China
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Mainland Southeast Asia
Austroasiatic-speaking populations today
Genomic structure and history of Austroasiatic speakers in Mainland Southeast Asia
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Back home in Shanghai
Our lab, at Fudan University.
Fudan University, Shanghai
Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, School of Life Sciences.
Directions & contact
From remains to history
Remains
Human remains from archaeological sites.
Extraction
Recovering the ancient DNA that survives.
Libraries
Building whole-genome libraries.
Sequencing
Mapping short reads to a reference genome.
Modelling
Population-genetic models and methods such as MSMC-IM.
History
Read together with archaeology and linguistics.
1,001 ancient genomes
About a tenth of all ancient genomes published worldwide.
The people
Dr. Ke Wang
Principal Investigator, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University
- 2011–2015Shandong UniversityBSc, Biotechnology
- 2015–2016University College LondonMSc, Genetics of Human Disease
- 2016–2020Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human HistoryPhD, Department of Archaeogenetics
- 2020–2022Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyPostdoc, Department of Archaeogenetics
- 2022–Fudan UniversityPrincipal Investigator
Honours
- 2021
- Dieter Rampacher Prize, Max Planck Society
- 2026–2028
- NSFC Young Scientists Fund, Category B (formerly Excellent Young Scholars)
- 2023–2026
- Shanghai Rising-Star Program
Members
PhD students
- Yin Zi 殷姿
- Sun Hengxi 孙恒玺
- Gao Yan 高焱
- Liu Wentao 刘文韬
- Li Lei 李雷
- Qiu Min 邱敏
Master’s students
- Qi Yimeng 齐艺萌
- Zhang Chengcheng 张骋骋
- Li Jiayi 李嘉弈
- Wang Jiahao 王嘉豪
Undergraduates
- Chen Lingyu 陈泠妤
- Han Yufan 韩宇帆
Read the past with us
We welcome undergraduates, master’s and PhD students, and postdocs in human biology and bioinformatics.
Press & outreach
- Press coverageMedia coverage of our research
- Talks & outreachAcademic and public talks by Dr. Wang
- BlogResearch notes from the lab
