Process / pipelinePopulation Genetics

Coalescent Theory

Coalescent theory is a probabilistic framework that traces the genealogical history of DNA sequences backward in time to their most recent common ancestor. Developed by John Kingman in 1982, this method forms the foundation of modern population genetics, enabling researchers to understand demographic events, estimate genetic parameters, and reconstruct evolutionary histories from modern genetic data.

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Sources

  1. Kingman, J. F. C. (1982). The coalescent. Stochastic Processes and their Applications, 13(3), 235–248. DOI: 10.1016/0304-4149(82)90011-4
  2. Hudson, R. R. (1983). Properties of a neutral allele model with intragenic recombination. Theoretical Population Biology, 23(2), 183–201. DOI: 10.1016/0040-5809(83)90013-8
  3. Tajima, F. (1983). Evolutionary relationship of DNA sequences in finite populations. Genetics, 105(2), 437–460. DOI: 10.1093/genetics/105.2.437

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Referenced by

ScholarGateCoalescent Theory (Coalescent Theory of Genetic Ancestry). Retrieved 2026-06-04 from https://scholargate.app/en/genetics/coalescent-theory