The Vavilov Institute of General Genetics (VIGG) is the first research institution for genetics at the RussianAcademy of Sciences.The Institute was established in 1933 as the Institute of Geneticsby Nikolay Vavilov, one of the best known victims of Stalinism, perished in jail in 1943.He was replaced by Trofim Lysenko, who essentially destroyed genetics as a field in Soviet Union in 1948. At 1964, genetics was rehabilitated and VIGG quickly became the leading genetic institute in the country.

We invite you to visit VavilovMemorialMuseum and the modern genetics labs. The museum presents materials about live and scientific activities of Nikolay Vavilov. The exhibition consists of authentic Vavilov’s items, his personal library and the reconstructed interior of 1930s.

Genome Geography Laboratory is headed by Dr. Oleg Balanovsky. He focuses on human genome variation studies in Russian and worldwide populations. Experimental work is based on one of the largest biobanks of the indigenous groups from North Eurasia/ former USSR countries. They also compiled a databases of genome variability in global populations from published sources.

The lab developed a methodology for constructing gene-geography maps. In 2011, National Geographic contracted the lab to create the world Atlases of Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA variations in human populations. The lab collaborates with EU, US, Australia, India and most of fUSSR countries. In collaboration with the AustralianCenter for Ancient DNA,Dr Balanovsky reconstructed the routes ofhuman migrations in Europe and Siberia. The lab is also involved In the Genographic project, a major international effort to reconstruct human migration history. The lab is the North Eurasian Research Center studying this large pie of the gene pool of humanity. The lab collaborates with Estonian Biocenter, and joint papers were published in Nature and Science). The fundamental knowledge is applied to forensics in Russia, including investigations of terrorist acts.

Upper Palaeolithic Siberian genome reveals dual ancestry of Native Americans.Nature 2014 Jan 2;505(7481):87-91.doi: 10.1038/nature12736.

Ancient DNA reveals key stages in the formation of central European mitochondrial genetic diversity.Science. 2013. Oct 11. 342(6155). P. 257-261

Neolithic mitochondrial haplogroup H genomes and the genetic origins of Europeans. Nat Commun. 2013; 4:1764.

Parallel evolution of genes and languages in the Caucasus region. Mol Biol Evol. 2011;28(10):2905-20.

The Laboratory of Evolutionary Genomics is headed by prof. Evgeny Rogaev. Methods include genetics, genomics, epigenetics, as well as Next Generation Sequencing. Genes involved in schizophrenia and neurodegenerative disorders are being hunted and studied. A DNA collection of 100 year plus old individuals is the basis for the studies. One more direction is animal genomics. Comparative genomics of two lines of foxes is being studied. One line was selected to extreme aggression and another one is friendly to humans like dogs. One more animal is a jellyfish. An intriguing feature of the creature is that it is immortal, that is a challenge to understand not to say to reproduce in humansJ. Comparative genomics told us that the nervous system of animals appeared independently in two different evolutionary lines. Human population migrations and adaptations are one more direction of the lab. The approach is to study DNA from ancient (7-20 years old) remains from different climate and geographic areas of Eurasia.

Epigenetics in the human brain.Neuropsychopharmacology. 2013;38(1):183-97

Human-specific histone methylation signatures at transcription start sites in prefrontal neurons.PLoS Biol. 2012;10(11):e1001427.

Genotype analysis identifies the cause of the "royal disease".Science. 2009 Nov 6;326(5954):817

Bioinformatics and computational biology are among few success stories of modern Russia, probably owing to the high level of mathematics training in Soviet universities. There are strong, internationally recognized teams of computational biology researchers in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Saint-Petersburg, and other cities. In 2010, VUGG establishedthe Department of computational and system biology, headed by Dr. Vsevolod Makeev. The team is developing new models of DNA segments specifically interacting with DNA-binding proteins and respective algorithms to construct and utilize those models based on results of “big data” experiments. Computational biology strives to adopt the role of theoretical physics or computational chemistry to make or predict novel biological discoveries purely in silico.

The team is a part of a big international consortium called FANTOM devoted to describe specificity of gene expression in hundreds of human cell types. The cell type is maintained mostly by expression of specific genes, called transcription factors. The lab developed bioinformatic algorithms and tools to reveal which transcription factors are expressed in which cell types and how they determine the cell type.

This research area also has practical implications since specific genome segments responsible for gene reaction can be damaged by mutations, and such mutations in regulatory regions can be related to deceases with a genetic component, like neurodegenerative deceases, diabetes or cancer. The team is developing algorithms to study such events; and collaborate with wet-lab biologists both in Russia and worldwide.

A promoter-level mammalian expression atlas // Nature 507, 462–470 (27 March 2014)

Application of experimentally verified transcription factor binding sites models for computational analysis of ChIP-Seq data. BMC Genomics. 2014;15(1):80.

HOCOMOCO: a comprehensive collection of human transcription factor binding sites models.Nucleic Acids Res. 2013; 41(Database issue):D195-202.

Predictive biology using systems and integrative analysis and methods.J Biomol Struct Dyn. 2013; 31(1):1-3.

Department of Epigenetics consists of Lab of Developmental biology (Sergey Kiselev, the head) and Lab of Stem Cell Biology (Maria Lagarkova, the head). Embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent cells are being studied in the department. The labs compiled a unique collection of stem cell lines derived from individuals affected by neurodegenerative disorders. The goal is to study the differences between the lines from affected and not affected individuals to find potential pharmaceutical target for therapy of the diseases. The labs involved into international scientific cooperation (USA, Finland, the Netherlands), including a SkolTech project.

Reactivation of Х chromosome upon reprogramming leads to changes in the replication pattern and 5hmC accumulation. Chromosoma.2014;123(1-2):117-28.

Screening ethnically diverse human embryonic stem cells identifies a chromosome 20 minimal amplicon conferring growth advantage.Nat Biotechnol. 2011;29(12):1132-44.

Induction of pluripotency in human endothelial cells resets epigenetic profile on genome scale.// Cell Cycle. 2010 Mar;9(5):937-46.

Diverse epigenetic profile of novel human embryonic stem cell lines..Cell Cycle. (2006), 5, 416-420.