Laboratory of Paleogenetics and Conservation Genetics

Profile

Dr hab. Mateusz Baca
e-mail: m.baca@cent.uw.edu.pl
phone: +48 22 55 43746
room: 04.224
ORCID: 0000-0003-2174-3914
SCOPUS ID: 54789516200

Ancient DNA is powerful tool to reconstruct evolutionary processes which occurred thousands of years ago. Extraction of DNA from various kind of remains coupled with the high throughput sequencing, radiocarbon dating and isotopic analyses enables investigation ancient populations and tracing its changes through the time and space. In our laboratory we use state of the art techniques to resolve wide range of intriguing questions pertaining to biology, palaeontology, anthropology and archaeology. Currently our research focuses on the two main topics.

First one is reconstruction of evolutionary histories of Late Pleistocene mammal species. We investigate population dynamics and migration patterns as a reaction on the climatic changes which took place in the past. The knowledge learnt form past populations could help to predict species’ responses to the climatic changes in the future. Currently, we explore several small mammal species throughout Eurasia such as common vole (M. arvalis), field vole (M. agrestis), narow-heded vole (M. gregalis), bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) and root vole (Microtus oeconomus).

The second group of projects encompasses paleogenomics ancient human populations. We study of pre-Columbian populations with the main objective to broaden the knowledge about the social structure and history of the two Andean civilizations – Tiwanaku and Inka. We also aim to explore the genetic history of Poland by studying historical human remains from Poland and broader Central Europe.

Leader

Mateusz Baca has been involved in research using fossil DNA analysis for over fifteen years. During this period, he has led four projects funded by the National Science Centre and participated in several other projects concerning the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of many mammal species, including humans. He is the co-author of over 45 scientific articles published in international journals, including Science Advances, PNAS, Quaternary Science Reviews and Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Since 2016, he has been conducting research at CeNT UW as part of the Laboratory of Palaeogenetics and Conservation Genetics led by Prof. Piotr Węgleński. Since February 2024 he has been the acting PI of this laboratory and in october 2025 he has been appointed the lab leader of the Laboratory of Palaeogenetics and Conservation Genetics

Team

Leader
Mateusz Baca, PhD, DSc

Postdocs / employees
Martyna Molak-Tomsia, PhD
Danijela Popovic, PhD
Aleksandra Żeromska, PhD
Barbara Bujalska, MSc

Students:
Michał Golubiński
Gabriela Damentka
Aleksandra Deroń
Alicja Kaźmierkiewicz
Kaaviya Balakrishnan

Selected projects:

Selected publications:

• Niedziałkowska M., Górny M., Gornia J., Popović D., Baca M., Ratajczak-Skrzatek U., Kovalchuk O., Sykut M., Suska-Malawska M., Mackiewicz P., Hofman-Kamińska E., Kowalczyk R., Czarniauski M., Pawłowska K., Makowiecki D., Tataurova L., Bondarev A., Shpansky A., Protopopov A.V., Sorokin A.D., Saarma U., Kosintsev P., Schmölcke U., Wilczyński J., Lipecki G., Nadachowski A., Boeskorov G.G., Baryshnikov G.F., Zorzin R., Vorobiova N., Moskvitina N.S., Leshchinskiy S., Malikov D., Berdnikov I.M., Balasescu A., Boroneant A., Klementiev A., Fyfe R., Woodbridge J., Stefaniak K.
  Impact of global environmental changes on the range contraction of Eurasian moose since the Late Pleistocene
  (2024) Science of the Total Environment, 957, art. no. 177235
  DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177235
• Niebylski J.M., Dobrzańska H., Szczepanek A., Krzewińska M., Gan P., Barszcz M., Rodríguez-Varela R., Pochon Z., Lityńska-Zając M., Makowicz-Poliszot D., Pankowska A., Rauba-Bukowska A., Wasilewski M., Kozerska M., Urbanik A., Włodarczak P., Popović D., Baca M., Götherström A.
  Unveiling Hunnic legacy: Decoding elite presence in Poland through a unique child’s burial with modified cranium
  (2024) Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 56, art. no. 104563
  DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104563
• Bacalum M., Radu M., Osella S., Knippenberg S., Ameloot M.
  Generalized polarization and time-resolved fluorescence provide evidence for different populations of Laurdan in lipid vesicles
  (2024) Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 250, art. no. 112833
  DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2023.112833
• Saha A., Baca M., Popović D., Mohammadi Z., Olsson U., Roycroft E., Fostowicz-Frelik Ł.
  The first complete mitochondrial genome data of the Afghan pika Ochotona rufescens (Lagomorpha, Ochotonidae), near the type locality
  (2024) Data in Brief, 53, art. no. 110246
  DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2024.110246
• Pan J., Liu X., Baca M., Calvière-Tonasso L., Schiavinato S., Chauvey L., Tressières G., Perdereau A., Aury J.-M., Oliveira P.H., Wincker P., Abdykanova A., Arsuaga J.L., Bayarsaikhan J., Belinskiy A.B., Carbonell E., Davoudi H., Lira Garrido J., Gilbert A.S., Hermes T., Warinner C., Kalmykov A.A., Lordkipanidze D., Mackiewicz P., Mohaseb A.F., Richter K., Sayfullaev N., Shapiro B., Shnaider S., Southon J., Stefaniak K., Summers G.D., van Asperen E.N., Vanishvili N., Hill E.A., Kuznetsov P., Reinhold S., Hansen S., Mashkour M., Berthon R., Taylor W.T.T., Houle J.-L., Hekkala E., Popović D., Orlando L.
  Genome-wide population affinities and signatures of adaptation in hydruntines, sussemiones and Asian wild asses
  (2024) Molecular Ecology, 33 (19), art. no. e17527
  DOI: 10.1111/mec.17527
• Popović D., Baca M., Wiejacka M., Chudziak W., Makowiecki D.
  Genetic characterization of horses in Early Medieval Poland
  (2024) Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 56, art. no. 104530
  DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104530
• Rabiniak E., Rekovets L., Kovalchuk O., Baca M., Popović D., Strzała T., Barkaszi Z.
  Hares from the Late Pleistocene of Ukraine: a phylogenetic analysis and the status of Lepus tanaiticus (Mammalia, Lagomorpha)
  (2024) Biologia, 79 (1), pp. 87 – 99
  DOI: 10.1007/s11756-023-01499-z
• Religa-Sobczyk J., Wojenka M., Baca M., Popović D., Wojtal P.
  Guinea pig remains from the XVIth century Ojców castle (southern Poland)
  (2023) Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 52, art. no. 104293
  DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104293
• Gawlik J., Koper M., Bogdanowicz A., Weglenski P., Dzikowska A.
  Nuclear Functions of KaeA, a Subunit of the KEOPS Complex in Aspergillus nidulans
  (2022) International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23 (19), art. no. 11138
  DOI: 10.3390/ijms231911138
• Krajcarz M., Krajcarz M.T., Baca M., Baumann C., van Neer W., Popovic D., Sudoł-Procyk M., Wach B., Wilczynski J., Wojenka M., Bocherens H.
  Ancestors of domestic cats in Neolithic Central Europe: Isotopic evidence of a synanthropic diet
  (2020) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117 (30), pp. 17710 – 17719
  DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1918884117

Contact

Dr hab. Mateusz Baca
e-mail: m.baca@cent.uw.edu.pl
phone: +48 22 55 43746
room: 04.224