A previous challenge for computational biologists was the lack of proper DNA preservation and technology to analyze the nuclear genomes of the ancient humans. This obstacle strengthened Kelso's interest in bioinformatics and initially approached the issue using the reference based method. From there, her and her research team have made advances in research towards ancient DNA.[6]
Kelso has carried out research in comparative primate genomics and has contributed to the Neanderthal, bonobo and orangutan genome projects.[8][10][11] Since 2004, she has been Group leader of the Minerva Research Group for Bioinformatics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.[2] At the Institute, Kelso conducted her research in collaboration with the UK Biobank (UKB). UKB holds genetic and medical information at population-scale; through the UKB, Kelso and her colleagues discovered a correlation between Neantherthal variants and certain behaviors and traits. For instance, they could now calculate the probability of being an evening or morning person.[12]
^ abGreen, R. E.; Krause, J.; Briggs, A. W.; Maricic, T.; Stenzel, U.; Kircher, M.; Patterson, N.; Li, H.; Zhai, W.; Fritz, M. H. Y.; Hansen, N. F.; Durand, E. Y.; Malaspinas, A. S.; Jensen, J. D.; Marques-Bonet, T.; Alkan, C.; Prufer, K.; Meyer, M.; Burbano, H. A.; Good, J. M.; Schultz, R.; Aximu-Petri, A.; Butthof, A.; Hober, B.; Hoffner, B.; Siegemund, M.; Weihmann, A.; Nusbaum, C.; Lander, E. S.; Russ, C.; Novod, N.; Affourtit, J.; Egholm, M.; Verna, C.; Rudan, P.; Brajkovic, D.; Kucan, Z.; Gusic, I.; Doronichev, V. B.; Golovanova, L. V.; Lalueza-Fox, C.; de la Rasilla, M.; Fortea, J.; Rosas, A.; Schmitz, R. W.; Johnson, P. L. F.; Eichler, E. E.; Falush, D.; Birney, E.; Mullikin, J. C.; Slatkin, M.; Nielsen, R.; Kelso, J.; Lachmann, M.; Reich, D.; Paabo, S. (6 May 2010). "A Draft Sequence of the Neandertal Genome". Science. 328 (5979): 710–722. Bibcode:2010Sci...328..710G. doi:10.1126/science.1188021. PMC5100745. PMID20448178.
^Prüfer, Kay; Munch, Kasper; Hellmann, Ines; Akagi, Keiko; Miller, Jason R.; Walenz, Brian; Koren, Sergey; Sutton, Granger; Kodira, Chinnappa; Winer, Roger; Knight, James R.; Mullikin, James C.; Meader, Stephen J.; Ponting, Chris P.; Lunter, Gerton; Higashino, Saneyuki; Hobolth, Asger; Dutheil, Julien; Karakoç, Emre; Alkan, Can; Sajjadian, Saba; Catacchio, Claudia Rita; Ventura, Mario; Marques-Bonet, Tomas; Eichler, Evan E.; André, Claudine; Atencia, Rebeca; Mugisha, Lawrence; Junhold, Jörg; Patterson, Nick; Siebauer, Michael; Good, Jeffrey M.; Fischer, Anne; Ptak, Susan E.; Lachmann, Michael; Symer, David E.; Mailund, Thomas; Schierup, Mikkel H.; Andrés, Aida M.; Kelso, Janet; Pääbo, Svante (13 June 2012). "The bonobo genome compared with the chimpanzee and human genomes". Nature. 486 (7404): 527–31. Bibcode:2012Natur.486..527P. doi:10.1038/nature11128. PMC3498939. PMID22722832.
