Dr. Alfred Roca conducts genetic studies on wildlife and domesticated animals. He uses DNA from elephants to determine conservation priorities for the species and to establish the geographic origins of confiscated ivory. He also studies “endogenous” retroviruses, which are retroviral copies that have become permanent components of the DNA of humans and animals, and can impact their health.

Roca is a professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is also affiliated with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, the Illinois Natural History Survey, and the School of Information Sciences at Illinois.

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Cited By

Year

Integrating habitat suitability modeling with gene flow improves delineation of landscape connections among African savanna elephants

2024

Three-dimensional genome architecture persists in a 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth skin sample

1

2024

Lion Localizer: A software tool for inferring the provenance of lions (Panthera leo) using mitochondrial DNA

2024

Genomic analysis supports Cape Lion population connectivity prior to colonial eradication and extinction

2024

Swine global genomic resources: insights into wild and domesticated populations

2023

Evolution: Untangling the woolly mammoth

2023

Numt Parser: Automated identification and removal of nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes (numts) for accurate mitochondrial genome reconstruction in Panthera

7

2023

The Impact of Variation in the Toll-like Receptor 3 Gene on Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease in Illinois Wild White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

2

2023

Combining methods for non-invasive fecal DNA enables whole genome and metagenomic analyses in wildlife biology

9

2023

County-wide assessments of Illinois white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) prion protein gene variation using improved primers and potential implications for …

1

2022

Extrapolating the susceptibility of Eld’s deer (Rucervus eldii thamin) to chronic wasting disease from prion protein gene (PRNP) polymorphisms

2022

Evaluating the ability of a locally focused culling program in removing chronic wasting disease infected free‐ranging white‐tailed deer in Illinois, USA, 2003–2020

8

2022

Non-invasive fecal DNA yields whole genome and metagenomic data for species conservation

3

2022

A De Novo Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly of the White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus Virginianus

4

2022

Spatial epidemiology of hemorrhagic disease in Illinois wild white-tailed deer

5

2022

Variation in the PRNP gene of Pere David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus) may impact genetic vulnerability to chronic wasting disease

3

2022

Characterization of 29 polymorphic microsatellite markers developed by genomic screening of Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis)

2021

Bluetongue and epizootic hemorrhagic disease in the United States of America at the wildlife–livestock interface

30

2021

Spatial analysis of chronic wasting disease in free‐ranging white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Illinois, 2008–2019

13

2021

Million-year-old DNA provides a glimpse of mammoth evolution

5

2021

Elephants on the move: Mapping connections across African landscapes

Elephant conservation is a major priority in southern Africa, but habitat loss and urbanization mean the far-ranging pachyderms are increasingly restricted to protected areas like game reserves. The risk? Contained populations could become genetically isolated over time, making elephants more vulnerable to disease and environmental change.
06-Aug-2024 01:05:36 PM EDT

Poachers beware: New online tool traces illegal lion products back to source

A new conservation tool from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is helping protect lions across Africa, where populations have plummeted in recent decades due to poaching and other factors.
13-Nov-2023 09:05:41 AM EST

Deer protected from deadly disease by newly discovered genetic differences

University of Illinois scientists have found gene variants in deer associated with the animals’ susceptibility to Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease.
23-Feb-2023 10:05:33 AM EST

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