How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller? Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase. 1/n

A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand

The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

science.org

Introgression under linear selection on continuous genomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.30.702779v1

New preprint to close out the year! Led by Alana Papula and together with Daniel Fisher, we used single-cell genomes to infer the evolution of Prochlorococcus—one of the most abundant and genetically diverse bacteria on Earth. Check it out here: doi.org/10.64898/202...

Extensive recombination, selection, and asexual blooms shape the diversity of the dominant clade of Prochlorococcus

The tiny and enormously abundant marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus marinus contains many levels of population structure, with sequenced isolates spanning four orders of magnitude of diversity. It ...

doi.org

Have you seen that the state of Baden-Würtenberg is funding 14 Postdoctoral Fellowships (for 2 years) for those who can't do their research in the US anymore as academic freedom is under threat? uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...

I'm hiring a postdoc with a flexible start date (any time in 2026). Come work with us on topics at the interface of machine learning, biophysics, a nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. If interested, send me a CV and a short summary of why you think you'd be a good fit. statmech.stanford.edu

I was supposed to attend before starting grad school, but the pandemic got in the way – if you can go, this would be a great way to explore questions in evolution!

Richard Lenski@relenski.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The 2026 Guarda Summer Course in Evolutionary Biology is now accepting applications. Amazing place, amazing course, amazing opportunity for early grad students. tb.ethz.ch/education/gu...

Allele Frequencies at Recessive Disease Genes are Mainly Determined by Pleiotropic Effects in Heterozygotes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.05.692665v1

We show that despite this large mutational influx, rapidly evolving pop'ns naturally cluster into a smaller # of distinct “ecotypes”, even when their genetic diversity is much larger. This non-eq analogue of competitive exclusion is driven by a dynamical priority effect that favors resident strains.

Many studies have found that w/in-species dN/dS decays w/ the genetic distance between strains, which is often attributed to natural selection. Here Zhiru shows that a large portion of this trend can be quantitatively explained by the accumulation of horizontally transferred DNA segments over time.

Come and join us here in Cambridge! Applications open for a new faculty position, for a researcher in computational and/or theoretical biology, based jointly in Genetics and Mathematics. Happy to answer questions about research, teaching and working here. www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...

How is functional variation at large-effect loci maintained in natural populations, even as environments change? In a paper led by @mkarag.bsky.social, we tracked known pesticide resistant alleles in outdoor 𝘋. 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 cages & inferred selection and dominance from temporal sequencing data.

Now hiring a computational postdoc (evolutionary genomics, molecular evolution) in my lab at Emory University. If you’re interested in population genetics, fitness landscapes, and viral evolution — get in touch. faculty-emory.icims.com/jobs/151181/...

Staff scientist position (computational): I am looking for a computational scientist to join my genomics lab at Stanford. They should have an outstanding skillset in ML/statistical methods for genomic applications, postdoc experience and a strong publication record. #sciencejobs

Looking forward to #evolution2025! I will be talking about how time-varying demography and selection shape the site frequency spectrum — Saturday at 4:15 pm, Population Genetics Theory IV. Come say hi if you are around!

I'm excited to announce that I'll be starting a lab at UCSF in the @ihgatucsf.bsky.social and @ucsf-epibiostat.bsky.social in July. We'll work at the intersection of statistical genetics, population genetics, and machine learning.

Letter signed by members of the Columbia History Department urging resistance to the Trump Administration's efforts to dictate university policy. "Should this control be realized, here or elsewhere, it would make any real historical scholarship, teaching, and intellectual community impossible."

Here we show that within-cell competition is key to plasmid evolution. Look at this photo of plasmids competing inside cells in a colony!!!

We are excited to announce a new faculty position here in Cambridge, for researchers in computational and/or theoretical biology, based jointly in Genetics and Mathematics. Come and join us! Happy to answer questions about research, teaching and working here. www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/50414/

This allowed us to visualize the pattern of clones in the tumor! 10/16

Project scientist in computational population genetics (post PhD/postdoc experience usually expected). recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF10171

Happy to have been part of this story!

Marianna Karageorgi@mkarag.bsky.social · 2y ago

How is functional variation at large-effect loci maintained in natural populations? Thrilled to share our work showing how beneficial dominance reversal helps fruit flies maintain a resistance polymorphism as selection varies in their environment! A thread 🧵 1/n www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

This paper has been a long time coming: We looked at the genomes of historical bacterial samples over a century to look for trends of antibiotic resistance genes, finding multiple instances of them in infections before the age of antibiotics, but an increase in both frequency and mobility after

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 2y ago

Genomic resistance in historical clinical isolates increased in frequency and mobility after the age of antibiotics https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.16.633422v1

For many traits there is a correlation between the number of duplications or loss-of-function (LoF) mutations someone carries, and their phenotype. Curiously, for most traits, these effects are aligned in the SAME direction. Why?

How do we predict the statistical associations between mutations that spontaneously emerge in an evolving population? Excited to share some new work w/ @zzzhiru.bsky.social and @benjaminhgood.bsky.social that approaches this question!

bioRxivpreprint@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 2y ago

Linkage equilibrium between rare mutations https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.28.587282v1

I’m excited for my first preprint in the Good lab, a theory project predicting the first steps of evolution in microbial communities with resource competition. If you’re interested in how community context shapes the availability and impact of mutations, read on! doi.org/10.1101/2023.12.15.571925

Predicting the First Steps of Evolution in Randomly Assembled Communities

bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution

biorxiv.org