Pat and Pedro are wonderful collaborators and colleagues! Definitely give this book a read if you’re interested in conservation genetics in the context of the rich diversity of the Neotropics.

Springer@springer.springernature.com · 11mo ago

Why Study Biodiversity in the Neotropics? 🌍 Explore how population genetics reveals the impact of human activity on the world’s richest ecosystems. A must-read for conservation biology and sustainability: bit.ly/46Tkq6G. #Biodiversity #PopGen

Now published in Cell! We found that ~15% of SNPs from divergent refs did not liftover as SNPs in the gray fox ref—half mapped to monomorphic sites, half failed to map. Co-authored with Matthew Genchev, @elliecat.bsky.social, and @jazlynmooney.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Reference genome choice compromises population genetic analyses

Characterizing genetic variation in natural populations is vital to evolutionary biology; however, many non-model species lack genomic resources. Here…

sciencedirect.com

Maria Akopyan, PhD@akopyan.bsky.social · 2y ago

1/7 🧬 New Preprint Alert: Our study highlights the risks of using divergent reference genomes in population genomics. The choice of reference genome can skew key inferences about demography, diversity, and selection. Read on for insights! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🦇🦠 New preprint - in a long-term effort led by the amazing @mayajuman.bsky.social, we've shown that the ML tools developed by @viralemergence.org let us efficiently screen museum collections for pathogens with pandemic potential 🎉🔓 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Museum collections and machine learning guide discovery of novel coronaviruses and paramyxoviruses

Natural history museum collections are valuable but underutilized resources for viral discovery, offering opportunities to test hypotheses about viral occurrence across space, time, and taxonomic grou...

biorxiv.org

Our paper Genomic diversity of the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus was published in Science today! It features inversions, selection in action, museum specimens and putative new ecotypes. doi.org/10.1126/scie...

Genomic diversity of the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus

Anopheles funestus s.s. is a major human malaria vector across Africa. To study its evolution, especially under vector control pressure, we sequenced 656 modern specimens (collected 2014 to 2018) and ...

doi.org

marilou boddé@mariloumercedes.bsky.social · 2y ago

Preprint is out! We investigated the genomic diversity and evolutionary history of Anopheles funestus mosquitoes, one of the main species transmitting human malaria across Africa. Here’s a visual summary. Art by @petrathepostdoc.bsky.social . 1/8 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

My first Perspective piece was just published in Science! I discuss the new findings by @amandalea.bsky.social and colleagues showing adaptations to water stress in the Turkana, and the implications of past adaptations for future disease risk.

Sarah Lempriere@sarahlempriere.bsky.social · last yr.

Trade-offs and human adaptation at the extremes | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

I’m excited to be attending #ESEB2025 this week in Barcelona! If you’re interested in chatting about primate population genetics, come chat with me at my poster this evening - P01.275 Genomics of Brazilian howler monkeys reveals recent inbreeding and species-specific positive selection

Inside me there are two wolves. One of them has a 15 genome edits the other 20 genome edits. Neither of them is a dire wolf.

🚨😷🧪 NEW: A growing body of evidence shows that pandemics, biodiversity loss, and climate change are part of a broader polycrisis - but there are no simple solutions. A sweeping overview of "Pathogens and planetary change" for the first issue of @natrevbiodiv.bsky.social, out now 🔓 rdcu.be/d6lHl

*BREAKING* "The results revealed that this community was centred around bonds of female-line descent.” #Archaeology #Prehistory #IronAge www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Continental influx and pervasive matrilocality in Iron Age Britain - Nature

An analysis of ancient mitochondrial and nuclear DNA shows evidence of matrilocal communities in Iron Age Britain.

nature.com

Absolutely loved hearing about this work at SMBE24 this past summer and subsequently leading a lab meeting discussion on the preprint. Fantastic to see it published!

Clàudia Fontserè@claudiafontsere.bsky.social · 2y ago

Another great paper from the PanAf family, focusing on local adaptaion in chimpanzee populations: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Fecal samples 💩 and target capture 🧬 (exome) going to another level. So proud to have been part of it, amazing work led by Harrison Ostridge and @aidaandres.bsky.social

Preprint is out! We investigated the genomic diversity and evolutionary history of Anopheles funestus mosquitoes, one of the main species transmitting human malaria across Africa. Here’s a visual summary. Art by @petrathepostdoc.bsky.social . 1/8 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Congrats to my fellow Duke EvAnth grad student Alisha Anaya 🎉 She put in so much effort scanning and recording this material, it’s great to see it come together!!

Caley Orr@caleyorr.bsky.social · 2y ago

Our new paper announcing a freely available database of 3D scans of primate skeletal material--a major effort led by Sergio Almécija & his team at the American Museum of Natural History. 🧪 🏺 #paleosky #anatomy #primates #anthropology #morphology #zoology #paleoanthropology #openscience

Being able to accurately identify physical interactions between host and receptor proteins is critical for research on host shifts/zoonoses as these interactions often mediate susceptibility. This type of research is important for future pandemics and research on treatment and vaccine development.

With the Crane Foundation & amazing co-authors, we analyzed 150+ years of genomic data, revealing whooping cranes have lost 70% of their genetic diversity and accumulated harmful mutations. Despite conservation successes, they remain vulnerable. We argue keeping their endangered status

Clàudia Fontserè@claudiafontsere.bsky.social · 2y ago

I'm super happy to share our newest preprint on whooping crane genomics 🐣🧬 🚨Persistent genomic erosion in whooping cranes despite demographic recovery🚨 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Extremely thankful to @hernmoral.bsky.social and all co-authors! #conservationgenomics #genomics #whoopingcranes

Fantastic to see this research come together! These questions can be addressed with significantly higher certainty using pathogen paleogenomics as shown here.

Andrew Curry@andrewcurry.com · 2y ago

It's a debate that's raged for more than 500 years: Where did syphilis, first reported in Europe in 1494, originate? DNA from ancient bones, analyzed by @jrockdrigo.bsky.social and colleagues, may help close the case. @science.org

Nearly five years after publication, and after 4,000 retractions, the paper that sparked the use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 has been retracted. The publisher cites a range of scientific and ethical concerns. I have some thoughts 1/n

Using hair found in the teeth of the infamous lions named the "Tsavo Man-Eater's," scientists uncover their diet consisted of humans, giraffes, and more. @currentbiology.bsky.social www.cell.com/current-biol...

Beautiful paper from the Elizabeth Winzeler laboratory at UC San Diego out today in Science building a predictive model of malaria drug resistance by analyzing the genomes of 724 parasite genomes evolved in the lab to resist one of 118 different antimalarial compounds today.ucsd.edu/story/a-new-...

A New Approach to Predicting Malaria Drug Resistance

Researchers at UC San Diego analyzed the genomes of hundreds of malaria parasites to determine which genetic variants are most likely to confer drug resistance.

today.ucsd.edu

Host specificity can be a super complex phenotype so to see such a clear example of a single mutation driving the shift is both fascinating and worrying!

Eric Topol@erictopol.bsky.social · 2y ago

New @science.org from my Scripps Research colleagues on H5N1 A single mutation can increase the virus's binding to human receptors, highlighting the need for rigorous surveillance science.org/doi/10.1126/...

My sister’s got an epic new paper out! She’s a PhD candidate working on infectious diseases, including this work on malaria therapeutics: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Potent AMA1-specific human monoclonal antibody against Plasmodium vivax Pre-erythrocytic and Blood Stages - Nature Communications

Here the authors isolate monoclonal antibodies specific for Plasmodium vivax apical membrane antigen 1, and characterize the epitope of one antibody that inhibits invasion of reticulocytes and hepatoc...

nature.com

Excited to share a new preprint with @jnovembre.bsky.social ! We use a combination of population genetic theory, simulation, and data analysis to ask: how does study design in genetic studies (including biobanks) impact the discovery of rare, deleterious variants?

bioRxiv Genetics@biorxiv-genetic.bsky.social · 2y ago

Study design and the sampling of deleterious rare variants in biobank-scale datasets https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.02.626424v1

Thank you so much to whoever put this very comprehensive list of #science Bsky starter packs together. This is just amazing: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Starter packs

BIOLOGY General Science community https://go.bsky.app/HVYAMEA Research Institutions in Life Sciences https://go.bsky.app/LxXpcvJ LGBTQIA+ in STEM https://go.bsky.app/BFc4wgf LGBTQIA+ in STEM 2 h...

docs.google.com

Love to see genomics and linguistics analyzed together! Cool paper importantly demonstrating how ancient DNA can answer questions in other disciplines. #aDNA

bioRxiv Genetics@biorxiv-genetic.bsky.social · 2y ago

Ancient genomics support deep divergence between Eastern and Western Mediterranean Indo-European languages https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.02.626332v1

Work by PhD student @jayatirsharma.bsky.social on how grouping Hispanic/Latino participants into a single group can obfuscate substantial substructure, leading to false conclusions. We show how heterogeneity by background group wrt genetic ancestry and environment can affect genetic risk models.

Jayati Sharma, PhD, ScM@jayatirsharma.bsky.social · 2y ago

New preprint! Within the HCHS/SOL study, we looked at the roles of self-identified background and genetic ancestry in describing GxE interactions of a PGS and sociocultural variables in a Hispanic/Latino population. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

A forest is more than its trees: haplotypes and inferred ARGs https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.30.626138v1

A forest is more than its trees: haplotypes and inferred ARGs https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.30.626138v1

Foreshadowing haplotype-based methods of the genomics era, it is an old observation that the ``junct

biorxiv.org

Very excited (and a bit nervous) to announce that I will be hiring two Postdocs for my new group(!) in Copenhagen to study the Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA which survives in present-day humans. Retweet will be much appreciated :) Link for application: candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

Sure! Probably the first thing to know is that there is a whole range of particle sizes that we produce when we use our lungs, voice boxes, mouths and noses (our respiratory tract). Some of those are “big” and heavy: maybe you get splattered by a person talking to you.

Great opportunity and sounds like a fascinating project, can’t wait to read the results!

Katerina Guschanski@kguschan.bsky.social · 2y ago

If you like genomics, speciation, and primates, this PhD position is for you! Unraveling the genomic architecture of speciation and gene flow in a crazy group of monkeys at U of Edinburgh . Do reach out with questions! evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...

First major paper from the lab! The work was led by super talented postdoc Maria Akopyan. She explored how reference bias skews estimates of diversity, demography, divergence & recombination rate with help from @elliecat.bsky.social & awesome ungrad Matthew. Full thread coming soon 🤓

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology@biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 2y ago

Divergent reference genomes compromise the reconstruction of demographic histories, selection scans, and population genetic summary statistics https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.26.625554v1

I created this stater pack with women in ecology and evolution. If you want to be added you can comment or DM me, but also please suggest the names of those I am missing 🧪🌎🌐 go.bsky.app/8jFH7cS