Just published our new paper: “The reliability of inferred archaic segments” 🎉🧬💀 www.pivotscipub.com/hpgg/6/2/000... We systematically compare several published methods and our new method "cp-archaic" using simulations and 1000 Genomes data

A new popular science article on our genomic study in Sudan is now out in The Conversation Africa — check it out!

The Conversation Africa@africa.theconversation.com · 3mo ago

A genetic mystery within a migrant community in Sudan is offering new clues in the fight against malaria — and reshaping what scientists understand about resistance, survival and the future of medicine. theconversation.com/in-sudan-a-m... #ScienceAndTech

Moltes ganes de participar en aquesta jornada la setmana que ve!

Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (IBE)@ibe-barcelona.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Jornada de recerca amaziga🧬 Una jornada divulgativa d'@scb.iec.cat i TANIT amb la participació de l'@ibe-barcelona.bsky.social per apropar el poble amazic a través de la genètica, la llengua, l'antropologia i l'art.🧵 📅 7 de maig ⏰18h 📍 Institut d’Estudis Catalans Incripció👉shorturl.at/QkNZJ

Our new paper is out in @nature.com! By exploring the rich genetic diversity of Indigenous peoples across America, we show how large-scale genomic data reveal far more complex evolutionary history, shaped by multiple dispersals, long-term regional continuity, and adaptation to diverse environments.

📕Una investigación internacional liderada por @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social ha generado la mayor base de datos genómica de los indígenas americanos El estudio publicado en #Nature aporta 128 genomas completos y revela más de un millón de variantes genéticas nuevas🧬 👉https://shorturl.at/G8Ys6

🚨 Check out our new paper in Nature! In our new study, we sequenced 128 high-coverage genomes from Indigenous peoples across Latin America and uncovered their unique genetic diversity and history. 👇🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The evolutionary history and unique genetic diversity of Indigenous Americans - Nature

Analysis of 128 high-coverage Indigenous American genomes shows extensive diversity shaped by several South American dispersals, ancient Australasian admixture, archaic introgression and long-term ada...

nature.com

📕Una recerca liderada per David Comas, Investigador de l' @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social  i catedràtic i investigador del  @melisupf.bsky.social detalla com un procés evolutiu accelerat proporciona als coptes del Sudan resistència a la malària🧬🧵 #DesxifrantEvolució 👉https://shorturl.at/4mODd

#Research 1/ A rapid evolutionary process provides Sudanese Copts with resistance to malaria In just 1,500 years, the Copts have acquired a genetic variant that protects them from contracting malaria after mixing with other Sudanese populations cc @pnas.org @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social tuit.cat/Byntj

A rapid evolutionary process provides Sudanese Copts with resistance to malaria - Departament | Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences - UPF

L’estudi publicat a PNAS detalla com, en tan sols 1.500 anys, els coptes han adquirit una variant genètica que els protegeix de contraure la malària després de barrejar-se amb altres poblacions sudane...

tuit.cat

A new preprint from the lab, with postdoc @deboraycb.bsky.social and collaborators @aidaandres.bsky.social and Tim Connallon: “Characterising the detectable and invisible fractions of genomic loci under balancing selection” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A genetic study of 125 Sudanese people explores how a gene variant responsible for malaria resistance emerged as Copts, a Sudanese minority group originally from Egypt, intermixed with local Nilo-Saharan individuals 1,000 to 1,500 years ago. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/o6C950XY3H0

Hominin fossils discovered in Morocco, which have been dated to about 773,000 years ago, may be close ancestors of modern humans. The findings, published in Nature, provide insights into African populations before the earliest known Homo sapiens.🧪

Early hominins from Morocco basal to the Homo sapiens lineage - Nature

New hominin fossils from the Grotte à Hominidés at Thomas Quarry I (ThI-GH) in Casablanca, Morocco, dated to around 773 thousand years ago are similar in age to Homo antecessor, yet are morphologically distinct.

go.nature.com

Beautiful study of the population history of Sudan, including a striking signature of adaptive admixture in the Duffy-null blood group gene, potentially as a mechanism of local adaptation to Plasmodium. Congratulations @lvilavalls.bsky.social, what a great regal de reis!

Laura Vilà Valls@lvilavalls.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Our new paper is out in PNAS! We analyzed 125 high-coverage whole genomes from five Sudanese ethnolinguistic groups, to understand the evolutionary and demographic history of the region. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧵👇

Our new paper is out in PNAS! We analyzed 125 high-coverage whole genomes from five Sudanese ethnolinguistic groups, to understand the evolutionary and demographic history of the region. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧵👇

Jasmin Rees PhD chapter as a paper just out at the AJHG @ajhgnews.bsky.social, with Sergi Castellano, who first envisioned the study. Jas investigated signatures of human local genetic adaptation in hundreds of micronutrient-associated genes.

The American Journal of Human Genetics@ajhgnews.bsky.social · 11mo ago

📣New from @aidaandres.bsky.social & co 📄Global impact of micronutrients in modern human evolution

Excited to share our new preprint🙌 It's the first human WGS study in Sudan. We uncover one of the strongest selection signals to date, pointing to post-admixture adaptation to malaria in Copts. Huge thanks to all co-authors. @aidaandres.bsky.social @jgarcia-cal.bsky.social @ebosch1972.bsky.social

medRxivpreprint@medrxivpreprint.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Sudan's complex genetic admixture history drives adaptation to malaria in Sudanese Copts https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.01.25334828v1

✅ Published in @natureportfolio.nature.com today, the paper describing the initial whole-genome sequencing analysis of 500,000 UK Biobank participants. Read here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Whole-genome sequencing of 490,640 UK Biobank participants - Nature

A study reports whole-genome sequences for 490,640 participants from the UK Biobank and combines these data with phenotypic data to provide new insights into the relationship between human variation a...

nature.com

🚨 New paper klaxon! 🚨 The History of the Panmictic Population Concept and Its Legacy in Contemporary Population Genetics Quite niche admittedly, one for the historians of evolutionary thought, and population geneticists. doi.org/10.1111/ahg....

The History of the Panmictic Population Concept and Its Legacy in Contemporary Population Genetics

ABSTRACT The panmictic population concept is at the heart of population, evolutionary and conservation genetics. However, in nature, true panmictic populations are vanishingly rare. As an idea conce...

doi.org

I'm thrilled to announce that our featured article, "Herders from the Green Sahara", was published in the 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵 magazine. Another great collaboration with Viktor Černý and Carina Schlebusch. Free access here: livejohnshopkins-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/person...

Check out our recent review 'Power and Limitations of Inferring Genetic Ancestry'- what do we even mean by the term 'genetic ancestry' and what do commonly-used methods actually tell us?

Annals of Human Genetics@ahgeditor.bsky.social · last yr.

An Early View: Dr @nancybird1.bsky.social , Prof @turiking.bsky.social, & Prof Hellenthal examine the methodological advances and interpretive limits of genetic ancestry inference. The authors emphasize the need for a stronger focus on conveying uncertainty to mitigate risks of over-interpretation.

Postdoc position in my group in Tokyo! Please get in touch if you are interested. And happy to discuss projects - these would range from developing new methods to analysis of new genomes that we are now sequencing in the lab. Job Ad: www.riken.jp/en/careers/r... Lab page: speidellab.github.io

Seeking a few Postdoctoral Researchers at Mathematical Genomics RIKEN ECL Research Unit (25-695)

riken.jp

Recognition for #IBE PhD Students in 2025🏆🤩 Alba Nieto and Gemma Martínez received the SMBE Graduate Student Excellence Award, while Laura Vilà won third prize in UPF #Rin4min — where Marina Carmona was selected as a finalist! 👉https://shorturl.at/FT9Rl

Thrilled to share our latest preprint! 🎉🔥 We analysed >23k mtDNA genomes & found 18 variants shaped by climate—linked to thermogenesis, metabolism & disease. Led by PhD student Finley Grover-Thomas, and in collab with: @aidaandres.bsky.social @lucyvandorp.bsky.social @proffballoux.bsky.social

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology@biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · last yr.

Climate associated natural selection in the human mitochondrial genome https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.23.655374v1

🚨 Our new paper is out in Science! We analyzed 2,723 high-coverage whole genomes from Brazilians to explore how five centuries of colonization, forced migration, and admixture have shaped genetic diversity and impacted health. 📄 science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧵👇

Admixture’s impact on Brazilian population evolution and health

Brazil, the largest Latin American country, is underrepresented in genomic research despite boasting the world’s largest recently admixed population. In this study, we generated 2723 high-coverage who...

science.org

Very proud of my colleagues and friends for their amazing publication out in Science today! Nunes et al. "Admixture’s impact on Brazilian population evolution and health" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @hunemeier.bsky.social @macscastro.bsky.social 👏

Admixture’s impact on Brazilian population evolution and health

Brazil, the largest Latin American country, is underrepresented in genomic research despite boasting the world’s largest recently admixed population. In this study, we generated 2723 high-coverage who...

science.org

Tanquem el fil de la 11a edició del #Rin4min amb la foto de família amb tots els participants 📸 Ens veiem l'any que ve!

Molt contenta d'haver compartit la meva recerca al #Rin4Min i de tenir l'oportunitat de divulgar en català. 🎉

Universitat Pompeu Fabra@upf.edu · last yr.

El quart premi ha sigut per Laura Vilà, estudiant de doctorat de Biomedicina, que ha explicat "La protecció genètica contra la malària: demografia i adaptació" en 4 minuts al #Rin4Min.

I am delighted to share with you some new insights into the selection processes that shaped the Spanish population! This work has been led by @ebosch1972.bsky.social @francesccalafell.bsky.social ( @upf.edu ) in collaboration with Rafael de Cid ( @igtp.bsky.social ) and @sabiagini.bsky.social ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Inferring past demography and genetic adaptation in Spain using the GCAT cohort - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - Inferring past demography and genetic adaptation in Spain using the GCAT cohort

nature.com

If you're interested in human popgen🧬, our lab (with Prof. David Comas) is looking for an undergrad/master student for a JAE Intro fellowship 👉 @csic.es @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social sede.csic.gob.es/tramites/pro...

I'm beyond excited to share our new paper in Nature! We sequenced the first ancient human autosomal genomes from the Central Sahara, two ~7,000-year-old individuals from Takarkori in Libya, revealing a long-isolated North African lineage: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Here's a short thread: (1/n)

Ancient DNA from the Green Sahara reveals ancestral North African lineage - Nature

Pastoralism spread through cultural diffusion into the Green Sahara, where an isolated, distinct North African ancestry persisted.

nature.com

PhD position in archaeozoology and omics at the University of Vienna! 🤠🦊🐯🦁🐱🐰🐍🦬🐂🦣🐄 The student will be based in Vienna and co-supervised in Santander!