Mehmet Somel (Middle East Technical University, Turkey) will join us in Copenhagen to present a plenary talk on the latest advances in human evolution, at SMBE 2026.
Title: "Human societies past and present in light of ancient DNA"
#SMBE2026
Really excited to share our new paper on the Early Iron Age mass grave at Gomolava (9th c. BCE), a study I had the pleasure to work on during my PhD with an amazing group of co-authors across multiple disciplines. Open access link: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵👇
Bluesky is the new science Twitter, new study by @whysharksmatter.bsky.social and Julia Wester concludes!
"Results show that for every reported professional benefit that scientists once gained from Twitter, scientists can now gain that benefit more effectively on Bluesky than on Twitter."
The Association of Greek Archaeologists has published an open letter withdrawing its participation from the EAA Athens advisory committee 🍉
archaeol.gr/anoichti-epi...
Interested in using aDNA time-series datasets to estimate selection?
Our study "Assessing Ancient DNA Sampling Strategies for Natural Selection Inference in Humans Using Allele Frequency Time Series Data" is now out in GBE! doi.org/10.1093/gbe/... @genomebiolevol.bsky.social @cegamorim.bsky.social
🧬 Now published in Bioinformatics Advances: "pygenstrat: A Python package for EIGENSTRAT data processing" by @dilekopter.bsky.social
Full article available: https://doi.org/10.1093/bioadv/vbag022
🚨 6th HAAM-RADIO Webinar
🌍 African Population Demography and Social Organizations of the Past
🗓️ Wed, 28 Jan 2026
Register here:
👉 forms.gle/FuBTTX4wreW4...
#AncientDNA #HumanGenetics #AfricanHistory #HAAM #Webinar
@abinstitute.bsky.social @cesarforteslima.bsky.social
@hildegunnink.bsky.social
Treponemal diseases might have been with us much longer than previously thought! In our recent study, we used ancient DNA to reconstruct a 5,500-year-old 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘮 genome, revealing a previously unknown divergent subspecies.
You can check it out here:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Nature Aging @nataging.nature.com turns 5 and asked ~50 researchers to reflect on the field. I am honored to contribute alongside colleagues whose work has shaped how I think about #aging science.
Past, present and future perspectives on the science of aging
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
📢 We're hiring a postdoc (33 months) in human evolutionary genomics / paleogenomics / statistical genetics, Paris 🇫🇷
Project on selection on disease-associated variants, integrating ancient genomes, GWAS, and Ancestral Rec. Graphs.
Start May 2026 (flexible).
Apply here: emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
I will be recruiting two PhDs for my ERC Project HERDPATH - let's discover out how livestock and pathogens evolved together using #aDNA. Projects will be animal or pathogen focused but will be in dialogue.
Details at my quaint website below. Deadline 3rd October.
kevingdaly.github.io
The University of Texas at Austin seeks a postdoctoral researcher in Ancient DNA. Requirements include a PhD, DNA analysis experience, and strong computational skills. Apply to Ainash Childebayeva. More info: ainash.childebayeva@austin.utexas.edu. #postdoc
#SMBE2025 Symposium 28: Human history and past social organisation in the light of palaeogenomes: new methods, new findings session B
🔗 smbe2025.scimeeting.cn/en/web/program/25070
🌾 Agriculture didn’t always spread with mobility of people.
New ancient DNA research shows that in western Anatolia, while communities stayed put, farming and village life spread through the movement of ideas and practices.
📰 News Recherche
Une équipe de @unil.bsky.social @sib.swiss METU, @hacettepe.bsky.social met en lumière la manière dont les premiers modes de vie agricoles se sont diffusés - et comment, parfois, les idées ont voyagé plus loin que les individus.
➡️ www.unil.ch/news/1750772...
@dilekopter.bsky.social
🧬In Neolithic Çatalhöyük, family was built on social relations rather than blood ties.
Genetic analysis shows that over time, co-residents were no longer genetic relatives. Female subadults were buried with 5x more grave goods.
🔍A surprising story of Neolithic social life.
I didn’t know much about the Neolithic, neither had I ever heard the saying « pots don’t equal people ».
Well that changed, thanks to a real fun interview with @dilekopter.bsky.social and her colleagues behind this study (text also available in English, see comments) 👇
#archaeology #paleogenomics
Our research confirms the archaeological adage "pots don't equal people." and showed ideas traveled further than people in the ancient Aegean.
"Background mobility", the low but steady movement of individuals sharing ideas and materials, can explain how Neolithic practices spread without mass migration in early Neolithic of Western Anatolia.
In West Anatolia, we found thousands of years of genetic continuity despite rapid cultural changes. People adopted farming through idea exchange, not population replacement.
Key findings: Our results showed that the Neolithic transition wasn't uniform: some regions saw cultural adoption, others experienced population movement, and some combined both.
Integrating paleogenomics and material culture data we found a complex mosaic of cultural change dynamics. This new methodology integrating genomics and archaeology reveals the diverse ways people interacted and changed during this period.
Happy to share our new study from my PhD on the spread of farming across Anatolia and into the Aegean and then into Europe. @compevohumang.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
👇🏽
Check out our new paper!
We studied reference bias in ancient genomes and proposed bamRefine, a new algorithm for PMD-correction.
We showed that graph alignment + bamRefine is the most practical solution to mitigate bias, and we urge the community to publish raw data!
doi.org/10.1186/s130...
