Arjun Biddanda
@aabiddanda.github.io
Statistical and population geneticist | Postdoc @ JHU Biology | COYS | Costco enthusiast | aabiddanda.github.io
Pinned
Arjun Biddanda
@aabiddanda.github.io
· Apr 7
Thrilled to see this work out - its been fascinating to look at statistical genetics in these IVF embryo datasets underlying meiotic aneuploidies and recombination! Joint work led with @saracarioscia.bsky.social. See thread below, thoughts welcome!
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
SuSiE 2.0: improved methods and implementations for genetic fine-mapping and phenotype prediction https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.25.690514v1
November 28, 2025 at 10:46 AM
SuSiE 2.0: improved methods and implementations for genetic fine-mapping and phenotype prediction https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.25.690514v1
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
How do new centromeres evolve while staying compatible with the division machinery?
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
November 26, 2025 at 4:21 PM
How do new centromeres evolve while staying compatible with the division machinery?
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
Our cornetto work is now published at www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It can do near-T2T assembly using @nanoporetech.com adaptive sampling
- with less 💸
- reference agnostic, so works for non-humans
- not just blood, even saliva
Just presented at #abacbs2025 yesterday.
It can do near-T2T assembly using @nanoporetech.com adaptive sampling
- with less 💸
- reference agnostic, so works for non-humans
- not just blood, even saliva
Just presented at #abacbs2025 yesterday.
Targeted sequencing and iterative assembly of near-complete genomes - Nature Communications
Long-read sequencing enables high-quality genome assemblies, but challenges remain. Here, the authors introduce Cornetto, a method that improves assembly quality, enables genome sequencing from saliva...
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Our cornetto work is now published at www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It can do near-T2T assembly using @nanoporetech.com adaptive sampling
- with less 💸
- reference agnostic, so works for non-humans
- not just blood, even saliva
Just presented at #abacbs2025 yesterday.
It can do near-T2T assembly using @nanoporetech.com adaptive sampling
- with less 💸
- reference agnostic, so works for non-humans
- not just blood, even saliva
Just presented at #abacbs2025 yesterday.
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
Excited to share a preprint of my PhD project looking at interactions between SNPs and polygenic scores in the UK Biobank!
A thread... 🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
A thread... 🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Interactions with polygenic background impact quantitative traits in the UK Biobank
Association studies have linked many genetic variants to a variety of phenotypes but under-standing the biological mechanisms underlying these signals remains a major challenge. Since genes operate wi...
www.medrxiv.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Excited to share a preprint of my PhD project looking at interactions between SNPs and polygenic scores in the UK Biobank!
A thread... 🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
A thread... 🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
Check out this beautiful paper by @richardcsilva.bsky.social et al., out now in @natcomms.nature.com. Great new DSB sensors to track DNA break formation and repair in real-time
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Engineered chromatin readers track damaged chromatin dynamics in live cells and animals - Nature Communications
DNA damage threatens genome stability, but its dynamics in living systems remain difficult to track. Here, the authors engineer MCPH1-based protein probes that specifically recognize γH2AX, enabling r...
www.nature.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Check out this beautiful paper by @richardcsilva.bsky.social et al., out now in @natcomms.nature.com. Great new DSB sensors to track DNA break formation and repair in real-time
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
The missing heritability question is now (mostly) answered
Not with a bang but with a whimper
theinfinitesimal.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
CRISPR-Cas–mediated heritable chromosome fusions in Arabidopsis | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... So cool!!!🤩
CRISPR-Cas–mediated heritable chromosome fusions in Arabidopsis
The genome of Arabidopsis thaliana consists of 10 chromosomes. By inducing CRISPR-Cas–mediated breaks at subcentromeric and subtelomeric sequences, we fused entire chromosome arms, obtaining two eight...
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:04 PM
CRISPR-Cas–mediated heritable chromosome fusions in Arabidopsis | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... So cool!!!🤩
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
periodic reminder of the existence of Atkinson Hyperlegible, a free font available from the Braille Institute designed to improve readability for people with low vision
I use it in talks because it's pretty and also because, as an audience member, I am perpetually squinting at people's slides
I use it in talks because it's pretty and also because, as an audience member, I am perpetually squinting at people's slides
Atkinson Hyperlegible Font - Braille Institute
Read easier with Atkinson Hyperlegible Font, crafted for low-vision readers. Download for free and enjoy clear letters and numbers on your computer!
www.brailleinstitute.org
November 17, 2025 at 4:19 AM
periodic reminder of the existence of Atkinson Hyperlegible, a free font available from the Braille Institute designed to improve readability for people with low vision
I use it in talks because it's pretty and also because, as an audience member, I am perpetually squinting at people's slides
I use it in talks because it's pretty and also because, as an audience member, I am perpetually squinting at people's slides
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
I am looking to hire a postdoc interested in combining genetics and evolution to understand why telomeres vary so much in plants. My group has been developing Mimulus a genetic model for studying plant telomeres and we have really cool research brewing. Please check ad for detail. Deadline is 12/31.
November 16, 2025 at 8:29 PM
I am looking to hire a postdoc interested in combining genetics and evolution to understand why telomeres vary so much in plants. My group has been developing Mimulus a genetic model for studying plant telomeres and we have really cool research brewing. Please check ad for detail. Deadline is 12/31.
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
SAVE THE DATE: the yearly NY Population Genetics meeting will be back on March 9 2026, generously hosted by the
@simonsfoundation.org. Details to follow. Please RT.
@simonsfoundation.org. Details to follow. Please RT.
November 14, 2025 at 5:05 PM
SAVE THE DATE: the yearly NY Population Genetics meeting will be back on March 9 2026, generously hosted by the
@simonsfoundation.org. Details to follow. Please RT.
@simonsfoundation.org. Details to follow. Please RT.
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
First time on Bsky and first big announcement!
I am excited to announce that our new study explaining the missing heritability of many phenotypes using WGS data from ~347,000 UK Biobank participants has just been published in @Nature.
Our manuscript is here: www.nature.com/articles/s41....
I am excited to announce that our new study explaining the missing heritability of many phenotypes using WGS data from ~347,000 UK Biobank participants has just been published in @Nature.
Our manuscript is here: www.nature.com/articles/s41....
Estimation and mapping of the missing heritability of human phenotypes - Nature
WGS data were used from 347,630 individuals with European ancestry in the UK Biobank to obtain high-precision estimates of coding and non-coding rare variant heritability for 34 co...
www.nature.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
First time on Bsky and first big announcement!
I am excited to announce that our new study explaining the missing heritability of many phenotypes using WGS data from ~347,000 UK Biobank participants has just been published in @Nature.
Our manuscript is here: www.nature.com/articles/s41....
I am excited to announce that our new study explaining the missing heritability of many phenotypes using WGS data from ~347,000 UK Biobank participants has just been published in @Nature.
Our manuscript is here: www.nature.com/articles/s41....
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A
Insertion of an invading retrovirus regulates a novel color trait in swordtail fish
For over a century, evolutionary biologists have been motivated to understand the mechanisms through which organisms adapt to their environments. Coloration and pigmentation are remarkably variable wi...
shorturl.at
November 12, 2025 at 8:34 PM
I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
An empirical approach to evaluating the prevalence of long-lived balancing selection in humans--and important limitations. Work by @hannahmm.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
An empirical approach to evaluating the prevalence of long-lived balancing selection in humans--and important limitations. Work by @hannahmm.bsky.social
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
Hidden Markov Models Detect Recombination and Ancestry of SARS-CoV-2 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.08.687354v1
November 11, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Hidden Markov Models Detect Recombination and Ancestry of SARS-CoV-2 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.08.687354v1
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
My first preprint of my PhD! Thanks to @ekerdoncuff.bsky.social and @moorjanipriya.bsky.social for their guidance and mentorship in this project!
Revisiting the Evolution of Lactase Persistence: Insights from South Asian Genomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.05.686799v1
November 7, 2025 at 12:28 AM
My first preprint of my PhD! Thanks to @ekerdoncuff.bsky.social and @moorjanipriya.bsky.social for their guidance and mentorship in this project!
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
How do GWAS and rare variant burden tests rank gene signals?
In new work @nature.com with @hakha.bsky.social, @jkpritch.bsky.social, and our wonderful coauthors we find that the key factors are what we call Specificity, Length, and Luck!
🧬🧪🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
In new work @nature.com with @hakha.bsky.social, @jkpritch.bsky.social, and our wonderful coauthors we find that the key factors are what we call Specificity, Length, and Luck!
🧬🧪🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Specificity, length and luck drive gene rankings in association studies - Nature
Genetic association tests prioritize candidate genes based on different criteria.
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:05 AM
How do GWAS and rare variant burden tests rank gene signals?
In new work @nature.com with @hakha.bsky.social, @jkpritch.bsky.social, and our wonderful coauthors we find that the key factors are what we call Specificity, Length, and Luck!
🧬🧪🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
In new work @nature.com with @hakha.bsky.social, @jkpritch.bsky.social, and our wonderful coauthors we find that the key factors are what we call Specificity, Length, and Luck!
🧬🧪🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
Elevated mutation near crossovers inhibits the evolution of recombination https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.01.685904v1
November 2, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Elevated mutation near crossovers inhibits the evolution of recombination https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.01.685904v1
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
New preprint from another part of my PhD! 📝👇
Some mutations arise after fertilisation 🧬, so early they can appear in both a parent’s body and their germ cells.
By analysing family trio genomes 👪, we built one of the largest catalogues of these “hidden” inherited variants yet.
tinyurl.com/mvns2ytv
Some mutations arise after fertilisation 🧬, so early they can appear in both a parent’s body and their germ cells.
By analysing family trio genomes 👪, we built one of the largest catalogues of these “hidden” inherited variants yet.
tinyurl.com/mvns2ytv
Landscape of parental postzygotic mutations in >11,000 rare disease trios
Postzygotic mutations (PZMs) arising post-fertilisation, prior to primordial germ cell specification, may be subsequently inherited by both somatic and germ cells, causing somatic mosaicism in the par...
tinyurl.com
October 28, 2025 at 11:04 AM
New preprint from another part of my PhD! 📝👇
Some mutations arise after fertilisation 🧬, so early they can appear in both a parent’s body and their germ cells.
By analysing family trio genomes 👪, we built one of the largest catalogues of these “hidden” inherited variants yet.
tinyurl.com/mvns2ytv
Some mutations arise after fertilisation 🧬, so early they can appear in both a parent’s body and their germ cells.
By analysing family trio genomes 👪, we built one of the largest catalogues of these “hidden” inherited variants yet.
tinyurl.com/mvns2ytv
Incredibly insightful thread!
October 29, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Incredibly insightful thread!
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
The Johri Lab has an open postdoc position. Please send me an email, if interested. Start date is flexible. Please do share! Thank you in advance.
October 28, 2025 at 9:31 PM
The Johri Lab has an open postdoc position. Please send me an email, if interested. Start date is flexible. Please do share! Thank you in advance.
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
Why do complex traits differ in their genetic architecture?
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Simple scaling laws control the genetic architectures of human complex traits
Genome-wide association studies have revealed that the genetic architectures of complex traits vary widely. This study shows that differences in architectures of highly polygenic traits arise mainly f...
journals.plos.org
October 24, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Why do complex traits differ in their genetic architecture?
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
Hey Yaniv Brandvain is not on Bluesky but his most recent biostats ebook is live ybrandvain.github.io/biostats/. His stats resources have been so helpful to me as I develop my own stats course, so check it out. Github repo here: github.com/ybrandvain/b...
Applied Biostatistics
ybrandvain.github.io
October 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Hey Yaniv Brandvain is not on Bluesky but his most recent biostats ebook is live ybrandvain.github.io/biostats/. His stats resources have been so helpful to me as I develop my own stats course, so check it out. Github repo here: github.com/ybrandvain/b...
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
One of the most exciting works of my career, years in the making. We used high-throughput precision genome editing to test the fitness effects of thousands of natural variants. Our findings challenge the long-held assumption that common variants are inconsequential.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Massively parallel interrogation of the fitness of natural variants in ancient signaling pathways reveals pervasive local adaptation
The nature of standing genetic variation remains a central debate in population genetics, with differing perspectives on whether common variants are almost always neutral as suggested by neutral and n...
www.biorxiv.org
October 22, 2025 at 5:46 PM
One of the most exciting works of my career, years in the making. We used high-throughput precision genome editing to test the fitness effects of thousands of natural variants. Our findings challenge the long-held assumption that common variants are inconsequential.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
If you need more exciting news about Denisovans, check out our paper on Denisovan ancestry in modern humans through time, out today in Current Biology: www.cell.com/current-biol...! #Denisovan #ancientDNA
An early East Asian lineage with unexpectedly low Denisovan ancestry
Yang et al. study Denisovan ancestry in ancient and present-day humans. In contrast to other East Asians, genomic comparisons suggest that the Jomon derived most of their ancestry from a deep lineage…
www.cell.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:14 PM
If you need more exciting news about Denisovans, check out our paper on Denisovan ancestry in modern humans through time, out today in Current Biology: www.cell.com/current-biol...! #Denisovan #ancientDNA
Reposted by Arjun Biddanda
We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT
October 15, 2025 at 3:53 PM
We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT