Fernando Villanea
@fervillanea.bsky.social
He/Him. Assistant Professor of Anthropology at CU Boulder. March Mammal Madness Genetics Team. Population genetics of Neanderthals and other people. Latino in STEM 🇨🇷
Pinned
The MUC19 gene: An evolutionary history of recurrent introgression and natural selection
We study the gene MUC19, for which some modern humans carry a Denisovan-like haplotype. MUC19 is a mucin, a glycoprotein that forms gels with various biological functions. We find diagnostic variants ...
www.science.org
Our paper on the evolution of MUC19 in humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans is finally out today in Science!
This has been a six-year effort by 13 authors to weave together 3 separate but related evolutionary stories around this one gene (more on thread 🧵).
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This has been a six-year effort by 13 authors to weave together 3 separate but related evolutionary stories around this one gene (more on thread 🧵).
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
We sequenced #ancientRNA from an 18th-Century human lung and recovered a rhinovirus genome. Take a look at our preprint. Feedback welcome.
Excited to share our work on #AncientRNA from alcohol-preserved lungs, recovering the oldest human RNA virus genome (an 18th-century rhinovirus). Our study shows that viral RNA remnants persist in centuries-old tissue, opening new ways to study virus evolution and historical disease #Paleovirology🫁🦠
www.biorxiv.org
January 31, 2026 at 2:08 AM
We sequenced #ancientRNA from an 18th-Century human lung and recovered a rhinovirus genome. Take a look at our preprint. Feedback welcome.
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
🚨 Job alert! The University of Tübingen announces a W3 (Full) Professorship in Early Hominin Evolution in the framework of the DFG Cluster of Excellence 'HUMAN ORIGINS':
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
Application deadline: 11.03.2026 🚨
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
Application deadline: 11.03.2026 🚨
January 29, 2026 at 8:38 AM
🚨 Job alert! The University of Tübingen announces a W3 (Full) Professorship in Early Hominin Evolution in the framework of the DFG Cluster of Excellence 'HUMAN ORIGINS':
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
Application deadline: 11.03.2026 🚨
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
Application deadline: 11.03.2026 🚨
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
Buscamos una/un postdoc entusiasta y motivada para unirse al grupo de Paleogenómica y Biología Evolutiva en @liigh-unam.bsky.social para liderar un proyecto enfocado a muestras humanas prehispánicas. Interesadxs por favor enviar CV y carta de intención a [email protected]. Por favor #RT.
January 27, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Buscamos una/un postdoc entusiasta y motivada para unirse al grupo de Paleogenómica y Biología Evolutiva en @liigh-unam.bsky.social para liderar un proyecto enfocado a muestras humanas prehispánicas. Interesadxs por favor enviar CV y carta de intención a [email protected]. Por favor #RT.
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
Our work on the generalizability of polygenic scores (PGS) from the @arbelharpak.bsky.social Lab is now officially out!
We examine the accuracy of PGS predictions at the individual level. We make 3 observations that expose gaps in our understanding of PGS “portability.”
rdcu.be/e0LAr
(1/27)
We examine the accuracy of PGS predictions at the individual level. We make 3 observations that expose gaps in our understanding of PGS “portability.”
rdcu.be/e0LAr
(1/27)
Three open questions in polygenic score portability
Nature Communications - Genetic predictors of health outcomes often drop in accuracy when applied to people dissimilar to participants of large genetic studies. Here, the authors investigate the...
rdcu.be
January 26, 2026 at 11:20 PM
Our work on the generalizability of polygenic scores (PGS) from the @arbelharpak.bsky.social Lab is now officially out!
We examine the accuracy of PGS predictions at the individual level. We make 3 observations that expose gaps in our understanding of PGS “portability.”
rdcu.be/e0LAr
(1/27)
We examine the accuracy of PGS predictions at the individual level. We make 3 observations that expose gaps in our understanding of PGS “portability.”
rdcu.be/e0LAr
(1/27)
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
We discuss 3 key observations: (1) Genetic distance explains only a tiny fraction of the prediction accuracy; (2) Portability trends can be trait-specific, due to underappreciated factors; (3) The measure of prediction accuracy can alter qualitative trends of portability.
(4/27)
(4/27)
January 26, 2026 at 11:20 PM
We discuss 3 key observations: (1) Genetic distance explains only a tiny fraction of the prediction accuracy; (2) Portability trends can be trait-specific, due to underappreciated factors; (3) The measure of prediction accuracy can alter qualitative trends of portability.
(4/27)
(4/27)
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
On the importance of preprints, regardless of whether you are Team Sponge or Team Jelly:
'King says that she wishes she had posted the study as a preprint so that the errors could have been caught sooner.'
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
'King says that she wishes she had posted the study as a preprint so that the errors could have been caught sooner.'
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What were the first animals? The fierce sponge–jelly battle that just won’t end
For almost two decades, scientists have debated whether sponges or comb jellies are the first animal lineage. Now some are calling for a more harmonious approach.
www.nature.com
January 27, 2026 at 2:38 PM
On the importance of preprints, regardless of whether you are Team Sponge or Team Jelly:
'King says that she wishes she had posted the study as a preprint so that the errors could have been caught sooner.'
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
'King says that she wishes she had posted the study as a preprint so that the errors could have been caught sooner.'
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
Federal agents in Minneapolis wrestled Alex Pretti to the ground and secured the handgun he was carrying moments before shooting him multiple times, according to a Washington Post analysis of video footage.
Read more: https://wapo.st/4qGOx8M
Read more: https://wapo.st/4qGOx8M
January 25, 2026 at 2:38 PM
Federal agents in Minneapolis wrestled Alex Pretti to the ground and secured the handgun he was carrying moments before shooting him multiple times, according to a Washington Post analysis of video footage.
Read more: https://wapo.st/4qGOx8M
Read more: https://wapo.st/4qGOx8M
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
Footage taken moments before a struggle shows that the man was filming, holding a phone in his right hand, backing up. His left hand is up, visible, palm facing out, as he backs away from the area. An agent uses his right hand, on the torso of the victim, pushing him back, while the man complies.
January 24, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Footage taken moments before a struggle shows that the man was filming, holding a phone in his right hand, backing up. His left hand is up, visible, palm facing out, as he backs away from the area. An agent uses his right hand, on the torso of the victim, pushing him back, while the man complies.
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
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...
“Characterising the detectable and invisible fractions of genomic loci under balancing selection”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
January 21, 2026 at 3:32 PM
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...
“Characterising the detectable and invisible fractions of genomic loci under balancing selection”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
Balancing selection alert!! 🧬🧪
New preprint where we try to quantify how likely (or rather, unlikely) it is for balancing selection to maintain stable polymorphism, and how easy (or rather, challenging) it is to identify its signatures in genomes.
#Popgen #MolecularEvolution #EvoBio #Science
New preprint where we try to quantify how likely (or rather, unlikely) it is for balancing selection to maintain stable polymorphism, and how easy (or rather, challenging) it is to identify its signatures in genomes.
#Popgen #MolecularEvolution #EvoBio #Science
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...
“Characterising the detectable and invisible fractions of genomic loci under balancing selection”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
January 21, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Balancing selection alert!! 🧬🧪
New preprint where we try to quantify how likely (or rather, unlikely) it is for balancing selection to maintain stable polymorphism, and how easy (or rather, challenging) it is to identify its signatures in genomes.
#Popgen #MolecularEvolution #EvoBio #Science
New preprint where we try to quantify how likely (or rather, unlikely) it is for balancing selection to maintain stable polymorphism, and how easy (or rather, challenging) it is to identify its signatures in genomes.
#Popgen #MolecularEvolution #EvoBio #Science
@gokcumenlab.bsky.social I really like the spinning-top model for explaining the prevalence of auto-immune conditions!
January 20, 2026 at 3:16 PM
@gokcumenlab.bsky.social I really like the spinning-top model for explaining the prevalence of auto-immune conditions!
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
Pajic & @gokcumenlab.bsky.social synthesize the evolution of VNTRs in mammals, including mutational mechanisms and selective forces driving their evolution, and propose a theoretical framework for their persistence through evolutionary tradeoffs.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf250
#genome #evolution
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf250
#genome #evolution
Evolutionary Balancing of Genetic Consequence and Innovation in Mammals Through Variable Number Tandem Repeats
Abstract. Understanding genomic function has historically relied on sequence conservation across evolutionary time. However, advances in genomics have reve
doi.org
January 20, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Pajic & @gokcumenlab.bsky.social synthesize the evolution of VNTRs in mammals, including mutational mechanisms and selective forces driving their evolution, and propose a theoretical framework for their persistence through evolutionary tradeoffs.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf250
#genome #evolution
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf250
#genome #evolution
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
New preprint! and my first single-author paper, so bear with me.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Malaria population genetic studies have found some puzzling patterns: Ne estimates spanning orders of magnitude, genome-wide negative Tajima's D, and over a quarter of genes with πN/πS >1
1/n
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Malaria population genetic studies have found some puzzling patterns: Ne estimates spanning orders of magnitude, genome-wide negative Tajima's D, and over a quarter of genes with πN/πS >1
1/n
Rare variation in malaria parasites biases population-genetic inference
Understanding how pathogens evolve is fundamental to disease control and is a basic question in evolutionary biology, yet pathogens with complex life cycles violate assumptions of classic evolutionary...
www.biorxiv.org
January 14, 2026 at 10:03 PM
New preprint! and my first single-author paper, so bear with me.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Malaria population genetic studies have found some puzzling patterns: Ne estimates spanning orders of magnitude, genome-wide negative Tajima's D, and over a quarter of genes with πN/πS >1
1/n
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Malaria population genetic studies have found some puzzling patterns: Ne estimates spanning orders of magnitude, genome-wide negative Tajima's D, and over a quarter of genes with πN/πS >1
1/n
Pretty sure erosion makes us Boulder.
January 14, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Pretty sure erosion makes us Boulder.
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
New work from @miyapan.bsky.social and our team, bringing ant, bee, and wasp labs together. @chuanxinyu.bsky.social shows that the ANTSR locus we discovered in ants has determined sex for 150+ My across bees and stinging wasps 🐜🐝, despite virtually no sequence conservation 😮 doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
January 6, 2026 at 3:01 AM
New work from @miyapan.bsky.social and our team, bringing ant, bee, and wasp labs together. @chuanxinyu.bsky.social shows that the ANTSR locus we discovered in ants has determined sex for 150+ My across bees and stinging wasps 🐜🐝, despite virtually no sequence conservation 😮 doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
Oh, look! A paper about the coolest piece of software I've ever built!
demografr: A toolkit for simulation-based inference in population genetics https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.18.694482v1
January 6, 2026 at 10:07 PM
Oh, look! A paper about the coolest piece of software I've ever built!
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
Here's my latest contribution to the @nytimes "Lost Science" series. Brenna Henn's sweeping study of African genetics has been frozen. Gift link: nyti.ms/3Ypmm1A
January 5, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Here's my latest contribution to the @nytimes "Lost Science" series. Brenna Henn's sweeping study of African genetics has been frozen. Gift link: nyti.ms/3Ypmm1A
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
Come and join me and my colleagues at the Department of Biology, #LundUniversity in #sweden! We have am open position as Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Biodiversity.
Apply here no later than February 11 2026:
https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:848749/type:job/where:4/apply:1
Apply here no later than February 11 2026:
https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:848749/type:job/where:4/apply:1
Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Biodiversity
The Department of Biology was established in 2010 through the merger of the Departments of Ecology, Cell and Organism Biology, Biological Undergraduate Education, and the Biological Museums. The depar
lu.varbi.com
December 20, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Come and join me and my colleagues at the Department of Biology, #LundUniversity in #sweden! We have am open position as Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Biodiversity.
Apply here no later than February 11 2026:
https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:848749/type:job/where:4/apply:1
Apply here no later than February 11 2026:
https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:848749/type:job/where:4/apply:1
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... It's finally out! Meriam Guellil expertly led this project from the first HHV6 detection to the final paper. We found both human herpesviruses 6A and 6B in ancient remains going back 2500 years.
January 2, 2026 at 7:53 PM
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... It's finally out! Meriam Guellil expertly led this project from the first HHV6 detection to the final paper. We found both human herpesviruses 6A and 6B in ancient remains going back 2500 years.
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
And here’s my other human origins countdown to close out the year! 🏺🧪
10 things we learned about Neanderthals in 2025
Findings about our extinct relatives, the Neanderthals, continue to surprise us, especially those from 2025.
www.livescience.com
December 30, 2025 at 9:31 PM
And here’s my other human origins countdown to close out the year! 🏺🧪
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
Did you know there are 2 types of avocado varieties? A-types switch from female to male, B-types male to female, within a single day. This reciprocal sex alternation promotes cross-pollination and has a simple genetic basis. Read more in this recent preprint from the final chapter of my PhD thesis 🥑
Balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies an ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado
In avocado and certain wild relatives in Lauraceae, pollination occurs via a synchronized rhythm of floral sex timing between two hermaphroditic flowering types. A-type plants present female-phase flo...
www.biorxiv.org
December 29, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Did you know there are 2 types of avocado varieties? A-types switch from female to male, B-types male to female, within a single day. This reciprocal sex alternation promotes cross-pollination and has a simple genetic basis. Read more in this recent preprint from the final chapter of my PhD thesis 🥑
Reposted by Fernando Villanea
Super excited to announce that my review article from this summer, "Post-pandemic inequalities: Evolutionary anthropological frameworks for long-term impacts of the 1918 influenza pandemic," is now available open access!🔓🔓🔓🔓
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 29, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Super excited to announce that my review article from this summer, "Post-pandemic inequalities: Evolutionary anthropological frameworks for long-term impacts of the 1918 influenza pandemic," is now available open access!🔓🔓🔓🔓
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains
December 28, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains