Harald Ringbauer
@hringbauer.bsky.social
Population Geneticist | Ancient DNA
Research Group Leader at MPI-EVA Leipzig
www.hringbauer.com
Research Group Leader at MPI-EVA Leipzig
www.hringbauer.com
Pinned
Harald Ringbauer
@hringbauer.bsky.social
· Apr 23
Check out our ancient DNA paper on the maritime Punic civilization! 🦴🧬🌊
We find that their Levantine Phoenician cultural ancestors contributed surprisingly little ancestry to Punic sites in the central and western Mediterranean! (1/4)
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
#aDNA #PopGen #Punic #Phoenician
We find that their Levantine Phoenician cultural ancestors contributed surprisingly little ancestry to Punic sites in the central and western Mediterranean! (1/4)
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
#aDNA #PopGen #Punic #Phoenician
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
We hope this little guide and review of the recent literature on SVs will be useful for the community in #ecology #evolution #genomics #PopGen.
Great lead by Kat!!
Great lead by Kat!!
New review!
Theory & a practical guide to structural variants in popgen🧬
Many thanks to my co-authors: @rebekahoomen.bsky.social
@annatigano.bsky.social @marenwellenreuther.bsky.social @janawold.bsky.social @dlfield.bsky.social @clairemerot.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Theory & a practical guide to structural variants in popgen🧬
Many thanks to my co-authors: @rebekahoomen.bsky.social
@annatigano.bsky.social @marenwellenreuther.bsky.social @janawold.bsky.social @dlfield.bsky.social @clairemerot.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A Beginner's Guide to Structural Variants in Eco‐Evolutionary Population Genomics
Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has greatly expanded researchers' ability to study structural variants (SVs), that is, the variation in the presence, number, orientation or position of a DNA sequence. ....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 28, 2026 at 7:04 AM
We hope this little guide and review of the recent literature on SVs will be useful for the community in #ecology #evolution #genomics #PopGen.
Great lead by Kat!!
Great lead by Kat!!
(1/2) The preprint of our perspective on genetic estimates of relatedness in animal populations is out! Big Congratulations to Annika!
doi.org/10.32942/X28...
A systematic review of 2,861 articles shows that, even in 2025, 75% of such studies use microsatellites. And most use only a few!
#PopGen
doi.org/10.32942/X28...
A systematic review of 2,861 articles shows that, even in 2025, 75% of such studies use microsatellites. And most use only a few!
#PopGen
January 26, 2026 at 5:36 PM
(1/2) The preprint of our perspective on genetic estimates of relatedness in animal populations is out! Big Congratulations to Annika!
doi.org/10.32942/X28...
A systematic review of 2,861 articles shows that, even in 2025, 75% of such studies use microsatellites. And most use only a few!
#PopGen
doi.org/10.32942/X28...
A systematic review of 2,861 articles shows that, even in 2025, 75% of such studies use microsatellites. And most use only a few!
#PopGen
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
We developed/optimised the protocol to enrich low aDNA content libraries using Twist panels. 🎣🧬👩🔬
#aDNA #Labwork
#aDNA #Labwork
Lets Tweap again: Economic and SNP retrieval optimisation for target enrichment of ancient DNA https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.15.699081v1
January 16, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
SciLifeLab has opened a call for #postdoc fellows in Data-Driven Life Science. We would be happy to host such fellows!
Get in touch if you are interested in applying with a project on the evolution of humans and domestic animals using ancient and/or modern DNA 🧪🏺
www.scilifelab.se/data-driven/...
Get in touch if you are interested in applying with a project on the evolution of humans and domestic animals using ancient and/or modern DNA 🧪🏺
www.scilifelab.se/data-driven/...
DDLS Research School Postdoc call 2026
Call for Academic and Industrial Postdoctoral Fellowships in Data-Driven Life Science 2026 Generic Description of the DDLS Postdoc Program The SciLifeLab and Wallenberg National Program for Data-Drive...
www.scilifelab.se
January 13, 2026 at 2:56 PM
SciLifeLab has opened a call for #postdoc fellows in Data-Driven Life Science. We would be happy to host such fellows!
Get in touch if you are interested in applying with a project on the evolution of humans and domestic animals using ancient and/or modern DNA 🧪🏺
www.scilifelab.se/data-driven/...
Get in touch if you are interested in applying with a project on the evolution of humans and domestic animals using ancient and/or modern DNA 🧪🏺
www.scilifelab.se/data-driven/...
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
#AI may indeed exacerbate our bad academic habits:
#LLM science summaries were nearly five times more likely than human-authored science summaries to contain broad generalizations (95% CI [3.06, 7.70], p < 0.001).
And newer models over-generalized more; not less!
doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
#philSci
#LLM science summaries were nearly five times more likely than human-authored science summaries to contain broad generalizations (95% CI [3.06, 7.70], p < 0.001).
And newer models over-generalized more; not less!
doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
#philSci
January 4, 2026 at 4:19 PM
#AI may indeed exacerbate our bad academic habits:
#LLM science summaries were nearly five times more likely than human-authored science summaries to contain broad generalizations (95% CI [3.06, 7.70], p < 0.001).
And newer models over-generalized more; not less!
doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
#philSci
#LLM science summaries were nearly five times more likely than human-authored science summaries to contain broad generalizations (95% CI [3.06, 7.70], p < 0.001).
And newer models over-generalized more; not less!
doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
#philSci
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
This smells distinctly like collider bias and/or selection bias and/or regression to the mean... You simply can't select teen prodigies, and world class athletes rom databases, and go run regressions without serious consideration of the selection process!
"Most top achievers (Nobel laureates and world-class musicians, athletes, chess players) demonstrated lower performance than many peers during their early years. Across the highest adult performance, peak performance is negatively correlated with early performance" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance
Scientists have long debated the origins of exceptional human achievements. This literature review summarizes recent evidence from multiple domains on the acquisition of world-class performance. We re...
www.science.org
December 20, 2025 at 3:48 PM
This smells distinctly like collider bias and/or selection bias and/or regression to the mean... You simply can't select teen prodigies, and world class athletes rom databases, and go run regressions without serious consideration of the selection process!
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
Have you ever wondered: just how strong *is* the evidence for Muller's ratchet on mtDNA?
Well, wonder no more!
(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)
"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Well, wonder no more!
(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)
"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes
Muller's ratchet predicts that non-recombining genomes can accumulate deleterious mutations, though molecular evidence for it is rare. Previous studies have tried to detect ratchet-like behavior in mi...
www.biorxiv.org
December 17, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Have you ever wondered: just how strong *is* the evidence for Muller's ratchet on mtDNA?
Well, wonder no more!
(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)
"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Well, wonder no more!
(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)
"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
Happy to share my work with my advisor Zachary Szpiech! Why are associations between ROH & complex traits inconsistent across studies? We use realistic simulations to show how demographic history and genetic architecture interact to shape the phenotypic impact of ROH. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
The Influence of Demographic History and Genetic Architecture on Complex Traits via Runs of Homozygosity
Runs of homozygosity (ROH) are contiguous genomic regions where all sites are homozygous, inherited from identical haplotypes due to shared ancestry. The number and length of ROH in individuals varies...
www.biorxiv.org
December 18, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Happy to share my work with my advisor Zachary Szpiech! Why are associations between ROH & complex traits inconsistent across studies? We use realistic simulations to show how demographic history and genetic architecture interact to shape the phenotypic impact of ROH. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
Ancient genomes from the siege and destruction of Middle Bronze Age Roca Vecchia (Apulia, Italy) shed light on Aegean contacts and conflicts https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.15.694319v1
December 18, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
A new community-driven lab handbook for reducing conflict and creating more positive and equitable work environments gets strong support from a survey of 200 researchers.
buff.ly/K7CGFLV
buff.ly/K7CGFLV
December 18, 2025 at 9:02 PM
A new community-driven lab handbook for reducing conflict and creating more positive and equitable work environments gets strong support from a survey of 200 researchers.
buff.ly/K7CGFLV
buff.ly/K7CGFLV
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
'Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey.'
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
December 10, 2025 at 5:10 PM
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
What's that? 5 ancient doggy papers in 10 days is too many dogs?
Can I interest you in some cats?
Perhaps a complete retelling of cat domestication, dispersal, and replacement across Eurasia?
As you wish!
Science
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Cell Genomics
www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
Can I interest you in some cats?
Perhaps a complete retelling of cat domestication, dispersal, and replacement across Eurasia?
As you wish!
Science
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Cell Genomics
www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago
The domestic cat (Felis catus) descends from the African wildcat Felis lybica lybica. Its global distribution alongside humans testifies to its successful adaptation to anthropogenic environments. Unc...
www.science.org
November 28, 2025 at 12:40 PM
What's that? 5 ancient doggy papers in 10 days is too many dogs?
Can I interest you in some cats?
Perhaps a complete retelling of cat domestication, dispersal, and replacement across Eurasia?
As you wish!
Science
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Cell Genomics
www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
Can I interest you in some cats?
Perhaps a complete retelling of cat domestication, dispersal, and replacement across Eurasia?
As you wish!
Science
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Cell Genomics
www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
I taught (and co-taught) a course on human population genetics from 2000-2024. Having retired, I'm now making all the course materials public: github.com/alanrogers/p... #popgen #evbio
GitHub - alanrogers/popgen: A course on population genetics
A course on population genetics. Contribute to alanrogers/popgen development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:10 PM
I taught (and co-taught) a course on human population genetics from 2000-2024. Having retired, I'm now making all the course materials public: github.com/alanrogers/p... #popgen #evbio
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
As I told the CNN, without details and data it is not possible to assess the claims.
More importantly, the scientific value of this media campaign, balanced against the possible stigmatization of individuals with these real conditions today, is highly questionable. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/s...
More importantly, the scientific value of this media campaign, balanced against the possible stigmatization of individuals with these real conditions today, is highly questionable. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/s...
Researchers say they have verified and sequenced Hitler’s DNA – and found a genetic disorder | CNN
Analysis of Adolf Hitler’s DNA reveals he may have had a rare genetic disorder that can delay puberty.
edition.cnn.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:28 PM
As I told the CNN, without details and data it is not possible to assess the claims.
More importantly, the scientific value of this media campaign, balanced against the possible stigmatization of individuals with these real conditions today, is highly questionable. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/s...
More importantly, the scientific value of this media campaign, balanced against the possible stigmatization of individuals with these real conditions today, is highly questionable. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/s...
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
Putting aside the deeper issues of why this analysis was done and how it has been promoted, the choice to broadcast a tv show before releasing a preprint should make people skeptical of the results. How can one be sure of their scientific claims?
As I told the CNN, without details and data it is not possible to assess the claims.
More importantly, the scientific value of this media campaign, balanced against the possible stigmatization of individuals with these real conditions today, is highly questionable. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/s...
More importantly, the scientific value of this media campaign, balanced against the possible stigmatization of individuals with these real conditions today, is highly questionable. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/s...
Researchers say they have verified and sequenced Hitler’s DNA – and found a genetic disorder | CNN
Analysis of Adolf Hitler’s DNA reveals he may have had a rare genetic disorder that can delay puberty.
edition.cnn.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Putting aside the deeper issues of why this analysis was done and how it has been promoted, the choice to broadcast a tv show before releasing a preprint should make people skeptical of the results. How can one be sure of their scientific claims?
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
Exciting new study led by @ekerdoncuff.bsky.social and @meaghanmarohn.bsky.social on the evolution of Lactase Persistence in South Asia.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Revisiting the Evolution of Lactase Persistence: Insights from South Asian Genomes
Lactase persistence (LP), the ability to digest lactose from milk into adulthood, is a classic example of natural selection in humans. Multiple mutations upstream of the LCT gene are associated with L...
www.biorxiv.org
November 7, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Exciting new study led by @ekerdoncuff.bsky.social and @meaghanmarohn.bsky.social on the evolution of Lactase Persistence in South Asia.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New paper led by Javier Maravall on a time transect from ancient Argentina.
New paper led by Javier Maravall on a time transect from ancient Argentina.
Eight millennia of continuity of a previously unknown lineage in Argentina - Nature
A previously unsampled deep lineage in central Argentina was discovered that had distinctive genetic drift by 8,500 bp and persisted as the main Native American ancestry component in the reg...
www.nature.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:07 PM
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New paper led by Javier Maravall on a time transect from ancient Argentina.
New paper led by Javier Maravall on a time transect from ancient Argentina.
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
✨Thrilled to share that the first chapter of my Ph.D. thesis is NOW OUT in Science Advances! ✨🥳🎉 🧬. This couldn't have been possible without the support of everyone involved
@genscapelab.bsky.social, @nirajrai.bsky.social, @cdelafc.bsky.social, @jaurban2204.bsky.social, @mootspoints.bsky.social
@genscapelab.bsky.social, @nirajrai.bsky.social, @cdelafc.bsky.social, @jaurban2204.bsky.social, @mootspoints.bsky.social
1/n Delighted to share our newly published work in Science Advances, investigating human genetic histories at the northern frontier of the Himalayas 🧬🏔️:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Dynamic human admixture histories over the past ~1300 years at the northern Himalayan frontier
Ancient and present-day human genomes shed light on ~1300 years of genetic admixture and continuity in the northern Himalayas.
www.science.org
October 30, 2025 at 9:44 PM
✨Thrilled to share that the first chapter of my Ph.D. thesis is NOW OUT in Science Advances! ✨🥳🎉 🧬. This couldn't have been possible without the support of everyone involved
@genscapelab.bsky.social, @nirajrai.bsky.social, @cdelafc.bsky.social, @jaurban2204.bsky.social, @mootspoints.bsky.social
@genscapelab.bsky.social, @nirajrai.bsky.social, @cdelafc.bsky.social, @jaurban2204.bsky.social, @mootspoints.bsky.social
🦠💀🦠 Happy to share our (with @gunnar-u-neumann.bsky.social) new preprint on ancient Salmonella enterica genomes! We analysed 53 new genomes along with published ancient and modern datasets to learn about lineage replacements and host adaptation in prehistory: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Evolutionary history and recurrent host adaptation in ancient Salmonella enterica
Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica is an extremely diverse bacterial pathogen causing frequent infections and foodborne disease among human populations. More than 1500 different bacterial strains (se...
www.biorxiv.org
October 3, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
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.
📣New from @aidaandres.bsky.social & co
📄Global impact of micronutrients in modern human evolution
📄Global impact of micronutrients in modern human evolution
Global impact of micronutrients in modern human evolution
In this study, Rees et al. evaluate the role of dietary micronutrients in driving
local genetic adaptation and population differentiation in humans. The authors find
evidence that micronutrient-associ...
www.cell.com
September 10, 2025 at 9:10 PM
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.
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
Excited to share that I’ve started as Associate Professor at the Technical University of Denmark! 🧑🎓
I also received an a NNF Emerging Investigator grant to use genomics + machine learning to study extinction.
👉 PhD & Postdoc positions coming soon — follow for updates!
Reposts appreciated 🙏
I also received an a NNF Emerging Investigator grant to use genomics + machine learning to study extinction.
👉 PhD & Postdoc positions coming soon — follow for updates!
Reposts appreciated 🙏
September 5, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Excited to share that I’ve started as Associate Professor at the Technical University of Denmark! 🧑🎓
I also received an a NNF Emerging Investigator grant to use genomics + machine learning to study extinction.
👉 PhD & Postdoc positions coming soon — follow for updates!
Reposts appreciated 🙏
I also received an a NNF Emerging Investigator grant to use genomics + machine learning to study extinction.
👉 PhD & Postdoc positions coming soon — follow for updates!
Reposts appreciated 🙏
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
Anglo-Saxons with West African roots: DNA analysis of 7th century burials reported in @antiquity.ac.uk today reveals long-distance connections reached across continents and cultures. Read about it @science.org:
Youths buried in Anglo-Saxon cemeteries carried West African DNA
Despite bearing remarkably far-flung genetic origins, a girl and young man were buried just like their peers
www.science.org
August 13, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Anglo-Saxons with West African roots: DNA analysis of 7th century burials reported in @antiquity.ac.uk today reveals long-distance connections reached across continents and cultures. Read about it @science.org:
Reposted by Harald Ringbauer
#Population history of the Southern #Caucasus: Archaeogenetic study generates #DNA transect spanning nearly 5,000 years. In @cellpress.bsky.social by Eirini Skourtanioti, Xiaowen Jia, @hringbauer.bsky.social & an intl. team. #PopulationGenetics More: tinyurl.com/8r39ywfu & doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
Population history of the Southern Caucasus
Archaeogenetic study reveals this region’s population history in unprecedented detail, generating a DNA transect spanning nearly 5,000 years
tinyurl.com
August 7, 2025 at 3:14 PM
#Population history of the Southern #Caucasus: Archaeogenetic study generates #DNA transect spanning nearly 5,000 years. In @cellpress.bsky.social by Eirini Skourtanioti, Xiaowen Jia, @hringbauer.bsky.social & an intl. team. #PopulationGenetics More: tinyurl.com/8r39ywfu & doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
Our aDNA time transect centered on modern Georgia is out! 🧬
Genetic continuity over 5000 years, but some Bronze Age gene flow and urban outliers since Antiquity - including some with artificially deformed skulls 💀 linked by IBD segments to Asian nomads.
#aDNA #PopGen
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Genetic continuity over 5000 years, but some Bronze Age gene flow and urban outliers since Antiquity - including some with artificially deformed skulls 💀 linked by IBD segments to Asian nomads.
#aDNA #PopGen
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
The genetic history of the Southern Caucasus from the Bronze Age to the Early Middle Ages: 5,000 years of genetic continuity despite high mobility
Ancient DNA from the Southern Caucasus reveals remarkable genetic continuity, with
some mixing from Anatolia/Iran and the Eurasian Steppe, and shows that even periods
of urbanization and increased mob...
www.cell.com
August 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Our aDNA time transect centered on modern Georgia is out! 🧬
Genetic continuity over 5000 years, but some Bronze Age gene flow and urban outliers since Antiquity - including some with artificially deformed skulls 💀 linked by IBD segments to Asian nomads.
#aDNA #PopGen
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Genetic continuity over 5000 years, but some Bronze Age gene flow and urban outliers since Antiquity - including some with artificially deformed skulls 💀 linked by IBD segments to Asian nomads.
#aDNA #PopGen
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Was Rapa Nui less isolated than thought? ⏬️
There is also genetic evidence of late inter-island contacts: When re-modelling the Ioannidis et al 2020 split dates with a corrected model we show that their genetic "settlement" dates actually reflect later movements www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
There is also genetic evidence of late inter-island contacts: When re-modelling the Ioannidis et al 2020 split dates with a corrected model we show that their genetic "settlement" dates actually reflect later movements www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
July 7, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Was Rapa Nui less isolated than thought? ⏬️
There is also genetic evidence of late inter-island contacts: When re-modelling the Ioannidis et al 2020 split dates with a corrected model we show that their genetic "settlement" dates actually reflect later movements www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
There is also genetic evidence of late inter-island contacts: When re-modelling the Ioannidis et al 2020 split dates with a corrected model we show that their genetic "settlement" dates actually reflect later movements www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...