Fernando Villanea
@fervillanea.bsky.social
He/Him. Assistant Professor of Anthropology at CU Boulder. Population genetics of Neanderthals and other people. Opinions are my own. Latino in STEM 🇨🇷
Last time the Seahawks were in the Super Bowl I was still at Washington State. That was really embarrassing but we got Left Shark that year at least.This was a better showing and we got an even more amazing treat for halftime.
February 9, 2026 at 3:01 AM
Last time the Seahawks were in the Super Bowl I was still at Washington State. That was really embarrassing but we got Left Shark that year at least.This was a better showing and we got an even more amazing treat for halftime.
@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!
Pretty sure erosion makes us Boulder.
January 14, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Pretty sure erosion makes us Boulder.
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
I'm an evolutionary biologist, here is the final slide from my lecture on sexual reproduction, sex determination, & sexual dimorphism:
Here are the complete slides: docs.google.com/presentation...
I don't tell students sex is not binary, I walk them through the tree of life to show them it's not.
Here are the complete slides: docs.google.com/presentation...
I don't tell students sex is not binary, I walk them through the tree of life to show them it's not.
December 22, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I'm an evolutionary biologist, here is the final slide from my lecture on sexual reproduction, sex determination, & sexual dimorphism:
Here are the complete slides: docs.google.com/presentation...
I don't tell students sex is not binary, I walk them through the tree of life to show them it's not.
Here are the complete slides: docs.google.com/presentation...
I don't tell students sex is not binary, I walk them through the tree of life to show them it's not.
It’s almost 70 degrees on December 22nd in Colorado but NCAR is the problem????
December 22, 2025 at 6:43 PM
It’s almost 70 degrees on December 22nd in Colorado but NCAR is the problem????
But if each gene is doing multiple jobs, then every phenotypical trait is controlled by multiple genes.
Even homozygous deleterious mutations are doing something else when in heterozygous form: doi.org/10.64898/202...
Complexity is the norm, more complexity than what fits in the human imagination
Even homozygous deleterious mutations are doing something else when in heterozygous form: doi.org/10.64898/202...
Complexity is the norm, more complexity than what fits in the human imagination
December 19, 2025 at 5:29 PM
But if each gene is doing multiple jobs, then every phenotypical trait is controlled by multiple genes.
Even homozygous deleterious mutations are doing something else when in heterozygous form: doi.org/10.64898/202...
Complexity is the norm, more complexity than what fits in the human imagination
Even homozygous deleterious mutations are doing something else when in heterozygous form: doi.org/10.64898/202...
Complexity is the norm, more complexity than what fits in the human imagination
I'm old enough to remember my mentors' hype when talking about how the human genome was going to explain everything, only to be dismayed to find out <30,000 genes had to explain hundreds of thousands of traits
Each gene doing multiple jobs was the only solution!
doi.org/10.1038/ng07...
Each gene doing multiple jobs was the only solution!
doi.org/10.1038/ng07...
December 19, 2025 at 5:29 PM
I'm old enough to remember my mentors' hype when talking about how the human genome was going to explain everything, only to be dismayed to find out <30,000 genes had to explain hundreds of thousands of traits
Each gene doing multiple jobs was the only solution!
doi.org/10.1038/ng07...
Each gene doing multiple jobs was the only solution!
doi.org/10.1038/ng07...
When I tell people I'm a geneticist
December 17, 2025 at 8:40 PM
When I tell people I'm a geneticist
Each one of my lectures starts with a meme, and rarely do my 18-20yo students get the reference, but today I feel like I have driven that generational wedge even deeper 😅
November 11, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Each one of my lectures starts with a meme, and rarely do my 18-20yo students get the reference, but today I feel like I have driven that generational wedge even deeper 😅
In honor of the theatrical re-release of Jurassic Park tomorrow.
November 4, 2025 at 6:06 PM
In honor of the theatrical re-release of Jurassic Park tomorrow.
I'm re-teaching an R class from four years ago and found out today qplot was deprecated to encourage me to learn ggplot, which like, fair point since I've had four years to improve the class and clearly didn't.
September 10, 2025 at 12:04 AM
I'm re-teaching an R class from four years ago and found out today qplot was deprecated to encourage me to learn ggplot, which like, fair point since I've had four years to improve the class and clearly didn't.
This originally showed up an an excess of heterozygous sites in these Neanderthals, similar to humans who are also heterozygous. We then phased these Neanderthals at this site, and yes, they carry the "Denisovan" variant too. This is intriguing, because Neanderthal genomes are largely homozygous.
August 21, 2025 at 7:36 PM
This originally showed up an an excess of heterozygous sites in these Neanderthals, similar to humans who are also heterozygous. We then phased these Neanderthals at this site, and yes, they carry the "Denisovan" variant too. This is intriguing, because Neanderthal genomes are largely homozygous.
But also, surprise! The Vindija and Chagysrkaya Neanderthals carry this MUC19 variant in heterozygous form. They each carry exactly one variant that looks like the Altai Neanderthal but also one variant that looks like introgressed humans and similar to the single Denisovan genome.
August 21, 2025 at 7:36 PM
But also, surprise! The Vindija and Chagysrkaya Neanderthals carry this MUC19 variant in heterozygous form. They each carry exactly one variant that looks like the Altai Neanderthal but also one variant that looks like introgressed humans and similar to the single Denisovan genome.
We also identified "Denisovan-specific" SNPs that are nonsynonimous, the archaic MUC19 has a few amino acid differences. Moreso, we used these SNPs as identifiers for population abundance of the archaic MUC19. Modern Latino and ancient Indigenous individuals carry the archaic version more frequently
August 21, 2025 at 7:36 PM
We also identified "Denisovan-specific" SNPs that are nonsynonimous, the archaic MUC19 has a few amino acid differences. Moreso, we used these SNPs as identifiers for population abundance of the archaic MUC19. Modern Latino and ancient Indigenous individuals carry the archaic version more frequently
MUC19 has a Variable Number Tandem Repeat functional region, like all mucins, each unit (30bp) is a sugar binding domain. More domains, longer protein skeleton for sugars to bind. The majority of humans carry ~400 units, the outliers are many American individuals who carry up to ~800.
August 21, 2025 at 7:36 PM
MUC19 has a Variable Number Tandem Repeat functional region, like all mucins, each unit (30bp) is a sugar binding domain. More domains, longer protein skeleton for sugars to bind. The majority of humans carry ~400 units, the outliers are many American individuals who carry up to ~800.
American populations present a signature of positive selection around MUC19 and its very long haplotype (very low recombination rate). Once you partition the variants and calculate PBS, that selection is unique to Denisovan and Neanderthal variants carried by some modern humans.
August 21, 2025 at 7:36 PM
American populations present a signature of positive selection around MUC19 and its very long haplotype (very low recombination rate). Once you partition the variants and calculate PBS, that selection is unique to Denisovan and Neanderthal variants carried by some modern humans.
MUC19 in humans is:
1) Archaic, one variant was passed from Denisovans->Neanderthals->humans.
2) Under positive natural selection uniquely in Indigenous and Latino American populations.
3) MUC19 in those populations shows an expansion of the functional protein domain, a VNTR that is twice as long.
1) Archaic, one variant was passed from Denisovans->Neanderthals->humans.
2) Under positive natural selection uniquely in Indigenous and Latino American populations.
3) MUC19 in those populations shows an expansion of the functional protein domain, a VNTR that is twice as long.
August 21, 2025 at 7:36 PM
MUC19 in humans is:
1) Archaic, one variant was passed from Denisovans->Neanderthals->humans.
2) Under positive natural selection uniquely in Indigenous and Latino American populations.
3) MUC19 in those populations shows an expansion of the functional protein domain, a VNTR that is twice as long.
1) Archaic, one variant was passed from Denisovans->Neanderthals->humans.
2) Under positive natural selection uniquely in Indigenous and Latino American populations.
3) MUC19 in those populations shows an expansion of the functional protein domain, a VNTR that is twice as long.
And if you do, you might as well modify a Tinamou, since that's the sister taxa to Moas. A Dire Tinamou would sell pretty well actually.
July 9, 2025 at 10:34 PM
And if you do, you might as well modify a Tinamou, since that's the sister taxa to Moas. A Dire Tinamou would sell pretty well actually.
This is a good time to remember that Moas, Emus, and the other ratites diverged so long ago, they FLEW to different continents, and then lost the ability to fly and became giants independently. You can't just sprinkle a few variants to make one into the other.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
July 9, 2025 at 10:34 PM
This is a good time to remember that Moas, Emus, and the other ratites diverged so long ago, they FLEW to different continents, and then lost the ability to fly and became giants independently. You can't just sprinkle a few variants to make one into the other.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Very excited for a new book! I started Absolution this morning.
June 24, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Very excited for a new book! I started Absolution this morning.
I remember the announcement of Desert Storm on TV, and understood it being serious because of how worried my parents were. This was in Costa Rica, a country with no horse on that race. I guarantee you everyone is every other country is watching right now. Kids today will remember these days forever.
June 23, 2025 at 8:01 PM
I remember the announcement of Desert Storm on TV, and understood it being serious because of how worried my parents were. This was in Costa Rica, a country with no horse on that race. I guarantee you everyone is every other country is watching right now. Kids today will remember these days forever.
