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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson
@sexchrlab.bsky.social
2.8K followers 440 following 170 posts
Geneticist. Parent. Studying sex chromosomes and sex as a biological variable in disease. Posts and opinions are my own.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Melissa Wilson
acstone.bsky.social
Anne Stone @acstone.bsky.social · 19d
With a nice feature in ASU news! news.asu.edu/20250918-sci...
Scientists discover genetic adaptations can help those living in dry climates | ASU News
A team of international scientists has uncovered key genetic adaptations underlying survival in hot and dry environments, revealing how natural selection may have enabled some pastoralist populations ...
news.asu.edu
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Reposted by Melissa Wilson
acstone.bsky.social
Anne Stone @acstone.bsky.social · 19d
Adaptations to water stress and pastoralism in the Turkana of northwest Kenya | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Adaptations to water stress and pastoralism in the Turkana of northwest Kenya
The Turkana pastoralists of Kenya inhabit arid, water-limited environments and rely largely on livestock for subsistence. Working with Turkana communities, we sequenced 367 whole genomes and identifie...
www.science.org
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · 28d
Up now!!

Characterizing the impacts of menopause stage, sex hormones, and sex chromosomes on brain aging and disease

Alex DeCasien, Ph.D.
@coevolvinglab.bsky.social
Characterizing the impacts of menopause stage, sex hormones, and sex chromosomes on brain aging and disease Alex DeCasien, Ph.D.
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Reposted by Melissa Wilson
galaxyproject.bsky.social
Galaxy Project @galaxyproject.bsky.social · 28d
after a long effort, gathering a lot of input from many people, we finaly put it all together:
Ten Common Misconceptions About Galaxy (and Why They Are Wrong!)
https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202509.0823
Thank you very much to all people involved !
overview
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · 28d
Our collaborative project led by @coevolvinglab.bsky.social who assembled an incredible team including @bogglerapture.bsky.social, Mark Cookson, Xylena Reed & Stefano Marenco

Characterizing the impacts of menopause stage, sex hormones, and sex chromosomes on brain aging and disease.

#Research
CHARACTERIZING THE IMPACTS OF MENOPAUSE STAGE, SEX HORMONES, AND SEX CHROMOSOMES ON BRAIN AGING AND DISEASE Alex R. DeCasien (NIA), Melissa Wilson (NHGRI), Stefano Marenco (NIMH), Xylena Reed (CARD), Armin Raznahan (NIMH), Mark Cookson (NIA) Abstract: Biological sex influences risk for neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), with Alzheimer's disease occurring more often in females and Parkinson's disease occurring more often in males. Here, we propose to investigate how hormonal fluctuations (associated with menopause and andropause) and sex chromosome dynamics shape both sex differences and within-sex variability in brain aging and NDD risk. We will generate new blood-based endocrine measures and integrate these data with existing intramural and published single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) datasets from various brain regions to examine how menopause stage, sex hormone concentrations, and sex chromosome loss contribute brain aging in specific brain cell types. By sampling males and females across the reproductive aging period - including the menopause transition - this work can illuminate how hormonal fluctuations due to reproductive aging contribute to changes in brain gene expression in ways that may impact susceptibility to NDDs. Our findings will enhance our understanding of how sex-related mechanisms and aging interact to influence brain health, potentially revealing novel therapeutic targets for NDDs. MPIs (L-R, Top-Bottom]: Alex R. DeCasien (NIA), Melissa Wilson (NHGRI), Stefano Marenco (NIMH), Xylena Reed (NIA), Armin Raznahan (NIMH), Mark Cookson (NIA) nih.gov/women 11
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · 28d
So excited to be in person and about to watch my collaborator @coevolvinglab.bsky.social present soon on our newly funded collaborative research.

ORWH Intramural innovation awards in women’s midlife health

2025 NIH Research Festival
September 10, 2025, 10 - 11 AM ET

#Research #Aging
Welcome by Elizabeth Barr to the Office of Research on Women’s Health Innovation Awards presentation ORWH INTRAMURAL INNOVATION AWARDS IN WOMEN'S MIDLIFE HEALTH: ABSTRACT BOOK 2025 NIH Research Festival September 10, 2025, 10 - 11 AM ET
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Sep 8
Remote talk at Northern Arizona University today with so many student questions!
Selfie of a scientist with brown hair, purple glasses, smiling, before giving a remote presentation
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Sep 4
More about the AnVIL Community Conference: anvilproject.org/events/anvil...

#AnVILCommunity2025
AnVIL Community Conference 2025 - AnVIL Portal
anvilproject.org
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Sep 4
Excited to see you all at #AnVILCommunity2025
sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Sep 4
On my way to Nashville for the AnVIL meeting. See you all soon!
Selfie of brunette woman with unicorn purple glasses, a mask, and red scarf on a flight
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Sep 4
On my way to Nashville for the AnVIL meeting. See you all soon!
Selfie of brunette woman with unicorn purple glasses, a mask, and red scarf on a flight
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Reposted by Melissa Wilson
christinebeck.bsky.social
Christine Beck @christinebeck.bsky.social · Aug 1
This was both fun and terrifying to tape! Awesome to talk with @glennislogsdon.bsky.social and @aphillippy.bsky.social about our sequencing data / paper, the improvements to large-scale sequencing projects, and what this means for our understanding of our DNA!
aphillippy.bsky.social
Adam Phillippy @aphillippy.bsky.social · Aug 1
Complete genomes alert! @glennislogsdon.bsky.social, @christinebeck.bsky.social, and I were on @scifri.bsky.social today talking about "Complex genetic variation in nearly complete human genomes"
📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
📻 www.sciencefriday.com/segments/65-...
65 Genomes Expand Our Picture Of Human Genetics
Researchers closely examined the genomes of 65 individuals to paint a more complex, and more complete, picture of human genetic diversity.
www.sciencefriday.com
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Reposted by Melissa Wilson
aphillippy.bsky.social
Adam Phillippy @aphillippy.bsky.social · Aug 1
Complete genomes alert! @glennislogsdon.bsky.social, @christinebeck.bsky.social, and I were on @scifri.bsky.social today talking about "Complex genetic variation in nearly complete human genomes"
📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
📻 www.sciencefriday.com/segments/65-...
65 Genomes Expand Our Picture Of Human Genetics
Researchers closely examined the genomes of 65 individuals to paint a more complex, and more complete, picture of human genetic diversity.
www.sciencefriday.com
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Jul 30
Some animals are more equal than others.
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Jul 30
In 1951, Harry S. Truman laid the cornerstone of the NIH clinical center, stating, "Research to prevent disease" was a better investment for federal dollars than "providing unlimited hospitalization to treat it."
Photo of president Harry S. Truman laying the cornerstone of the NIH clinical center. President Harry S. Truman laid the cornerstone in 1951, saying of the Clinical Center's future work: "Medical care is for the people and not just for the doctors and the rich." He mentioned that 75 million Americans then without health insurance would soon become a "medically indigent class" and he challenged the scientific community to "translate the new knowledge gained by research into better care for more people." "Research to prevent disease" was a better investment for federal dollars than "providing unlimited hospitalization to treat it."
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Jul 14
Ooh, I love to hear it!
sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Jul 14
Ooh, that's cool.

Is there a ref genome for the species?

Idk genome size, but if possible to generate long reads for the parents (not necessarily assemblies, but the cost has come down a lot) you can try to phase so you will have some haplotypes information to help with imputation of linked SNPs.
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Jul 14
Are the grandparents all inbred (homozygous at all/nearly all loci)?

I'm generally always more in favor of WGS over Radseq due to more even coverage across individuals, but curious what arguments there are in the opposite direction.
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Jul 14
Yes, I realized I responded thinking of a mouse model but the species and genetic background make a big difference.
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Jul 14
Highly recommend the wgs over radseq for more comparable sequence across individuals. Depending on the known parental genotypes, the imputation would work very well. Is this in mice with known parental genome sequences?
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Reposted by Melissa Wilson
drpintothe2nd.bsky.social
Dr. Brendan "Doesn't-go-to-Ravenholm" Pinto @drpintothe2nd.bsky.social · Jul 11
Big S/O to other folks who generated and shared their high-quality data with us (some published, some not) to help develop our understanding of the tool and framework.
They truly made this work possible! Folks like @tododge.bsky.social @lngray.bsky.social @scarey.bsky.social, to name just a few 🙏🏼🦸‍♂️🦸‍♀️🧬
sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Jul 11
🚨Preprint🚨

Sex chromosome identification & genome curation from a single individual with SCINKD
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Incredible work led by @drpintothe2nd.bsky.social in collaboration w/ @drsimonegable.bsky.social @stuartvnielsen.bsky.social @tonygamble.bsky.social SE Keating & CH Smith
Graphical overview of the biological foundations of the proposed approach. Application of SCINKD to identify XY chromosomes in the Christmas island skink Application of SCINKD to identify previously unannotated sex chromosomes in the Lesser electric ray.
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Jul 11
Congratulations to Dr. Winingear and Dr. Siford @rebeccasiford.bsky.social who both successfully defended their dissertations this summer!

Primarily advised by Dr. Anne Stone @acstone.bsky.social. I was lucky to co-advise on some pieces.

Super cool work and tremendous effort by both!
Opening dissertation defense slide for Stevie Winingear: Interdisciplinary Genomics Research in Life and Social Sciences Opening slide for Rebecca Siford's dissertation defense: Evaluating Community Receptions and Ethical Considerations in Genomics Research in Small Scale Northern Kenyan Populations
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Reposted by Melissa Wilson
fishevodevogeno.bsky.social
Braasch Lab @ Michigan State University @fishevodevogeno.bsky.social · Jul 10
Link to job description flyer can be found here:
tinyurl.com/s3kd7abr

#EndlessFishMostBeautiful
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Jul 11
🚨Preprint🚨

Sex chromosome identification & genome curation from a single individual with SCINKD
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Incredible work led by @drpintothe2nd.bsky.social in collaboration w/ @drsimonegable.bsky.social @stuartvnielsen.bsky.social @tonygamble.bsky.social SE Keating & CH Smith
Graphical overview of the biological foundations of the proposed approach. Application of SCINKD to identify XY chromosomes in the Christmas island skink Application of SCINKD to identify previously unannotated sex chromosomes in the Lesser electric ray.
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sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Jul 9
Thank you :)
sexchrlab.bsky.social
Melissa Wilson @sexchrlab.bsky.social · Jul 8
So excited to be part of a group that was awarded an Intramural Innovation Proposal: orwh.od.nih.gov/in-the-spotl...
Characterizing the impacts of menopause stage, sex hormones, and sex chromosomes on brain aging and disease Principal Investigators: Melissa Wilson (NHGRI), Stephano Maraceno (NIMH), Alex R. DeCasien (NIA), Xylena Reed (NIA), Armin Raznahan (NIMH), Mark Cookson (NIA) Abstract: Biological sex influences risk for neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), with Alzheimer’s disease occurring more often in females and Parkinson’s disease occurring more often in males. Here, we propose to investigate how hormonal fluctuations (associated with menopause and andropause) and sex chromosome dynamics shape both sex differences and within-sex variability in brain aging and NDD risk. We will generate new blood-based endocrine measures and integrate these data with existing intramural and published single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) datasets from various brain regions to examine how menopause stage, sex hormone concentrations, and sex chromosome loss contribute to brain aging in specific brain cell types. By sampling males and females across the reproductive aging period—including the menopause transition—this work can illuminate how hormonal fluctuations due to reproductive aging contribute to changes in brain gene expression in ways that may impact susceptibility to NDDs. Our findings will enhance our understanding of how sex-related mechanisms and aging interact to influence brain health, potentially revealing novel therapeutic targets for NDDs.
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