We detect polygenic selection on height-associated loci, especially in the last 2,000-3,000 years in Northern Europe, which explains allele frequency differences between European populations.

With Valentin Hivert, Peter Visscher,
@LoicYengo

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Why are Dutch people so tall? This has been a long-standing debate in genetics, with earlier studies questioned due to unaccounted for confounding. Great to be involved in a new study (link below) using within-family GWAS; we confirm that height has been under positive selection.

We detect its arrival in Britain by ~2.8 kry BP and Iberia by ~2.5 kyr BP. This work supports a Central European origin of the Celtic languages, spreading through successive expansions of the Urnfield, Hallstatt, and La Tène cultures.

Check out the paper for more! n/n

Using new ancient genomes from the Bronze and Iron Age, we traced the expansion of ancestry linked to the Urnfield culture (esp the Knovíz group) beginning 4-3.2 kyr BP. This spread across W Europe between 3.2-2.8 kyr BP into the Hallstatt culture in France, Germany, and Austria.

Tracing the Spread of Celtic Languages using Ancient Genomics Celtic languages, including Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Breton, are today restricted to the Northern European Atlantic seaboard. However, between three and two thousand years before present (BP)...

Celtic languages are now limited to NW Europe, but they were once far more widespread. How did they spread? I'm excited to have contributed to this new ancient DNA study led by
@hmcccoll exploring exactly that. 🧬 1/n

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

And a free link: archive.ph/sepI4

Well researched and accessible science writing is so important, it's crucial that publications like this continue to be funded.

Adventures in the genetic time machine Ancient DNA is telling us more and more about humans and environments long past. Could it also help rescue the future?

Our research was recently covered in the MIT Technology Review!

My quote: “I think the whole lesson of this work is... we are living with immune systems that we have inherited from our past. And we’ve plunged it into a completely new, modern environment which is often sanitary.”

shorturl.at/DtvQS

This made me laugh when I listened a few weeks ago! Great interview, really enjoyed it

Hi Bluesky!

I've just made the leap from Twitter (a little late I know) and I'm looking to find the aDNA/genetics/prehistory group here. I'll be posting about my work and what I find interesting.

Drop me a message!

Cheers,
Will