The acting head of the CDC has canceled the publication of a study that found that the Covid vaccine sharply cut the odds of hospitalizations and emergency visits last winter
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/u...
I am hiring a popgen postdoc!
Looking for a creative scientist to join us at USC to investigate recessive variation and complex traits in model or non-model species. The project is funded by a multi-year NIH grant, contract can be renewed.
Job add & details 👇🏽
usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange...
Washington Post article on STEM cuts at federal agencies. NSF tops it at -42%!
“Between January 2025 and February 2026, STEM and health employees at science-focused agencies saw nearly 15,000 jobs cut. The rate outpaced cuts among other federal workers.”
OPM data - Figure from Wash Post article 19 April. (Where US science has been hit hardest.)
NSF at -42%!
Pacific pocket mouse with full cheeks
The findings suggest that, despite severe population declines, the Pacific pocket mouse has retained the ability to adapt to environmental change, with a little help from conservationists to protect and distribute genetic diversity.
@sandiegozoo.bsky.social
@thatlionlady.bsky.social
Museum specimens of Pacific pocket mice
Sage scrub habitat and Pacific pocket mouse reintroduction site
We identified genes important for climate adaptation in endangered Pacific pocket mice using 100 year-old museum samples.
In a population reintroduced from a breeding program to the wild, these climate-linked genes shifted as predicted for the new environment, suggesting an adaptive response.
Heatmaps of climate variables in southwestern United States
The endangered Pacific pocket mouse
Climate change is a huge challenge for endangered species because genetic variation needed to adapt is often lacking.
Our new study in Science Advances highlights the potential for conservation breeding and reintroduction to boost resilience to climate change. @science.org
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Can you believe that until now there were more genomes sequenced for the woolly mammoth than for living African elephants?
Today, we bring you the first genomic, continent-scale analyses of 232 high-quality genomes of both species, the savanna and forest elephant.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“According to our observations over the past 24 hours, the vast majority of species on earth have pretty much just been holding steady and staying the course, gene-wise,” said biologist Clarice Abernathy
Happy to see this one out!
Not only for the science, but because it was the first project we led as a group.
This paper helped us establish a collaborative culture and good relationships, shaping how we want to work together in the future.
I feel lucky to work with this bunch!
#popgen #consgen
I am shocked to see this language from the NSF.
“The U.S. National Science Foundation's Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request reflects a strategic alignment of resources in a constrained fiscal environment while eliminating woke and weaponized grant programs that previously funded radical DEI projects.”
NASA just dropped this image of Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch looking back at us. The first woman to ever see our planet in its entirety. I’m not crying you’re crying 🥹🔭🧪 📸: NASA
Welp 🌎🧪
We are destroying species' habitats, leading to a mass extinction event.
This habitat destruction also reduces the genetic diversity _within_ species.
Our latest work develops quantitative models to predict how much genetic diversity has been and _will be_ lost.
🧬🧪🧵
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
The trouble with sycophantic AI, this week on the @science.org podcast with Myra Cheng
Listen here: www.science.org/content/podc...
I'm attending No Kings's event, “NO KINGS La Jolla, CA” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...
The northern white rhino is effectively extinct. Can a healthy pop be restored from cryopreserved cells of only 12 inds? @arynwilder.bsky.social et al. show how restoration from biobanked cells eases constraints of a limited founder pool to enable recovery 🦏
📸 San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Out today in @science.org our paper on how evolutionary adaptation to warming will reduce fisheries yields. Please let me know if you need me to send you a copy. Summary of the paper coming soon. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The authors propose a framework to better integrate genomic metrics into conservation planning, supporting more sustainable species recovery efforts. Read more here: doi.org/10.1093/jher...
Corresponding authors: www.researchgate.net... & scholar.google.com/c...
#JHered
3/3
Breath to genome: Whole genome sequencing of large whales from blow sampling (Preprint) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
@eveliendegreef.bsky.social's latest is out in the @asn-amnat.bsky.social feature exploring the challenges of genetic forecasting😀
"Identifying Areas of Potential Risk Based on Future Genetic Adaptability in Three Arctic Whale Species"
doi.org/10.1086/738889 🧪🌎🧬🌐 #consgen #popgen #evobio
Our new perspective: The Future of the Southern Resident Killer Whales Depends on Interactions With Other Killer Whale Populations onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
This paper is the culmination of my PhD at Cornell, and I'm so grateful to the team that made it possible. Co-led with @fishyomics.bsky.social, and co-authored with @jessi-rick.bsky.social, @arynwilder.bsky.social, Zofia Baumann, David Conover, Hannes Baumann, and @ntherk.bsky.social.
Four thousand years ago, the Early Bronze Age farmers of southern Germany had no Homer to chronicle their lives—but a detailed picture of their social structure emerged in 2019 from a remarkable study. #ScienceMagArchives https://scim.ag/4qH5SP4
Group photo by the Rockefeller University River Campus.
Q&A at the 2025 VGP in-person conference.
Erich Jarvis speaking at the planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History.
Attendees at the 2025 VGP in-person conference.
This week, we hosted over 100 scientists at Rockefeller University in New York City for our 2025 in-person conference.
BREAKING: WE WON!!!
💥 💥 💥
Federal Judge William G. Young ruled today in our lawsuit against the Trump administration that the policy of arresting, detaining, & deporting noncitizen students & faculty members for their pro-Palestinian advocacy violates the 1st Amendment.
Full ruling here:
No Kings protest on Oct 18 seems like a great way to practice your First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech.
Find your rally location, nationwide:
www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=5...
🧬 1 more week until the VGP in-person conference!
Can't make it to New York City? Sign up to attend virtually: www.eventbrite.com/e/vertebrate...
This ought to be engraved somewhere.
Now published in Cell! We found that ~15% of SNPs from divergent refs did not liftover as SNPs in the gray fox ref—half mapped to monomorphic sites, half failed to map. Co-authored with Matthew Genchev, @elliecat.bsky.social, and @jazlynmooney.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Hahaha... #botanists
