David Enard
@denard.bsky.social
📤 1376
📥 294
📝 168
Evolutionary Biologist. Ancient epidemics. Genomic adaptation.
Always a great feeling when the new labs in the EEB Department
@uofa-eeb.bsky.social
each attract multiple fantastic new grad students. Very happy to see younger colleagues succeed.
about 1 hour ago
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Great news for anyone using ARGs in non-model species:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.24.690249v1.abstract
about 18 hours ago
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Lluis Quintana-Murci
2 days ago
Happy to share our last study on how age, biological sex and genetics affect not only the extent of antibody responses against viruses but also the specific viral epitopes recognised. Thanks to Axel Olin @EtiennePatin @LabExMI @institutpasteur @cdf1530 @CNRS
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Demographic and genetic factors shape the epitope specificity of the human antibody repertoire against viruses - Nature Immunology
Patin and colleagues present a mineable Resource database for identifying demographic and genetic factors that impact antiviral antibody repertoires in humans.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-026-02432-7
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David Enard
Nandita Garud
6 days ago
I am seeking a postdoc to join my group at UCLA -- ideally the candidate would have some experience in either population genetics or microbes/microbiome (computational background needed). We have a range of projects and are happy to tailer to your interests. Please dm/email me if interested.
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David Enard
Benjamin Vernot
5 days ago
Are you interested in human DNA from ancient sediments? Do you want to do a PhD in Vienna? We have two open positions in our group! You can learn more and apply here (scroll down to the very bottom, ours are the last two listings):
careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/s...
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Vienna Doctoral School of Ecology and Evolution
The Vienna Doctoral School of Ecology and Evolution is dedicated to educating students to advance our understanding of the ecology and evolution of extant and ancestral organisms, populations, and communities. In Ecology, the focus is on uncovering the mechanistic and evolutionary drivers of patterns and processes across biological scales, from gene regulation to ecosystem structure and function, including the role of communities in biogeochemical cycles and their adaptive responses to environmental change. In Evolution, we investigate the processes shaping changes in organization and dynamics of organisms, populations, and species at molecular, developmental, morphological, and physiological levels.
https://careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/stem-call/ecology-and-evolution#accordionHeading-12-13894
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Counting publications is such a poor proxy for scientific productivity. Counting discoveries, with a bonus for discoveries that were not anticipated, and important insights is a much better proxy. I am wondering if there are standardized, systematic ways of quantifying this.
9 days ago
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That looks great! To avoid errors due to starting with spotty gene annotations (gene loss vs. not annotated), I would suggest re-annotating every genome used with TOGA2 from the Hiller lab:
github.com/hillerlab/TO...
Many annotations out there are not optimal and TOGA2 has great power and accuracy.
add a skeleton here at some point
19 days ago
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David Enard
Laurie Belcher
20 days ago
Calling all OrthoFinder users! We’ve just released GLADE, a tool to infer gene gains, losses, duplications, and ancestral genomes across a phylogeny. GLADE runs directly on OrthoFinder results.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
github.com/lauriebelch/...
(1/10)
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https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.27.702036v1
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Lucie Etienne
23 days ago
📣 *Abstract submission by January 31st* "Host adaptations to viral infections” International Meeting May 10th-13th 2026
@cnrs.fr
Station Biologique Roscoff, Brittany, France Register & Join us +amazing international speakers!
#CNRS
@cnrsbiologie.bsky.social
#IRP
www.insb.cnrs.fr/fr/evenement...
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Rapid host adaptations in response to viral infections
Viruses threaten all living organisms leading to molecular conflicts which have shaped hosts over evolutionary timescales. This meeting seeks to gather scientists from diverse disciplines including genomics, population genetics, innate immunology, virology, and beyond, to explore the evolution, diversity, molecular basis, and dynamics of these conflicts.
https://www.insb.cnrs.fr/fr/evenement/rapid-host-adaptations-response-viral-infections
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David Enard
Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra
26 days ago
PEQG! My favorite conference ever*. Single session, fantastic talks, great discussions. Only once every 2 years. And in the best conference location too! Abstract deadline coming up Feb 5! *Disclosure: I am required to say it's the best conference because it is and I told my mom I wouldn't lie.
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Homepage - 2026 Population, Evolutionary, and Quantitative Genetics Conference
Visit our website to learn more.
https://genetics-gsa.org/peqg-2026/
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This is shaping up to be a great workshop. There is still time to register before the deadline! Please RT!
#evolution
#viruses
#pathogens
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26 days ago
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I forgot using tags again:
#evolution
#genomics
#machinelearning
#CNNs
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27 days ago
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1/5) After months scratching our heads (Is this why I am bald?) when analyzing the performance of CNNs to find sweeps in real genomes, postdoc Jesus Murga Moreno figured out that training with simulations with recombination that closely reflects the distribution of recombination in the real genome
27 days ago
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Very interesting alternative to maximum likelihood to reconstruct ancestral sequences.
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28 days ago
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Interesting to think about in the context of mass extinctions. Is there evidence of very large but phenotypically homogenous species having greater extinction probability?
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29 days ago
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David Enard
Amy Goldberg
about 1 month ago
New preprint! and my first single-author paper, so bear with me.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Malaria population genetic studies have found some puzzling patterns: Ne estimates spanning orders of magnitude, genome-wide negative Tajima's D, and over a quarter of genes with πN/πS >1 1/n
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Rare variation in malaria parasites biases population-genetic inference
Understanding how pathogens evolve is fundamental to disease control and is a basic question in evolutionary biology, yet pathogens with complex life cycles violate assumptions of classic evolutionary...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.09.698000v1
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Peter Sudmant
about 1 month ago
Registration deadline is fast approaching for the "Host adaptations to viral infections” Meeting May 10th-13th, 2026, at the CNRS Station Biologique de Roscoff, Brittany, France! JOIN US and the many amazing speakers! JOIN US!
sites.google.com/berkeley.edu...
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David Enard
Frederic Delsuc
about 1 month ago
Just sharing new tool written by Vincent Ranwez to view and manipulate sequences and alignments directly in your terminal
github.com/ranwez-searc...
Pretty convenient!
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GitHub - ranwez-search/SeqTUI: A fast terminal-based viewer and command-line toolkit for molecular sequences (DNA, AA). View, translate, convert (to FASTA), and combine sequences aligned or not — all ...
A fast terminal-based viewer and command-line toolkit for molecular sequences (DNA, AA). View, translate, convert (to FASTA), and combine sequences aligned or not — all from the terminal. - ranwez-...
https://github.com/ranwez-search/SeqTUI
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David Enard
Ryan Gutenkunst
2 months ago
Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 Genomic History Inference Strategies Tournament challenges! Among the 9 challenges, we had five winners:
@alwaysrong.bsky.social
,
@adaigle.bsky.social
,
@andrewhvaughn.bsky.social
,
@thymelicus.bsky.social
,
@rgollnisch.bsky.social
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David Enard
Matthew Hahn
about 1 month ago
Final version of paper with
@smishra677.bsky.social
now published in a wonderful issue of GENETICS!
academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
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Chris Jiggins
about 2 months ago
Excited about our new preprint showing bidirectional adaptive introgression between invasive and native crop pests over ecological timescales
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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The collision of two genomes threatens global food security
Human activity alters selection pressures and species' ranges, creating opportunities for hybridisation through secondary contact. Ancient hybridization has enabled adaptive radiation, but its role in...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.25.696198v1
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David Enard
Aylwyn Scally
2 months ago
This headline is wrong and misleading, and the brief text below it is not much better. Whatever might constitute a full explanation of the differences between sapiens and other hominins, we remain confident that 'genes' will be central to it.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
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Genes don’t explain what made humans different
Tiny genetic variations between humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans might not be all they were cracked up to be.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-04079-0?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nature&linkId=26459533
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Check the latest preprint from the lab,
#Virus
,
#evolution
,
#VirusEvolution
, armchair
#virology
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2 months ago
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The number of RTs for this preprint that took an absolutely massive amount of work and conceptual effort is interesting to say the least. Probably time to try other avenues of dissemination.
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2 months ago
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David Enard
bioRxivpreprint
2 months ago
Stuck in the cell: trapping viruses in infected cells was a frequent adaptation strategy in human hosts
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.12.693836v1
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David Enard
Dr Alison Peel
2 months ago
🦇 Two PhD positions available on our new ARC Discovery Grant: "From Diversity to Disease: Viral Ecology, Evolution and Persistence in Bats" The project will investigate how viral diversity evolves and persists, with a particular focus on recently discovered henipaviruses in Australian flying foxes.
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David Enard
Arvid Ågren
2 months ago
Join us on Tuesday!
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1/3) PhD student Mary Reed Weston analyzed virus-driven human adaptation across the viral replication cycle based on ~8,000 annotated proviral and antiviral effects manually curated from the virology literature. The steps of entry and release clearly stand out:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
2 months ago
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David Enard
Vaughn Cooper
2 months ago
Yes: deleterious recessives aren’t completely recessive! An important study confirming intuitions from at least some of us.
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Dr. Michael D. L. Johnson
2 months ago
I am proud to share a new paper out of our lab. We showed that our antimicrobial works with copper and zinc to kill MRSA & Staph epi. It can function through mature biofilms they form and on multiple surfaces. This outstanding work was led by Yamil Sanchez-Rosario.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
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N-benzyl-N-methyldithiocarbamate (BMDC) combines with metals to produce antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Staphylococcus epidermidis | mSphere
Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Staphylococcus epidermidis, are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in vulnerable populations, contributing to an escalating health and economic burden. Biofilms are an important reservoir that protects bacteria from immune clearance and antimicrobial agents. However, current strategies to effectively target MRSA biofilms are limited. This research describes a therapeutic approach that can disrupt biofilms in both MRSA and S. epidermidis, thereby enhancing bacterial clearance.
https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msphere.00691-25
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David Enard
Jonathan Pritchard
2 months ago
GWAS has been an incredible discovery tool for human genetics: it regularly identifies *causal* links from 1000s of SNPs to any given trait. But mechanistic interpretation is usually difficult. Our latest work on causal models for this is out yesterday:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A short🧵:
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Causal modelling of gene effects from regulators to programs to traits - Nature
Approaches combining genetic association and Perturb-seq data that link genetic variants to functional programs to traits are described.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09866-3
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David Enard
Peter Sudmant
2 months ago
The Sudmant Lab & Wilsterman Lab are hiring a postdoc! Come work on the genetics and evolution of the placenta and dissecting genetic adaptations to altitude in deer mice! Check out more details here:
evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...
www.sudmantlab.org
www.thewilstermanlab.com
Please Share!
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https://evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldir/PostDocs//UCalifornia_Berkeley.Genomics
Postdoc:UCBerkeley.Genomics Postdoctoral position(s) in computational biology and genomics Keywords: Genomics; single cell genomics; evolution; reproduction; ecology; human disease; computational bi...
https://evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldir/PostDocs//UCalifornia_Berkeley.Genomics
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David Enard
Lucie Etienne
2 months ago
Yay! Joy & excitement for the
#science
ahead & for our
#team
@ciri-lyon.bsky.social
, who is getting
@erc.europa.eu
#Consolidator
grant support to work on the FUNctional EVOlution of mammalian innate immunity
#FUNEVO
! So thankful to
#ERC
and
#everyone
who contributed & provided support along the way
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David Enard
Silas Tittes
3 months ago
Popgen folks, Jiseon, Nate, and Andy, along with Yuxin Ning and Franz Baumdicker, just released a really cool new method for simulation based inference (think ABC) using normalizing flows. It seems to work really well! full joint posteriors ftw!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Neural posterior estimation for population genetics
Simulation-based inference methods are increasingly being used in population genetics due to their flexibility and ability to be applied in settings where likelihood-based methods are intractable. Per...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.01.691638v1
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Carina Schlebusch
3 months ago
Our new ancient DNA paper has just been published! We present 28 new genomes from southern Africa - several of them high-coverage whole genomes. Exciting to be moving towards population-level representation of ancient southern African genetic diversity!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Homo sapiens-specific evolution unveiled by ancient southern African genomes - Nature
The genomes of 28 ancient southern African individuals dated to between 10,200 and 150 years before present offer insights into the evolution of Homo sapiens.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09811-4
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David Enard
Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
3 months ago
Abstract submission & Award applications for SMBE 2026 are now open! Submit your research and apply for SMBE awards via the submission portal. 📝 Read more & submit here:
smbe2026.org/abstracts
And symposium selection is now finalized! 👉 See all accepted symposia:
smbe2026.org/programme
#SMBE2026
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Another sunset in Tucson.
3 months ago
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David Enard
Asher Cutter
3 months ago
It's the home stretch teaching undergrad Evolutionary Genetics with
@aneil-agrawal.bsky.social
using my Primer of Mol Pop Gen text! Grateful it's free for all 67 of our students courtesy
@uoftlibraries.bsky.social
LMK if you use it and suggestions for improvements!
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
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Nothing like a nap in the sun.
3 months ago
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David Enard
Mike Barker
3 months ago
Happening today! Join us to learn more about CAMBIUM NRT Fellowships!
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David Enard
Lucie Etienne
3 months ago
📖Latest from the lab: Evo. characterization
#antiviral
#SAMD9/9L
across
#kingdoms🚶
♀️🦍🦠🧫🖥️: ancient
#convergence
+
#adaptations
@natecoevo.nature.com
Led by amazing Alexandre Legrand +major contributions by Rémi Demeure & Amandine Chantharath
@ciri-lyon.bsky.social
1/n
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Evolutionary characterization of antiviral SAMD9/9L across kingdoms supports ancient convergence and lineage-specific adaptations - Nature Ecology & Evolution
A search for analogues of the human SAMD9/9L antiviral genes identifies convergent evolution of this gene family in the bacterial and animal kingdoms, with species-specific and recent genomic signatur...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02845-x
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Resending this, please RT!
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3 months ago
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David Enard
3 months ago
Excited to share our new preprint on BioRxiv! A collaborative effort spanning many years and several labs to uncover what the germline chromosomes of Paramecium really look like. 🔗
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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The tiny germline chromosomes of Paramecium aurelia have an exceptionally high recombination rate and are capped by a new class of Helitrons
Background. Paramecia belong to the ciliate phylum of unicellular eukaryotes characterized by nuclear dimorphism. A diploid germline micronucleus (MIC) transmits genetic information across sexual gene...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.06.686955v1.article-info
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David Enard
Molecular Biology and Evolution
3 months ago
Community competitions help benchmark approaches in computational biology. Struck et al. now present GHIST 2024 - The First Genomic History Inference Strategies Tournament, for the inference of evolutionary history from genome data. 🔗
doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf257
#evobio
#molbio
#compbio
#popgen
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David Enard
Tami Lieberman
3 months ago
If you're looking for a faculty position at the intersection of ecology and computing (both broadly defined), please apply to this joint search between the CEE Department and the College of Computing at MIT:
cee.mit.edu/people/share...
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Faculty Position in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Schwarzman College of Computing - cee.mit.edu
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), together with the Schwarzman College of Computing (SCC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge MA, seeks candidate...
https://cee.mit.edu/people/shared-faculty-search/
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David Enard
Mike Barker
4 months ago
Join us on Nov 18 at 2:30 PM MST to learn about CAMBIUM grad fellowships in biodiversity informatics & climate change
@uarizona.bsky.social
. For incoming Fall 2026 students interested in big data, ecology, evolution, climate adaptation & more. Register:
events.trellis.arizona.edu/en/f44lNu67/...
🌵🧬🌐
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Also addresses the problem of studying positive selection in the presence of constraint. Many observed differences in + sel. are in fact just differences in selective constraint and the space it leaves for + sel., thus masking the true correspondence between + sel. and selective pressures.
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4 months ago
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David Enard
Communications Biology
4 months ago
just in time for
#batweek
--Phylogenetic and ML analyses show that viral epidemic potential is not uniform among bats: virulence, transmissibility, and death burden cluster within distinct clades.🦇@carolinecummings.bsky.social
@colincarlson.bsky.social
@viralemergence.org
go.sn.pub/acnbg1
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This preprint shows that the huge recent progress of non-coding effect predictions is likely going to help tremendously in this area. A must read.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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4 months ago
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David Enard
Parul Johri
4 months ago
The Johri Lab has an open postdoc position. Please send me an email, if interested. Start date is flexible. Please do share! Thank you in advance.
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