Researchers discovered early signs of domestication by analysing the remains of two wolves who lived in modern-day Sweden 3-5,000 years ago. www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-11...

🐺 Wolves in dog's clothing 🐺 Our latest in @pnas.org uncovers a surprise three to five thousand years ago: 2 canids in human contexts on a tiny island in the middle of the Baltic Sea, that ate marine food—but had 100% gray wolf ancestry. Where they tame wolves, or even an incipient domestication?

Last week we had a great meeting on "Ancient genomes: perspectives on human biology and medicine" at the @royalsociety.org and the @crick.ac.uk. It was an amazing set of talks and posters. Thanks to the @gensocuk.bsky.social, co-host @janetk.bsky.social and all participants for a great day!

‼️📢 Neandertal as prey‼️ We demonstrated selective cannibalism behavior at the end of the Middle Palaeolithic in Northern Europe #Neandertal #Prehistory #Cannibalism #MiddlePaleolithic #Goyet

Degraded DNA will be riddled with errors, mutations happening after death. Polygenic risk for the psychiatric conditions quoted in the media campaign is driven by rare variants of big effect. A potential problem could thus be uncorrected errors artefactually increasing the AH DNA risk estimate.

The 2026 EMBL symposium 'Reconstructing the human past using ancient and modern genomics' is live with a fantastic invited speaker lineup! Abstract deadline 9 June. If work is ongoing, plan for Heidelberg in September😉. Organised by Maanasa Raghavan, @matejahajdi.bsky.social, Choongwon Jeong & me.

A PhD project on historical genomics in the declining red squirrel in Britain is available in my group, through the @aries-dtp.bsky.social. Use historical genomes to track the effects of decline and genetic rescue in this charismatic species. aries-dtp.ac.uk/studentships...

I’m not an expert on polygenic scores for mental health, but a concern I would have is whether something has gone wrong with the genotyping, leading to misestimated polygenic scores that look extreme.

In particular, the claims that “[Hitler’s polygenic] score for schizophrenia, autism and bipolar disorder was actually higher than 99% of the individuals.” and " It is also rare to have a high polygenic risk score for all three conditions" strike me as strange.

I think we can say confidently that there is zero scientific value in such 'celebrity' genomes, notorious or otherwise, and probably little or no historical value either.

As I told the CNN, without details and data it is not possible to assess the claims. More importantly, the scientific value of this media campaign, balanced against the possible stigmatization of individuals with these real conditions today, is highly questionable. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/s...

Just a few weeks left to apply for our clinical PhD programme. We're looking for clinicians who are passionate about research to join the 3-year fully funded programme. Learn more and see what positions are available ⬇️ www.crick.ac.uk/careers-and-...

In case you missed it, catch the Question of Science podcast on ancient DNA on your favorite platform. We cover why ancient DNA studies can make a difference not only to understanding history, but also health and disease.

Are you obsessed with archaeological or historical questions and easily get into coding? Or a computational scientist that want to understand biology and disease evolution, and curious about the ancient past? If you have these or other burning questions that fits into our programme, apply below!

We have an exciting line-up of speakers already confirmed for our Ancient Genomes meeting in November. If you want to be one of the speakers or present a poster, submit your abstract by 31 July! genetics.org.uk/events/ancie...

Join us at the The Francis Crick Institute for a lecture by the one and only Svante Pääbo on November 13. The next day, join us for a symposium at the Royal Society featuring Svante and many others.

NEW EPISODE: Who are our ancestors and why does it matter? Join our expert panellists as they answer audience questions about ancient DNA. Listen on your favourite podcast platform: lnk.to/AQOSAncientD...

Thrilled to share our preprint where we propose that S. enterica Paratyphi C entered Mexico via European conquest and then diversified locally. More evidence is needed to assert whether or not it caused Cocoliztli (a major contact-period epidemic). Comments welcome! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

PhD-opening in our ancient genomics lab this year, apply below! We work on: 📜 Genetic history integrated with archaeology and history 📈 Natural selection and trait genetics 🐺 Evolutionary genomics of dogs and wolves 🦠 Ancient pathogen genomics 💀 Hominin evolution and ancient proteomics

We're now recruiting early career group leaders at the Crick to lead ambitious research programmes and explore bold scientific questions. Hear our Director, Edith Heard, explain why the Crick is a unique place for curiosity-driven research. Apply now ➡️ www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

PhD-opening in our ancient genomics lab this year, apply below! We work on: 1. Genetic history integrated with archaeology and history 2. Natural selection and trait genetics 3. Evolutionary genomics of dogs and wolves 4. Ancient pathogen genomics 5. Hominin evolution and ancient proteomics

NEW EPISODE: Are we prepared for the next pandemic? Join our expert panellists as they answer audience questions about COVID-19 and whether we're ready for the next pandemic. Listen on your favourite podcast platform: lnk.to/AQOSPandemic...

Crick PhD programme open, with a studentship in my lab possible. Apply if at all curious!

Motivated graduates with backgrounds in biological or biomedical sciences, physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering and/or computer science are invited to apply to our 4-year fully funded PhD programme. Apply by 05 November 2025 www.crick.ac.uk/careers-and-...

Register to attend the #LouisJeantetSymposium on vertebrate genome #evolution. Organised by Svante Pääbo and @kaessmannlab.bsky.social . Free event, full line up of speakers 👉 www.jeantet.ch/en/ 📆Tuesday 14 October, 08h15 📍CMU - Auditoire Alex-F. Müller (A250) @genevunige.bsky.social

The programme of talks for the London symposium on ancient genomes is set, but we are still open for poster submissions until Friday. Hope to see many there.

3-year PhD programme for candidates that already hold a medical degree. A project with us would aim to understand the origins and human evolution of biologically and medically relevant genetic variant. Don't hesitate to apply to discuss further!

NEW PODCAST: ‘A Question of Science’ with Professor Brian Cox. In every episode, panels of scientists and experts answer audience questions about some of the biggest issues facing us today. Listen to the first episode, ‘Can we live forever?’: lnk.to/AQOSAgeingBB

Big congratulations to Helen and all other awardees!

Early bird registration until 12 September!

Full programme on ancient DNA, human biology and medicine out now for our packed November 14 @gensocuk.bsky.social symposium! Join us at the @royalsociety.org in London.

Exited to have such a great set of speakers for Ancient genomes: perspectives on human biology and medicine The program is now online and registration is still open! registrations.hg3conferences.co.uk/hg3/frontend...

Now recruiting for two positions in my lab: Postdoc in computational analysis of ancient human genomes www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud... Bioarchaeology staff scientist supporting human aDNA projects www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud... Background: sites.google.com/view/skoglun... Applications welcome!

New postdoc opening in our lab: crick.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job... Don't hesitate to send in your details or contact me if interested!

Only 10 more days to submit your abstract! @pontus-skoglund.bsky.social and @janetk.bsky.social have organised a fantastic meeting with incredible speakers. Join us in November @royalsociety.org!

Abstract deadline for the London ancient genomes and human evolution meeting in November extended to 31st July. Alongside the invited speakers we have ~8 slots for speakers from submitted abstracts and a poster session. Submit yours!

Join Caetano Reis e Sousa (@reisesousalab.bsky.social) as he describes how our immune systems work and his team’s research into better understanding dendritic cell receptors. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBC9...

Forty years after the first effort to extract mummy DNA, researchers have finally generated a full genome sequence from an ancient Egyptian https://go.nature.com/44bHYCh

[email protected], who heads up our Ancient Genomics lab, spoke to the Today Programme about new work from his team and @ljmuofficial.bsky.social to extract and sequence DNA from a 4,500-year-old ancient Egyptian individual. Listen back from 1:22:30 ➡️ www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Forty years after Svante Pääbo kicked off this extraordinary field of science, today sees report of the first whole-genome sequence of an ancient Egyptian (from 2855–2570BCE). Exciting work from @pontus-skoglund.bsky.social, @flinklinus.bsky.social, & co at @ljmuofficial.bsky.social, @crick.ac.uk.🧬🧪

Researchers from the Crick and @ljmuofficial.bsky.social have extracted and sequenced DNA from an individual who lived in Egypt around 4,500 years ago, making it the oldest genome from ancient Egypt sequenced to date. www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-07...

Interested in how ancient genomes are providing insights into the our evolutionary past? @pontus-skoglund.bsky.social and I are excited about the great program coming together for this meeting in London in November! Register now to join us!

Who were the ancient Egyptians? It is expressed in the extraordinary historical and archaeological record, but what about ancestry links to other ancient individuals? Today we report the successful sequencing of the whole genome of an individual who lived in Egypt about ~4700 years ago.

Congratulations to Tom!

Postdoc position in my group in Tokyo! Please get in touch if you are interested. And happy to discuss projects - these would range from developing new methods to analysis of new genomes that we are now sequencing in the lab. Job Ad: www.riken.jp/en/careers/r... Lab page: speidellab.github.io

A 4-year postdoc position in population genomics is available in my group at the University of East Anglia, to work on a project sequencing a thousand fox genomes across rural and urban environments in the UK. vacancies.uea.ac.uk/vacancies/15...

Abstract deadline 30th June for the London ancient genome and human biology event of the year this November! @gensocuk.bsky.social

Thanks to @patrickwyman.bsky.social and the Tides of History podcast for a great chat about the intersection of history and ancient DNA. wondery.com/shows/tides-...

PhD applications welcome until 15th May! estonia.dreamapply.com/en_GB/course...

We are looking forward to this online only talk with @helenfewlass.bsky.social as part of the #HEASSeminar series in #ArchaeologicalScience taking place on Monday the 28th April at 12:30 CEST. Registration and more information on our website 🔗👇 www.heas.at/events/heas-...