Arbel Harpak
@arbelharpak.bsky.social
Evolutionary, statistical and population genetics at UT Austin. http://www.harpaklab.com
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
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.
*Disclosure: I am required to say it's the best conference because it is and I told my mom I wouldn't lie.
Homepage - 2026 Population, Evolutionary, and Quantitative Genetics Conference
Visit our website to learn more.
genetics-gsa.org
January 23, 2026 at 2:37 PM
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.
*Disclosure: I am required to say it's the best conference because it is and I told my mom I wouldn't lie.
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
Our work on the generalizability of polygenic scores (PGS) from the @arbelharpak.bsky.social Lab is now officially out!
We examine the accuracy of PGS predictions at the individual level. We make 3 observations that expose gaps in our understanding of PGS “portability.”
rdcu.be/e0LAr
(1/27)
We examine the accuracy of PGS predictions at the individual level. We make 3 observations that expose gaps in our understanding of PGS “portability.”
rdcu.be/e0LAr
(1/27)
Three open questions in polygenic score portability
Nature Communications - Genetic predictors of health outcomes often drop in accuracy when applied to people dissimilar to participants of large genetic studies. Here, the authors investigate the...
rdcu.be
January 26, 2026 at 11:20 PM
Our work on the generalizability of polygenic scores (PGS) from the @arbelharpak.bsky.social Lab is now officially out!
We examine the accuracy of PGS predictions at the individual level. We make 3 observations that expose gaps in our understanding of PGS “portability.”
rdcu.be/e0LAr
(1/27)
We examine the accuracy of PGS predictions at the individual level. We make 3 observations that expose gaps in our understanding of PGS “portability.”
rdcu.be/e0LAr
(1/27)
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
Excited to share our new preprint from the @arbelharpak.bsky.social Lab!
How do recruitment into genetic studies and study characteristics impact what we infer about the genetic bases of traits, and what are the consequences? (1/21)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
How do recruitment into genetic studies and study characteristics impact what we infer about the genetic bases of traits, and what are the consequences? (1/21)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Representation in genetic studies affects inference about genetic architecture
Knowledge of a trait's "genetic architecture," namely the joint distribution of allele frequencies of causal variants and the direction and magnitude of their effects, is essential to understanding it...
www.biorxiv.org
January 14, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Excited to share our new preprint from the @arbelharpak.bsky.social Lab!
How do recruitment into genetic studies and study characteristics impact what we infer about the genetic bases of traits, and what are the consequences? (1/21)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
How do recruitment into genetic studies and study characteristics impact what we infer about the genetic bases of traits, and what are the consequences? (1/21)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
I am looking for a postdoc to develop high-performance algorithms in computational genomics. Email or DM me if interested. For more information, see hlilab.github.io/vacancies. RTs appreciated!
HLi Lab - Vacancies
Openings
hlilab.github.io
January 14, 2026 at 3:44 PM
I am looking for a postdoc to develop high-performance algorithms in computational genomics. Email or DM me if interested. For more information, see hlilab.github.io/vacancies. RTs appreciated!
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
I’m very excited to share our new preprint with @arbelharpak.bsky.social! We meta-analyze male-female allele frequency divergences across studies (gnomAD, UKB, AoU) and ask what drives the observed differences. (1/12)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
January 7, 2026 at 9:33 PM
I’m very excited to share our new preprint with @arbelharpak.bsky.social! We meta-analyze male-female allele frequency divergences across studies (gnomAD, UKB, AoU) and ask what drives the observed differences. (1/12)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
I wrote about the bizarre case of Herasight, the embryo selection company going all in on eugenics.
Embryo selection company Herasight goes all in on eugenics
...
open.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I wrote about the bizarre case of Herasight, the embryo selection company going all in on eugenics.
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
"What James Watson got wrong about DNA"
By the great Sohini Ramachandran (@sramach.bsky.social) and your boy for The Boston Globe (@bostonglobe.com).
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/14/o...
By the great Sohini Ramachandran (@sramach.bsky.social) and your boy for The Boston Globe (@bostonglobe.com).
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/14/o...
What James Watson got wrong about DNA - The Boston Globe
The science he helped pioneer consistently undermines his view that genes determine everything about us.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:50 PM
"What James Watson got wrong about DNA"
By the great Sohini Ramachandran (@sramach.bsky.social) and your boy for The Boston Globe (@bostonglobe.com).
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/14/o...
By the great Sohini Ramachandran (@sramach.bsky.social) and your boy for The Boston Globe (@bostonglobe.com).
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/14/o...
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
My department at UT Austin is looking to hire an Assistant Professor in Evolutionary Biology, broadly defined. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have.
apply.interfolio.com/177547
apply.interfolio.com/177547
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:23 PM
My department at UT Austin is looking to hire an Assistant Professor in Evolutionary Biology, broadly defined. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have.
apply.interfolio.com/177547
apply.interfolio.com/177547
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
An empirical approach to evaluating the prevalence of long-lived balancing selection in humans--and important limitations. Work by @hannahmm.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
An empirical approach to evaluating the prevalence of long-lived balancing selection in humans--and important limitations. Work by @hannahmm.bsky.social
@jbenning.bsky.social @jedidiahcarlson.com
et al. exemplify how confounding can lead to flawed inference on genetic causality. In studies of human behavior and social outcomes, the cost of downplaying this problem can be steep. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10.... bsky.app/profile/jben...
et al. exemplify how confounding can lead to flawed inference on genetic causality. In studies of human behavior and social outcomes, the cost of downplaying this problem can be steep. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10.... bsky.app/profile/jben...
November 7, 2025 at 8:07 PM
@jbenning.bsky.social @jedidiahcarlson.com
et al. exemplify how confounding can lead to flawed inference on genetic causality. In studies of human behavior and social outcomes, the cost of downplaying this problem can be steep. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10.... bsky.app/profile/jben...
et al. exemplify how confounding can lead to flawed inference on genetic causality. In studies of human behavior and social outcomes, the cost of downplaying this problem can be steep. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10.... bsky.app/profile/jben...
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
Why do complex traits differ in their genetic architecture?
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Simple scaling laws control the genetic architectures of human complex traits
Genome-wide association studies have revealed that the genetic architectures of complex traits vary widely. This study shows that differences in architectures of highly polygenic traits arise mainly f...
journals.plos.org
October 24, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Why do complex traits differ in their genetic architecture?
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
In our new PLOS Biology paper, we will try to convince you that two simple scaling laws drive differences in the number, effect sizes and frequencies of causal variants affecting complex traits.
Thread:
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
If you are at #ASHG2025 and would like to chat in person, please reach out! My lab is looking for curious scientists to join us, especially (but not limited to) postdoctoral researchers.
October 14, 2025 at 3:45 PM
If you are at #ASHG2025 and would like to chat in person, please reach out! My lab is looking for curious scientists to join us, especially (but not limited to) postdoctoral researchers.
Not necessarily a bad thing: perhaps your subscribers could use a little more boring in their lives.
October 10, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Not necessarily a bad thing: perhaps your subscribers could use a little more boring in their lives.
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
Delighted that our paper about the distribution of genomic spans of clades/edges in genealogies (ARGs), and using this for detecting inversions and other SVs (and other phenomena that cause local disruption of recombination) is out in MBE academic.oup.com/mbe/article/... (1/n)
The Length of Haplotype Blocks and Signals of Structural Variation in Reconstructed Genealogies
Abstract. Recent breakthroughs have enabled the accurate inference of large-scale genealogies. Through modelling the impact of recombination on the correla
academic.oup.com
October 3, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Delighted that our paper about the distribution of genomic spans of clades/edges in genealogies (ARGs), and using this for detecting inversions and other SVs (and other phenomena that cause local disruption of recombination) is out in MBE academic.oup.com/mbe/article/... (1/n)
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
Bittersweet to be leaving @docedge.bsky.social after a wonderful postdoc, but excited to share that I'm joining @uoregon.bsky.social next month as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Data Science.
August 6, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Bittersweet to be leaving @docedge.bsky.social after a wonderful postdoc, but excited to share that I'm joining @uoregon.bsky.social next month as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Data Science.
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
1/13 In a new preprint, we (with @xliaoyi.bsky.social in the @arbelharpak.bsky.social lab) find that expression from the “inactivated” X (Xi) is consequential for both female-male differences in gene expression and variation among females in disease and physiology: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Escape from X inactivation drives sex differences and female trait variation
X chromosome inactivation (XCI) partially balances gene dosage between sexes, yet expression from the inactive X (Xi) is variable across genes. In this study, we investigate whether gene-level Xi expr...
www.biorxiv.org
August 6, 2025 at 2:42 AM
1/13 In a new preprint, we (with @xliaoyi.bsky.social in the @arbelharpak.bsky.social lab) find that expression from the “inactivated” X (Xi) is consequential for both female-male differences in gene expression and variation among females in disease and physiology: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
Applications for the 2026 Stengl-Wyer Scholars Program are open! The program provides up to 3 years of support for talented postdoctoral researchers in the broad area of the diversity of life and/or organisms in their natural environments. Learn more here: utexas.infoready4.com/CompetitionS...
August 5, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Applications for the 2026 Stengl-Wyer Scholars Program are open! The program provides up to 3 years of support for talented postdoctoral researchers in the broad area of the diversity of life and/or organisms in their natural environments. Learn more here: utexas.infoready4.com/CompetitionS...
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
Amidst all the terrible and terrifying news, so lovely to hear of
@jkpritch.bsky.social's election to the National Academy of Sciences. Congratulations!
@jkpritch.bsky.social's election to the National Academy of Sciences. Congratulations!
April 29, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Amidst all the terrible and terrifying news, so lovely to hear of
@jkpritch.bsky.social's election to the National Academy of Sciences. Congratulations!
@jkpritch.bsky.social's election to the National Academy of Sciences. Congratulations!
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
a quick note on my paper with @jeffspence.bsky.social and @jkpritch.bsky.social on conditional frequency spectra, now out in a @genetics-gsa.bsky.social special issue: doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyae210
Characterizing selection on complex traits through conditional frequency spectra
Abstract. Natural selection on complex traits is difficult to study in part due to the ascertainment inherent to genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Th
doi.org
April 18, 2025 at 7:49 PM
a quick note on my paper with @jeffspence.bsky.social and @jkpritch.bsky.social on conditional frequency spectra, now out in a @genetics-gsa.bsky.social special issue: doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyae210
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
More recently, Smith et al. (biorxiv.org/content/10.1...) proposed an estimator of polygenic score confounding that can be directly attributable to stratification/ancestry. They show that it is present in target data from Europe, other continents, even ancient DNA!
March 28, 2025 at 9:54 PM
More recently, Smith et al. (biorxiv.org/content/10.1...) proposed an estimator of polygenic score confounding that can be directly attributable to stratification/ancestry. They show that it is present in target data from Europe, other continents, even ancient DNA!
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
I wrote about how population stratification in genetic analyses led to a decade of false findings and almost certainly continues to bias emerging results. But we are starting to have statistical tools to sniff it out. A 🧵:
How population stratification led to a decade of sensationally false genetic findings
Stratification makes environments look like genes
open.substack.com
March 28, 2025 at 9:54 PM
I wrote about how population stratification in genetic analyses led to a decade of false findings and almost certainly continues to bias emerging results. But we are starting to have statistical tools to sniff it out. A 🧵:
I find it hard to think of any application where it does not matter. It puts in further question the generalizability of the to samples/patients with different characteristics from the GWAS sample, since axes of confounding may differ.
February 20, 2025 at 1:37 PM
I find it hard to think of any application where it does not matter. It puts in further question the generalizability of the to samples/patients with different characteristics from the GWAS sample, since axes of confounding may differ.
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
BREAKING
The Trump administration is maintaining a funding freeze at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in defiance of two federal court orders.
The ongoing freeze was confirmed by an NIH official and internal correspondence reviewed by Popular Information.
The Trump administration is maintaining a funding freeze at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in defiance of two federal court orders.
The ongoing freeze was confirmed by an NIH official and internal correspondence reviewed by Popular Information.
Trump maintains funding freeze at NIH, defying court order
The Trump administration is still prohibiting National Institutes of Health (NIH) staff from issuing virtually all grant funding, an NIH official tells Popular Information.
popular.info
February 11, 2025 at 12:19 PM
BREAKING
The Trump administration is maintaining a funding freeze at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in defiance of two federal court orders.
The ongoing freeze was confirmed by an NIH official and internal correspondence reviewed by Popular Information.
The Trump administration is maintaining a funding freeze at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in defiance of two federal court orders.
The ongoing freeze was confirmed by an NIH official and internal correspondence reviewed by Popular Information.
Reposted by Arbel Harpak
"One thing is certain: The changes we make ourselves will be healthier than the ones our adversaries demand."
New work for @undark.org:
undark.org/2025/02/06/o...
New work for @undark.org:
undark.org/2025/02/06/o...
The End of Science’s Peacetime
Opinion | Defending the practice of science from its adversaries will require dealing with some uncomfortable truths.
undark.org
February 6, 2025 at 1:52 PM
"One thing is certain: The changes we make ourselves will be healthier than the ones our adversaries demand."
New work for @undark.org:
undark.org/2025/02/06/o...
New work for @undark.org:
undark.org/2025/02/06/o...