C. Brandon Ogbunu
@cbo.bsky.social
Scientist + Humanist + Pugilist.
"Tip your hat; pop the chain; short Joe Louis; then wipe his nose with the hook. It's that simple." (c) Brother Naazim Richardson
https://linktr.ee/chike98
"Tip your hat; pop the chain; short Joe Louis; then wipe his nose with the hook. It's that simple." (c) Brother Naazim Richardson
https://linktr.ee/chike98
Pinned
C. Brandon Ogbunu
@cbo.bsky.social
· Nov 14
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
"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 C. Brandon Ogbunu
New preprint from my lab (with Arya Kaul, @fernpizza.bsky.social, and @brinda.eu), in which we explore new genes hitchhiking on the beneficial deletion that fused them together, and find them in the LTEE, M. Tb/bovis, and across the bacterial tree of life
Novel genes arise from genomic deletions across the bacterial tree of life https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.05.697752v1
January 6, 2026 at 4:12 PM
New preprint from my lab (with Arya Kaul, @fernpizza.bsky.social, and @brinda.eu), in which we explore new genes hitchhiking on the beneficial deletion that fused them together, and find them in the LTEE, M. Tb/bovis, and across the bacterial tree of life
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Folks interested in science philanthropy should read this interview w/Simons Foundation President David Spergel on the role of philanthropy, support of early career scientists (from incentives to a call for more retirements), and the pivot point between future scenarios.
issues.org/american-sci...
issues.org/american-sci...
“There Are Two Possible Futures for American Science.”
The Simons Foundation president talks about science philanthropy, the future of the research enterprise, and remaining hopeful.
issues.org
January 6, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Folks interested in science philanthropy should read this interview w/Simons Foundation President David Spergel on the role of philanthropy, support of early career scientists (from incentives to a call for more retirements), and the pivot point between future scenarios.
issues.org/american-sci...
issues.org/american-sci...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Two new chapters from my free online book in human genetics out this weekend!
These complete Part 3 of the book, on human population structure and history:
3.3: Human prehistory [separate thread]
3.4: Ancient DNA: a genetic time capsule [this thread]
web.stanford.edu/group/pritch...
These complete Part 3 of the book, on human population structure and history:
3.3: Human prehistory [separate thread]
3.4: Ancient DNA: a genetic time capsule [this thread]
web.stanford.edu/group/pritch...
September 23, 2024 at 9:48 PM
Two new chapters from my free online book in human genetics out this weekend!
These complete Part 3 of the book, on human population structure and history:
3.3: Human prehistory [separate thread]
3.4: Ancient DNA: a genetic time capsule [this thread]
web.stanford.edu/group/pritch...
These complete Part 3 of the book, on human population structure and history:
3.3: Human prehistory [separate thread]
3.4: Ancient DNA: a genetic time capsule [this thread]
web.stanford.edu/group/pritch...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
How well does TWAS estimate a gene’s direction of effect on a trait? We think of this as an important stress-test for the accuracy of TWAS.
In a new pre-print, we find that TWAS gets the sign wrong around 20-30% of the time!
doi.org/10.64898/202...
1/n
In a new pre-print, we find that TWAS gets the sign wrong around 20-30% of the time!
doi.org/10.64898/202...
1/n
High false sign rates in transcriptome-wide association studies
Transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) are widely used to identify genes involved in complex traits and to infer the direction of gene effects on traits. However, despite their popularity, it r...
doi.org
January 6, 2026 at 2:30 AM
How well does TWAS estimate a gene’s direction of effect on a trait? We think of this as an important stress-test for the accuracy of TWAS.
In a new pre-print, we find that TWAS gets the sign wrong around 20-30% of the time!
doi.org/10.64898/202...
1/n
In a new pre-print, we find that TWAS gets the sign wrong around 20-30% of the time!
doi.org/10.64898/202...
1/n
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Haller, Ralph & Messer present SLiM 5, a major extension of the SLiM simulation framework for simulating multiple chromosomes, enabling a heightened level of realism for full-genome simulations.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf313
#evobio #molbio #compbio
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf313
#evobio #molbio #compbio
January 5, 2026 at 8:53 AM
Haller, Ralph & Messer present SLiM 5, a major extension of the SLiM simulation framework for simulating multiple chromosomes, enabling a heightened level of realism for full-genome simulations.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf313
#evobio #molbio #compbio
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf313
#evobio #molbio #compbio
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students.
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
December 9, 2025 at 1:58 PM
I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students.
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Interesting. I wish, though, that there could have been a clear indication of why the claims that "IQ is 50% genetic” and “Height is 80% genetic” are deeply misleading, to the extent that they have any meaning at all. The advertising is simply not honest.
January 4, 2026 at 9:21 PM
Interesting. I wish, though, that there could have been a clear indication of why the claims that "IQ is 50% genetic” and “Height is 80% genetic” are deeply misleading, to the extent that they have any meaning at all. The advertising is simply not honest.
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Wow—thanks @bruceslieberman.bsky.social for posting the entire issue of Paleobiology vol 51/4 2025 “Punctuated Equilibria at 50”—open access papers from the GSA 2022 50th anniversary symposium! A great community celebration!!
Really excited to have the new issue of Paleobiology @paleosoc.bsky.social out celebrating the 50th anniversary of #punctuatedequilibria #macroevolution #paleobiology #palaeontology #paleontology @nilese.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Latest issue | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Paleobiology
www.cambridge.org
January 2, 2026 at 7:23 PM
Wow—thanks @bruceslieberman.bsky.social for posting the entire issue of Paleobiology vol 51/4 2025 “Punctuated Equilibria at 50”—open access papers from the GSA 2022 50th anniversary symposium! A great community celebration!!
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Exactly, but its argument in favor of #Deextinction is itself a logical fallacy; yes, “ecosystems respond to what organisms do, not to how precisely their DNA mirrors the past” but… 🧪
www.columnist24.com/science/8397...
www.columnist24.com/science/8397...
The Perfectionist Fallacy - Columnist24
A growing strand of scientific purism argues that de-extinction efforts must achieve perfect genetic fidelity before they can be taken seriously.
www.columnist24.com
January 2, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Exactly, but its argument in favor of #Deextinction is itself a logical fallacy; yes, “ecosystems respond to what organisms do, not to how precisely their DNA mirrors the past” but… 🧪
www.columnist24.com/science/8397...
www.columnist24.com/science/8397...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Here is our introductory paper to the Paleobiology special volume @paleosoc.bsky.social celebrating the 50th anniversary of #punctuatedequilibria #macroevolution #paleobiology #palaeontology #paleontology @nilese.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Punctuated equilibria at 50: half a century of stasis, cladogenesis, and macroevolutionary insights | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Punctuated equilibria at 50: half a century of stasis, cladogenesis, and macroevolutionary insights - Volume 51 Issue 4
www.cambridge.org
January 2, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Here is our introductory paper to the Paleobiology special volume @paleosoc.bsky.social celebrating the 50th anniversary of #punctuatedequilibria #macroevolution #paleobiology #palaeontology #paleontology @nilese.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
It's as very weird summary of a lot of work. For example, this paper produced by the working group *does* show quite a few concrete economic benefits: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...
The economic impact of open science: a scoping review
Abstract. This article summarizes a comprehensive scoping review of the economic impact of open science (OS), examining empirical evidence from 2000 to 202
royalsocietypublishing.org
January 2, 2026 at 5:29 PM
It's as very weird summary of a lot of work. For example, this paper produced by the working group *does* show quite a few concrete economic benefits: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Thrilled to share the first major preprint from the lab. Viruses are classically viewed as targets of host sensing. Do viruses also sense and respond to the host? We propose viruses may act as “biosensors” of the host signaling state. A thread👇🏾 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Global Landscape of Human Kinase Motifs in Viral Proteomes
Viruses are classically viewed as targets of host sensing, yet whether they also sense and respond to host cues remains largely unexplored. We propose that host-driven post-translational modification ...
www.biorxiv.org
December 31, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Thrilled to share the first major preprint from the lab. Viruses are classically viewed as targets of host sensing. Do viruses also sense and respond to the host? We propose viruses may act as “biosensors” of the host signaling state. A thread👇🏾 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
"My New Year's Resolution is to find a principled way to think about all those cell types in the brain"
Why friend, you are in luck, because @rgast.bsky.social has just the perspective for you: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Why friend, you are in luck, because @rgast.bsky.social has just the perspective for you: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
How heterogeneity shapes dynamics and computation in the brain
Much effort has been spent clustering neurons into transcriptomic or functional cell types and characterizing the differences between them. Beyond sub…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:54 PM
"My New Year's Resolution is to find a principled way to think about all those cell types in the brain"
Why friend, you are in luck, because @rgast.bsky.social has just the perspective for you: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Why friend, you are in luck, because @rgast.bsky.social has just the perspective for you: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict is now out!
Get your copy directly from @harvardpress.bsky.social
Get your copy directly from @harvardpress.bsky.social
December 17, 2025 at 4:34 PM
The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict is now out!
Get your copy directly from @harvardpress.bsky.social
Get your copy directly from @harvardpress.bsky.social
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
A free, open-access library of high-quality organism illustrations for science communication
A free, open-access library of high-quality organism illustrations for science communication
We create vector graphics of model organisms and emerging biological research organisms to enhance our publications. We’re sharing these editable graphics under a CC0 license for other scientists to...
doi.org
December 29, 2025 at 6:03 PM
A free, open-access library of high-quality organism illustrations for science communication
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the 1918 flu pandemic was caused by a lab virus from vaccine research, a defective influenza vaccine. Let’s analyze what a lie this is. First, in 1918, 107 years ago, virology was in its infancy
December 27, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the 1918 flu pandemic was caused by a lab virus from vaccine research, a defective influenza vaccine. Let’s analyze what a lie this is. First, in 1918, 107 years ago, virology was in its infancy
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
I’ll never look at avocados in quite the same way: The latest from UC Berkeley Miller Fellow Jeff Groh who sits in my lab and Ben Blackman’s lab. He works on balancing selection and molecular mechanisms underlying the coevolutionary phenomenon of mating type alternation (PhD with Graham Koop).
Balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies an ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.22.695989v1
December 25, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I’ll never look at avocados in quite the same way: The latest from UC Berkeley Miller Fellow Jeff Groh who sits in my lab and Ben Blackman’s lab. He works on balancing selection and molecular mechanisms underlying the coevolutionary phenomenon of mating type alternation (PhD with Graham Koop).
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
and the winner of the "2025 best thing on Internet" has just arrived
neal.fun/size-of-life/
@carlbergstrom.com
neal.fun/size-of-life/
@carlbergstrom.com
Size of Life
From an amoeba to a blue whale
neal.fun
December 23, 2025 at 4:07 PM
and the winner of the "2025 best thing on Internet" has just arrived
neal.fun/size-of-life/
@carlbergstrom.com
neal.fun/size-of-life/
@carlbergstrom.com
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Carlson et al. build a mathematical model considering how genotype-by-environment interactions can maintain variation and parametrize their model to test its applicability to real mutualisms.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
How Genotype-by-Environment Interactions Can Maintain Variation in Mutualisms | The American Naturalist
Abstract Coevolution requires reciprocal genotype-by-genotype (G × G) interactions for fitness, which occur when the fitness of a genotype in one species depends on the genotype it interacts with in a...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
December 24, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Carlson et al. build a mathematical model considering how genotype-by-environment interactions can maintain variation and parametrize their model to test its applicability to real mutualisms.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
This is well worth a read. It is essentially qualitative, which some might baulk at, but sometimes that's the way to start fleshing out an idea.
New paper on evolution, emergence, and novelty generation. I had a lot of fun working with my philosophy of science colleagues on this one!
Selective funnelling and state-space expansion: a conceptual framework for novelty generation and origin events
Abstract. Evolution, conceived broadly as encompassing both biological and abiological systems, generates novel structures and phenomena that are seemingly
royalsocietypublishing.org
December 22, 2025 at 6:43 PM
This is well worth a read. It is essentially qualitative, which some might baulk at, but sometimes that's the way to start fleshing out an idea.
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Thrilled to announce the Handbook of Computational Social Science is officially out! 956 pages, 118 authors, and truly global, interdisciplinary perspectives. Deep thanks to the contributors and anonymous reviewers who shaped this over 4 years. Buy your copy now!
@elgarpublishing.bsky.social
@elgarpublishing.bsky.social
December 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Thrilled to announce the Handbook of Computational Social Science is officially out! 956 pages, 118 authors, and truly global, interdisciplinary perspectives. Deep thanks to the contributors and anonymous reviewers who shaped this over 4 years. Buy your copy now!
@elgarpublishing.bsky.social
@elgarpublishing.bsky.social
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Probably still time for last-minute Xmas shopping.
Also looming large in my reading this year: @seanmcarroll.bsky.social’s Something Deeply Hidden. I feel absolutely transformed by what I learned in this book. Who needs self-help when you have the Many Worlds theory?
December 22, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Probably still time for last-minute Xmas shopping.
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
A little review of some of the things I wrote this year. 🧵
It was of course the Year of Quantum, a highlight of which was the meeting on Helgoland in the summer. Here's what that was all about, and what happened there.
www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com/post/the-hol...
It was of course the Year of Quantum, a highlight of which was the meeting on Helgoland in the summer. Here's what that was all about, and what happened there.
www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com/post/the-hol...
The Holy Land of Physics: Quantum Mechanics Turns One Hundred
PHILIP BALL | Someone quipped that if the ferry from Hamburg had sunk, so would have quantum physics for a generation...
www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:55 PM
A little review of some of the things I wrote this year. 🧵
It was of course the Year of Quantum, a highlight of which was the meeting on Helgoland in the summer. Here's what that was all about, and what happened there.
www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com/post/the-hol...
It was of course the Year of Quantum, a highlight of which was the meeting on Helgoland in the summer. Here's what that was all about, and what happened there.
www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com/post/the-hol...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Happy to highlight an essay I wrote together with @marcdemanuel.bsky.social,
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
What sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species?
Germline mutation rates per generation are strikingly similar across animals, despite vast differences in life histories. Analogously, in at least one somatic cell type, mutation rates at the end of l...
www.biorxiv.org
December 22, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Happy to highlight an essay I wrote together with @marcdemanuel.bsky.social,
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Happy to share my new paper w/ @cgershen.bsky.social, just published at @royalsocietypublishing.org Interface!
Open Access🔓: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...
Instead of proposing a new theory, we offer a synthesis in theoretical biology. Want to know more? Read the full thread./1 👇🧵
Open Access🔓: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...
Instead of proposing a new theory, we offer a synthesis in theoretical biology. Want to know more? Read the full thread./1 👇🧵
Closing the loop: how semantic closure enables open-ended evolution?
Abstract. This study explores the evolutionary emergence of semantic closure—the self-referential mechanism through which symbols actively construct and in
royalsocietypublishing.org
December 22, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Happy to share my new paper w/ @cgershen.bsky.social, just published at @royalsocietypublishing.org Interface!
Open Access🔓: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...
Instead of proposing a new theory, we offer a synthesis in theoretical biology. Want to know more? Read the full thread./1 👇🧵
Open Access🔓: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...
Instead of proposing a new theory, we offer a synthesis in theoretical biology. Want to know more? Read the full thread./1 👇🧵