Daniela C. Soto
@dcsoto.bsky.social
Postdoctoral scholar at UCSB. HHMI Hanna Gray Fellow. Human brain evolution. Long-read sequencing enthusiast. dcsoto.github.io
Reposted by Daniela C. Soto
Come join us at UCLA!!! We have a growing population genetics community here and Nandita and her lab are outstanding!
I am seeking a postdoc for my group at UCLA. We work at the intersection of population genetics x microbiome (garud.eeb.ucla.edu). If interested, please message me!
Garud Lab
garud.eeb.ucla.edu
July 23, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Come join us at UCLA!!! We have a growing population genetics community here and Nandita and her lab are outstanding!
Reposted by Daniela C. Soto
Outstanding work by @dcsoto.bsky.social @jmuribescr.bsky.social @mydennis.bsky.social (and other collaborators) that massively advances identification of human gene duplicates, with links to important traits and our evolution. So happy to have contributed a bit to this fantastic paper.
Check out our latest work co-led by @dcsoto.bsky.social and @jmuribescr.bsky.social identifying hundreds of human duplicated gene families using the new T2T-CHM13 assembly, with a focus on those potentially contributing to brain evolution 🧪: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lTQtL7PXu...
authors.elsevier.com
July 22, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Outstanding work by @dcsoto.bsky.social @jmuribescr.bsky.social @mydennis.bsky.social (and other collaborators) that massively advances identification of human gene duplicates, with links to important traits and our evolution. So happy to have contributed a bit to this fantastic paper.
Reposted by Daniela C. Soto
Also, a nice summary from @ucdavis.bsky.social biology.ucdavis.edu/news/finding...
Finding Human Brain Genes in Duplicated DNA
What makes the human brain distinctive? A new study published July 21 in Cell identifies two genes linked to human brain features and provides a road map to discover many more. The research could lead...
biology.ucdavis.edu
July 21, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Also, a nice summary from @ucdavis.bsky.social biology.ucdavis.edu/news/finding...
Reposted by Daniela C. Soto
Landmark study using #PacBio #HiFiSequencing reveals human-specific genetic variation not detectable with short reads. Researchers uncover new insights into brain evolution and potential links to cognition and autism.
Read the full paper: bit.ly/3IxQtPR
#BrainResearch
Read the full paper: bit.ly/3IxQtPR
#BrainResearch
Human-specific gene expansions contribute to brain evolution
A complete human genome and functional modeling in zebrafish pinpoint gene expansions
that may underlie the evolutionary innovations of the human brain.
bit.ly
July 21, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Landmark study using #PacBio #HiFiSequencing reveals human-specific genetic variation not detectable with short reads. Researchers uncover new insights into brain evolution and potential links to cognition and autism.
Read the full paper: bit.ly/3IxQtPR
#BrainResearch
Read the full paper: bit.ly/3IxQtPR
#BrainResearch
Reposted by Daniela C. Soto
Thrilled to see this story out today! Such a fascinating topic with lots still to discover 🥳
Check out our latest work co-led by @dcsoto.bsky.social and @jmuribescr.bsky.social identifying hundreds of human duplicated gene families using the new T2T-CHM13 assembly, with a focus on those potentially contributing to brain evolution 🧪: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lTQtL7PXu...
authors.elsevier.com
July 21, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Thrilled to see this story out today! Such a fascinating topic with lots still to discover 🥳
Thrilled that our study on human gene duplications and brain evolution is out! It was a true labor of love, with special shout-outs to my co-first author @jmuribescr.bsky.social and my PhD mentor @mydennis.bsky.social. Huge thanks as well to @aidaandres.bsky.social for all the popgen wisdom!
Check out our latest work co-led by @dcsoto.bsky.social and @jmuribescr.bsky.social identifying hundreds of human duplicated gene families using the new T2T-CHM13 assembly, with a focus on those potentially contributing to brain evolution 🧪: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lTQtL7PXu...
authors.elsevier.com
July 21, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Thrilled that our study on human gene duplications and brain evolution is out! It was a true labor of love, with special shout-outs to my co-first author @jmuribescr.bsky.social and my PhD mentor @mydennis.bsky.social. Huge thanks as well to @aidaandres.bsky.social for all the popgen wisdom!
Reposted by Daniela C. Soto
Check out our latest work co-led by @dcsoto.bsky.social and @jmuribescr.bsky.social identifying hundreds of human duplicated gene families using the new T2T-CHM13 assembly, with a focus on those potentially contributing to brain evolution 🧪: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lTQtL7PXu...
authors.elsevier.com
July 21, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Check out our latest work co-led by @dcsoto.bsky.social and @jmuribescr.bsky.social identifying hundreds of human duplicated gene families using the new T2T-CHM13 assembly, with a focus on those potentially contributing to brain evolution 🧪: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lTQtL7PXu...
Thanks UCSB for the shout-out! I am really excited to be part of Dr. Soojin Yi Lab at UCSB :) news.ucsb.edu/2025/021743/...
UCSB postdoc receives competitive award to investigate the genetic changes that shaped the human mind
Postdoctoral scholar Daniela Soto has earned a prestigious fellowship from HHMI with eight years of funding to study the evolution of human brains from a genomic perspective.
news.ucsb.edu
February 7, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Thanks UCSB for the shout-out! I am really excited to be part of Dr. Soojin Yi Lab at UCSB :) news.ucsb.edu/2025/021743/...
Reposted by Daniela C. Soto
Check out our new preprint describing CiFi - a method that couples 3C and PacBio HiFi sequencing with low input requirements. We apply it to human GM12878 to better characterize chromatin across repetitive regions, as well as single insect samples (a mosquito and a Mediterranean fruit fly).
CiFi: Accurate long-read chromatin conformation capture with low-input requirements https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.31.635566v1
February 5, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Check out our new preprint describing CiFi - a method that couples 3C and PacBio HiFi sequencing with low input requirements. We apply it to human GM12878 to better characterize chromatin across repetitive regions, as well as single insect samples (a mosquito and a Mediterranean fruit fly).
Reposted by Daniela C. Soto
The biggest congrats to former Dennis lab grad student Daniela Soto being named an HHMI Hanna Gray fellow!!! Soooooooo freaking proud and beyond-the-moon happy for her to have received this super well-deserved honor 🤩 www.hhmi.org/news/hhmi-na...
HHMI Names the 2024 Hanna Gray Fellows | HHMI
The cohort includes early career scientists working in research areas ranging from treatment-resistant cancers to how animals evolved to live on land. The HHMI Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program provides e...
www.hhmi.org
January 9, 2025 at 3:04 AM
The biggest congrats to former Dennis lab grad student Daniela Soto being named an HHMI Hanna Gray fellow!!! Soooooooo freaking proud and beyond-the-moon happy for her to have received this super well-deserved honor 🤩 www.hhmi.org/news/hhmi-na...
Thank you for the shout-out @mydennis.bsky.social! It was truly amazing to collaborate with Harrison Ostridge and @aidaandres.bsky.social in this study characterizing structural variation in the GYP locus.
This GYPA SNP may have been selected for because it prevents the expression of a key receptor protein used by the malaria parasite to enter erythrocytes (though functional studies are still required). Shoutout to former grad student Daniela Soto for her outstanding work on this study!
January 10, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Thank you for the shout-out @mydennis.bsky.social! It was truly amazing to collaborate with Harrison Ostridge and @aidaandres.bsky.social in this study characterizing structural variation in the GYP locus.
Reposted by Daniela C. Soto
Thrilled to have been a part of this study led by @aidaandres.bsky.social that finds evidence of genetic adaptation in chimpanzees to different habitats. Most notably signatures of positive selection in chimpanzees underlie resistance to malaria in humans (GYPA and HBB).
Chimpanzees bear genetic adaptations that help them thrive in their forest and savannah habitats, some of which may protect against malaria: new @science.org paper led by Prof @aidaandres.bsky.social & Harrison Ostridge @ugiatucl.bsky.social @ucllifesciences.bsky.social www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/ja...
Chimpanzees are genetically adapted to local habitats and infections such as malaria
Chimpanzees bear genetic adaptations that help them thrive in their different forest and savannah habitats, some of which may protect against malaria, according to a study by an international team led...
www.ucl.ac.uk
January 10, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Thrilled to have been a part of this study led by @aidaandres.bsky.social that finds evidence of genetic adaptation in chimpanzees to different habitats. Most notably signatures of positive selection in chimpanzees underlie resistance to malaria in humans (GYPA and HBB).