Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
@delvecchyo.bsky.social
Associate professor @liigh-unam.bsky.social. Interested on theoretical population genetics and developing new computational methods to understand our past. He/him/his.
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
Preprint online right before the holidays! Excited to share the first piece of work from the Zhang Lab, led by my absolutely stellar postdoc Michelle Kim! In this work, we ask how admixture, selection and demography shape complex trait genetics and GWAS performance www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Determining the driving factors shaping genetic architecture of complex traits in recently admixed populations
Understanding the genetic architecture of complex traits in admixed populations remains challenging due to heterogeneous genetic backgrounds and demographic histories. Mischaracterizing admixture can ...
www.biorxiv.org
December 16, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Preprint online right before the holidays! Excited to share the first piece of work from the Zhang Lab, led by my absolutely stellar postdoc Michelle Kim! In this work, we ask how admixture, selection and demography shape complex trait genetics and GWAS performance www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
Work from my amazing undergrad @leyan-wang.bsky.social is just preprinted! TL;DR: If you worry that ARG methods might fail on unphased data due to phasing errors, you may not need to.
Check it out & consider reposting to support a great young scientist!
Check it out & consider reposting to support a great young scientist!
We are excited to share our recent work on the surprising robustness of Ancestral Recombination Graph (ARG) inference tools to computational phasing errors, now available on BioRxiv: biorxiv.org/content/10.1....
This work is co-advised by @yundeng.bsky.social and Rasmus Nielsen.
1/7
This work is co-advised by @yundeng.bsky.social and Rasmus Nielsen.
1/7
Robustness of Ancestral Recombination Graph Inference Tools to Phasing Errors
Ancestral Recombination Graphs (ARGs) are fundamental population genetic structures that encode the genealogical history of a sample of haplotypes along the genome. They have recently received substan...
biorxiv.org
November 26, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Work from my amazing undergrad @leyan-wang.bsky.social is just preprinted! TL;DR: If you worry that ARG methods might fail on unphased data due to phasing errors, you may not need to.
Check it out & consider reposting to support a great young scientist!
Check it out & consider reposting to support a great young scientist!
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
Excited to share work from my postdoc with @docedge.bsky.social and collaborators Matt Pennell and @jgschraiber.bsky.social, newly out over the weekend: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... (1/6)
Observational epidemiological studies can mitigate genetic confounding with the genetic relatedness matrix
Observational studies are commonly used in psychology and epidemiology to identify risk factors correlated with health outcomes. However, these studies are vulnerable to confounding when shared geneti...
www.biorxiv.org
December 1, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Excited to share work from my postdoc with @docedge.bsky.social and collaborators Matt Pennell and @jgschraiber.bsky.social, newly out over the weekend: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... (1/6)
Alessandro and I discussed a paper analyzing a deleterious genetic interaction that causes melanoma in swordtail fishes.
In this #Journal Club, @delvecchyo.bsky.social &Co discuss a study that mapped the genetic basis of hybrid incompatibility in swordtail fish, revealing #melanoma-causing gene interactions that reduce survival in natural hybrid populations.
📖 ⬇️
📖 ⬇️
Discovering genetic interactions that cause melanoma in a non-model species - Nature Reviews Cancer
In this Journal Club, Lopez-Hernandez and Ortega-Del Vecchyo discuss a study that mapped the genetic basis of hybrid incompatibility in swordtail fish, revealing melanoma-causing gene interactions that reduce survival in natural hybrid populations.
www.nature.com
October 9, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Alessandro and I discussed a paper analyzing a deleterious genetic interaction that causes melanoma in swordtail fishes.
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
In this #Journal Club, @delvecchyo.bsky.social &Co discuss a study that mapped the genetic basis of hybrid incompatibility in swordtail fish, revealing #melanoma-causing gene interactions that reduce survival in natural hybrid populations.
📖 ⬇️
📖 ⬇️
Discovering genetic interactions that cause melanoma in a non-model species - Nature Reviews Cancer
In this Journal Club, Lopez-Hernandez and Ortega-Del Vecchyo discuss a study that mapped the genetic basis of hybrid incompatibility in swordtail fish, revealing melanoma-causing gene interactions that reduce survival in natural hybrid populations.
www.nature.com
October 7, 2025 at 4:54 PM
In this #Journal Club, @delvecchyo.bsky.social &Co discuss a study that mapped the genetic basis of hybrid incompatibility in swordtail fish, revealing #melanoma-causing gene interactions that reduce survival in natural hybrid populations.
📖 ⬇️
📖 ⬇️
Alessandro and I discussed this great paper www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... that investigates a deleterious genetic interaction that causes melanoma.
September 24, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Alessandro and I discussed this great paper www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... that investigates a deleterious genetic interaction that causes melanoma.
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
Our paper on the evolution of MUC19 in humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans is finally out today in Science!
This has been a six-year effort by 13 authors to weave together 3 separate but related evolutionary stories around this one gene (more on thread 🧵).
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This has been a six-year effort by 13 authors to weave together 3 separate but related evolutionary stories around this one gene (more on thread 🧵).
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The MUC19 gene: An evolutionary history of recurrent introgression and natural selection
We study the gene MUC19, for which some modern humans carry a Denisovan-like haplotype. MUC19 is a mucin, a glycoprotein that forms gels with various biological functions. We find diagnostic variants ...
www.science.org
August 21, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Our paper on the evolution of MUC19 in humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans is finally out today in Science!
This has been a six-year effort by 13 authors to weave together 3 separate but related evolutionary stories around this one gene (more on thread 🧵).
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This has been a six-year effort by 13 authors to weave together 3 separate but related evolutionary stories around this one gene (more on thread 🧵).
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Gaceta UNAM cubrió nuestra investigación sobre el impacto de la selección natural en la predicción genética de rasgos complejos en individuos del pasado:
www.gaceta.unam.mx/la-seleccion...
www.gaceta.unam.mx/la-seleccion...
La selección natural complica las predicciones genéticas - Gaceta UNAM
Hacen menos confiables los análisis de características físicas en humanos antiguos, afirma artículo publicado en la revista científica The American Journal of Human Genetics, en el cual participa un g...
www.gaceta.unam.mx
August 22, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Gaceta UNAM cubrió nuestra investigación sobre el impacto de la selección natural en la predicción genética de rasgos complejos en individuos del pasado:
www.gaceta.unam.mx/la-seleccion...
www.gaceta.unam.mx/la-seleccion...
Trying something with huitlacoche (such as quesadilla of huitlacoche) is a good and interesting choice. Other good things to try are guacamole as well as "Chile relleno de queso".
July 19, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Trying something with huitlacoche (such as quesadilla of huitlacoche) is a good and interesting choice. Other good things to try are guacamole as well as "Chile relleno de queso".
I just saw this message!
Going to one branch of the "El Cardenal" restaurants is a good choice. They have good salads and omelettes. They also have some dishes made with avocado, huitlacoche (corn fungus which is delicious), Poblano (pepper) and cheese.
Going to one branch of the "El Cardenal" restaurants is a good choice. They have good salads and omelettes. They also have some dishes made with avocado, huitlacoche (corn fungus which is delicious), Poblano (pepper) and cheese.
July 19, 2025 at 8:07 AM
I just saw this message!
Going to one branch of the "El Cardenal" restaurants is a good choice. They have good salads and omelettes. They also have some dishes made with avocado, huitlacoche (corn fungus which is delicious), Poblano (pepper) and cheese.
Going to one branch of the "El Cardenal" restaurants is a good choice. They have good salads and omelettes. They also have some dishes made with avocado, huitlacoche (corn fungus which is delicious), Poblano (pepper) and cheese.
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
Hey, Miles' @milesroberts.bsky.social beautiful paper showing that sequence diversity missed by standard methods contributes to Lewontin's paradox is officially published in @evolletters.bsky.social. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
k-mer-based diversity scales with population size proxies more than nucleotide diversity in a meta-analysis of 98 plant species
Abstract. A key prediction of neutral theory is that the level of genetic diversity in a population should scale with population size. However, as was note
academic.oup.com
June 12, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Hey, Miles' @milesroberts.bsky.social beautiful paper showing that sequence diversity missed by standard methods contributes to Lewontin's paradox is officially published in @evolletters.bsky.social. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
Our review of recent Sequentially Markovian Coalescent methods is up on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2506.00692 (based on last year's @official-smbe.bsky.social symposium)
Not Just $N_e$ $N_e$-more: New Applications for SMC from Ecology to Phylogenies
Genomes contain the mutational footprint of an organism's evolutionary history, shaped by diverse forces including ecological factors, selective pressures, and life history traits. The sequentially Ma...
arxiv.org
June 11, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Our review of recent Sequentially Markovian Coalescent methods is up on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2506.00692 (based on last year's @official-smbe.bsky.social symposium)
Happy to have worked on this project with @mashaals.bsky.social , Emilia Huerta-Sanchez and Valeria Añorve-Garibay. We analyzed how stabilizing and directional selection cause problems to predict traits in ancient samples.
Our new work is now out in AJHG "Natural selection acting on complex traits hampers the predictive accuracy of polygenic scores in ancient samples." Great collaboration with @delvecchyo.bsky.social and Emilia Huerta-Sanchez, led by Valeria Añorve-Garibay.
📣Online now!
📄Natural selection acting on complex traits hampers the predictive accuracy of polygenic scores in ancient samples
🧑🤝🧑 @delvecchyo.bsky.social @mashaals.bsky.social & co
📄Natural selection acting on complex traits hampers the predictive accuracy of polygenic scores in ancient samples
🧑🤝🧑 @delvecchyo.bsky.social @mashaals.bsky.social & co
June 10, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Happy to have worked on this project with @mashaals.bsky.social , Emilia Huerta-Sanchez and Valeria Añorve-Garibay. We analyzed how stabilizing and directional selection cause problems to predict traits in ancient samples.
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
📣Online now!
📄Natural selection acting on complex traits hampers the predictive accuracy of polygenic scores in ancient samples
🧑🤝🧑 @delvecchyo.bsky.social @mashaals.bsky.social & co
📄Natural selection acting on complex traits hampers the predictive accuracy of polygenic scores in ancient samples
🧑🤝🧑 @delvecchyo.bsky.social @mashaals.bsky.social & co
Natural selection acting on complex traits hampers the predictive accuracy of polygenic scores in ancient samples
Using polygenic scores, we find that two types of natural selection, stabilizing selection
and directional selection, can decrease the prediction accuracy of complex traits
in ancient individuals. We ...
www.cell.com
June 10, 2025 at 3:07 PM
📣Online now!
📄Natural selection acting on complex traits hampers the predictive accuracy of polygenic scores in ancient samples
🧑🤝🧑 @delvecchyo.bsky.social @mashaals.bsky.social & co
📄Natural selection acting on complex traits hampers the predictive accuracy of polygenic scores in ancient samples
🧑🤝🧑 @delvecchyo.bsky.social @mashaals.bsky.social & co
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
We continue with the #human genetic variation and ancient #genomics session! Our next speaker is @delvecchyo.bsky.social, who is telling us about how to use geographical and temporal information to infer the action of natural #selection @liigh-unam.bsky.social #LIIGH10anniversary
January 12, 2025 at 5:36 PM
We continue with the #human genetic variation and ancient #genomics session! Our next speaker is @delvecchyo.bsky.social, who is telling us about how to use geographical and temporal information to infer the action of natural #selection @liigh-unam.bsky.social #LIIGH10anniversary
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
The next talk is by PhD student Alan Izarraras from @delvecchyo.bsky.social's group, and he is telling us about how to infer the distribution of fitness effects using local genealogies @liigh-unam.bsky.social #LIIGH10anniversary
January 11, 2025 at 11:34 PM
The next talk is by PhD student Alan Izarraras from @delvecchyo.bsky.social's group, and he is telling us about how to infer the distribution of fitness effects using local genealogies @liigh-unam.bsky.social #LIIGH10anniversary
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
🚨🪅 Registration is NOW OPEN for our Symposium on Ancient Pathogen Genomics! 🦠🧬 Join us on April 12-13 2025 in Juriquilla, Mexico. Featuring top speakers & great science in a beautiful venue! Plz RT !
liigh.unam.mx/apg/ 🪅🚨
liigh.unam.mx/apg/ 🪅🚨
Ancient Pathogens Genomics International Symposium
liigh.unam.mx
November 18, 2024 at 12:39 AM
🚨🪅 Registration is NOW OPEN for our Symposium on Ancient Pathogen Genomics! 🦠🧬 Join us on April 12-13 2025 in Juriquilla, Mexico. Featuring top speakers & great science in a beautiful venue! Plz RT !
liigh.unam.mx/apg/ 🪅🚨
liigh.unam.mx/apg/ 🪅🚨
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
Reposted by Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo
New preprint (with @linoafferreira.bsky.social) where we explore the idea of using genealogies (in the form of ancestral recombination graphs, ARGs) to tell apart real GxG interaction signals between nearby variants from false positives www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Phantom epistasis through the lens of genealogies
Phantom epistasis arises when, in the course of testing for gene-by-gene interactions, the omission of a causal variant (with a purely additive effect on the phenotype) causes the spurious inference o...
www.biorxiv.org
December 9, 2024 at 6:59 PM
New preprint (with @linoafferreira.bsky.social) where we explore the idea of using genealogies (in the form of ancestral recombination graphs, ARGs) to tell apart real GxG interaction signals between nearby variants from false positives www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Hi, I recommend checking out some of the papers and software we cite in our paper. Best of luck!
December 6, 2024 at 10:38 PM
Hi, I recommend checking out some of the papers and software we cite in our paper. Best of luck!
Don't forget to submit your abstract for "Probabilistic Modeling in Genomics 2025". Deadline: January 10th, 2025. meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp...
Probabilistic Modeling in Genomics
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meetings & Courses -- a private, non-profit institution with research programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, bioinformatics.
meetings.cshl.edu
December 2, 2024 at 5:27 PM
Don't forget to submit your abstract for "Probabilistic Modeling in Genomics 2025". Deadline: January 10th, 2025. meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp...
Ese meme es mi filosofía moral.
November 17, 2024 at 3:00 AM
Ese meme es mi filosofía moral.
Spending more time here sounds great!
November 6, 2024 at 6:57 AM
Spending more time here sounds great!
Thanks, Rebekah! Happy that our paths crossed as some of the last postdocs from Monty.
September 30, 2024 at 9:46 PM
Thanks, Rebekah! Happy that our paths crossed as some of the last postdocs from Monty.
I have received tenure! I got here thanks to the support from my students, colleagues, mentors and home institution ( @liigh-unam.bsky.social ). I plan to continue doing research on Theoretical Population Genetics and developing methods to understand how Evolution has shaped our past.
September 30, 2024 at 6:51 PM
I have received tenure! I got here thanks to the support from my students, colleagues, mentors and home institution ( @liigh-unam.bsky.social ). I plan to continue doing research on Theoretical Population Genetics and developing methods to understand how Evolution has shaped our past.