Haoran Cai
@haorancai.bsky.social
Evolutionary and Quantitative Genetics | Regulatory evolution | Development
Post-doc @UCLA EEB
Post-doc @UCLA EEB
Pinned
Haoran Cai
@haorancai.bsky.social
· Oct 28
Disentangling variational bias: the roles of development, mutation, and selection
The extraordinary diversity and adaptive fit of organisms to their environment depends
fundamentally on the availability of variation. While most population genetic frameworks
assumes that random muta...
www.cell.com
Thrilled to share my recent perspective piece with
@diogromelo.bsky.social
and
@evodaveo.bsky.social
on the empirical measurement of developmental bias in a GP map and its conceptual links with other quant gen variational properties.
www.cell.com/trends/genet...
@diogromelo.bsky.social
and
@evodaveo.bsky.social
on the empirical measurement of developmental bias in a GP map and its conceptual links with other quant gen variational properties.
www.cell.com/trends/genet...
Reposted by Haoran Cai
TWO curatorial positions at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada. Curator of Birds, and Curator of Plants and Sustainability... please pass the word and amplify!
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/XBR2Yc...
&
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/Sf2iAO...
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/XBR2Yc...
&
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/Sf2iAO...
Curator of Birds - Royal Ontario Museum - Career Page
Apply to Curator of Birds at Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, ON, Canada.
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:35 PM
TWO curatorial positions at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada. Curator of Birds, and Curator of Plants and Sustainability... please pass the word and amplify!
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/XBR2Yc...
&
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/Sf2iAO...
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/XBR2Yc...
&
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/Sf2iAO...
Reposted by Haoran Cai
Ecology faces an accumulation of models but not an accumulation of confidence. Our new paper w/ Jonathan Levine www.nature.com/articles/s41... in @natecoevo.nature.com introduces a rigorous test rooted in queueing theory to falsify inadequate models and build confidence in useful ones.
Rigorous validation of ecological models against empirical time series - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Validating theoretical models against empirical data presents challenges. Here the authors present an assumption-light method to validate ecological models against time series data, along with a dedic...
www.nature.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Ecology faces an accumulation of models but not an accumulation of confidence. Our new paper w/ Jonathan Levine www.nature.com/articles/s41... in @natecoevo.nature.com introduces a rigorous test rooted in queueing theory to falsify inadequate models and build confidence in useful ones.
Reposted by Haoran Cai
We have an open PhD position (application deadline 9 January 2026) in "Theory of fitness landscapes" at @unibe.ch 🤓⛰️📊👩💻🎓: banklab.github.io/positions/
Please share widely!
#QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #CarersInSTEM #AcademicSky #HigherED
Please share widely!
#QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #CarersInSTEM #AcademicSky #HigherED
October 28, 2025 at 4:22 PM
We have an open PhD position (application deadline 9 January 2026) in "Theory of fitness landscapes" at @unibe.ch 🤓⛰️📊👩💻🎓: banklab.github.io/positions/
Please share widely!
#QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #CarersInSTEM #AcademicSky #HigherED
Please share widely!
#QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #CarersInSTEM #AcademicSky #HigherED
I'm thrilled to be selected and grateful to be able to contribute to our community @official-smbe.bsky.social
Looking forward to new connections and future initiatives! @official-smbe.bsky.social @molbioevol.bsky.social @genomebiolevol.bsky.social
Looking forward to new connections and future initiatives! @official-smbe.bsky.social @molbioevol.bsky.social @genomebiolevol.bsky.social
We are excited to welcome our three new SMBE Fellows!
Ioanna Kotari, Shady Kuster, and Haoran Cai will join @molbioevol.bsky.social and @genomebiolevol.bsky.social as writing fellows.
Keep an eye on our next Highlight articles in MBE and GBE!
#society #scicomm #evobio #molbio #genome #evolution
Ioanna Kotari, Shady Kuster, and Haoran Cai will join @molbioevol.bsky.social and @genomebiolevol.bsky.social as writing fellows.
Keep an eye on our next Highlight articles in MBE and GBE!
#society #scicomm #evobio #molbio #genome #evolution
October 30, 2025 at 12:22 AM
I'm thrilled to be selected and grateful to be able to contribute to our community @official-smbe.bsky.social
Looking forward to new connections and future initiatives! @official-smbe.bsky.social @molbioevol.bsky.social @genomebiolevol.bsky.social
Looking forward to new connections and future initiatives! @official-smbe.bsky.social @molbioevol.bsky.social @genomebiolevol.bsky.social
Reposted by Haoran Cai
Incredible new paper from @schacherer.bsky.social et al rdcu.be/eLcTH
From genotype to phenotype with 1,086 near telomere-to-telomere yeast genomes
Nature - A newly compiled atlas of species-wide structural variants and gene-based and graph pangenomes derived from highly complete assemblies of genomes from 1,086 natural isolates enable...
rdcu.be
October 15, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Incredible new paper from @schacherer.bsky.social et al rdcu.be/eLcTH
Reposted by Haoran Cai
We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT
October 15, 2025 at 3:53 PM
We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT
Reposted by Haoran Cai
🚨🚨JOB ALERT 🚨🚨
Fresh new position in Comparative Biology at OSU!
We're looking for a comp. biologist, especially those who investigate biomechanics, functional anatomy, neuroanatomy, or morphological development.
Feel free to ask me any questions!
jobs.okstate.edu/jobs/assista...
Fresh new position in Comparative Biology at OSU!
We're looking for a comp. biologist, especially those who investigate biomechanics, functional anatomy, neuroanatomy, or morphological development.
Feel free to ask me any questions!
jobs.okstate.edu/jobs/assista...
Assistant Professor of Biology - Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States
Campus
OSU-Stillwater
Contact Name & Email
Dr. Michael Reichert, michael.reichert@okstate.edu
Work Schedule
TBD
Appointment Length
Regular Continuous/Until Further Notice
Hiring Range
$85,000 - $8...
jobs.okstate.edu
October 15, 2025 at 2:43 PM
🚨🚨JOB ALERT 🚨🚨
Fresh new position in Comparative Biology at OSU!
We're looking for a comp. biologist, especially those who investigate biomechanics, functional anatomy, neuroanatomy, or morphological development.
Feel free to ask me any questions!
jobs.okstate.edu/jobs/assista...
Fresh new position in Comparative Biology at OSU!
We're looking for a comp. biologist, especially those who investigate biomechanics, functional anatomy, neuroanatomy, or morphological development.
Feel free to ask me any questions!
jobs.okstate.edu/jobs/assista...
Reposted by Haoran Cai
The Hopkins Lab (hopkins-lab.com) at the University of Florida is looking to recruit a postdoc to work on the genetics of organ function and evolution across Drosophila and beyond. Please visit tinyurl.com/vcsjpmzz or email me for more info. And please RT or send to anyone who might be interested!
October 15, 2025 at 8:42 PM
The Hopkins Lab (hopkins-lab.com) at the University of Florida is looking to recruit a postdoc to work on the genetics of organ function and evolution across Drosophila and beyond. Please visit tinyurl.com/vcsjpmzz or email me for more info. And please RT or send to anyone who might be interested!
Reposted by Haoran Cai
C. elegans is a real animal and we set out to understand how it comes to have its distinctive biogeography. Its ancestral center of diversity is in the higher elevation forests of Hawaii. Its closest relatives are spread across east Asia. Did they travel from Asia? [Preprint 🧵]
September 24, 2025 at 8:33 PM
C. elegans is a real animal and we set out to understand how it comes to have its distinctive biogeography. Its ancestral center of diversity is in the higher elevation forests of Hawaii. Its closest relatives are spread across east Asia. Did they travel from Asia? [Preprint 🧵]
Reposted by Haoran Cai
Dear colleagues!
@davidmccandlish.bsky.social and I are serving as guest editors for the new special issue of GENETICS on fitness landscapes:
doi.org/10.1093/gene...
Submissions are due on March 18, 2026. Please spread the word! And reach out if you have questions.
@davidmccandlish.bsky.social and I are serving as guest editors for the new special issue of GENETICS on fitness landscapes:
doi.org/10.1093/gene...
Submissions are due on March 18, 2026. Please spread the word! And reach out if you have questions.
The Fitness Landscape: A Call for Papers
Ruth Isaacson; The Fitness Landscape: A Call for Papers, Genetics, , iyaf206, https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyaf206
doi.org
October 8, 2025 at 5:59 AM
Dear colleagues!
@davidmccandlish.bsky.social and I are serving as guest editors for the new special issue of GENETICS on fitness landscapes:
doi.org/10.1093/gene...
Submissions are due on March 18, 2026. Please spread the word! And reach out if you have questions.
@davidmccandlish.bsky.social and I are serving as guest editors for the new special issue of GENETICS on fitness landscapes:
doi.org/10.1093/gene...
Submissions are due on March 18, 2026. Please spread the word! And reach out if you have questions.
Reposted by Haoran Cai
*Postdoc in Evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University*
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5
su.varbi.com/what:job/job...
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5
su.varbi.com/what:job/job...
September 2, 2025 at 2:20 PM
*Postdoc in Evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University*
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5
su.varbi.com/what:job/job...
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5
su.varbi.com/what:job/job...
Reposted by Haoran Cai
Calling early-career developmental biologists!
Apply for a funded place at our #Workshop, Novelty, Co-option and Divergence During Gene Network Evolution.
Application deadline: 5 December
www.biologists.com/workshops/ju...
#DevBio #BiologistsWorkshops #Collaboration #Networking
Apply for a funded place at our #Workshop, Novelty, Co-option and Divergence During Gene Network Evolution.
Application deadline: 5 December
www.biologists.com/workshops/ju...
#DevBio #BiologistsWorkshops #Collaboration #Networking
September 28, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Calling early-career developmental biologists!
Apply for a funded place at our #Workshop, Novelty, Co-option and Divergence During Gene Network Evolution.
Application deadline: 5 December
www.biologists.com/workshops/ju...
#DevBio #BiologistsWorkshops #Collaboration #Networking
Apply for a funded place at our #Workshop, Novelty, Co-option and Divergence During Gene Network Evolution.
Application deadline: 5 December
www.biologists.com/workshops/ju...
#DevBio #BiologistsWorkshops #Collaboration #Networking
Reposted by Haoran Cai
I'm excited to share with you all a conference I'm planning Oct. 10-12: Dialectical Biology Today: Legacies of Richard Lewontin.
It will be hybrid in Toronto and on zoom, so please join us however you can! Register for zoom link here: ihpst.utoronto.ca/events/diale...
It will be hybrid in Toronto and on zoom, so please join us however you can! Register for zoom link here: ihpst.utoronto.ca/events/diale...
September 15, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I'm excited to share with you all a conference I'm planning Oct. 10-12: Dialectical Biology Today: Legacies of Richard Lewontin.
It will be hybrid in Toronto and on zoom, so please join us however you can! Register for zoom link here: ihpst.utoronto.ca/events/diale...
It will be hybrid in Toronto and on zoom, so please join us however you can! Register for zoom link here: ihpst.utoronto.ca/events/diale...
Reposted by Haoran Cai
Really excited to share our latest paper led by @simonaube.bsky.social. Fascinating results examining whether regulatory mutations can lead to adaptation as fast as coding mutations do. #mevosky #evobio #evoSky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Adaptation is less accessible through mutations in promoters than in coding sequences when large effect sizes are needed
Mutations within promoters and coding sequences are both involved in adaptation, but their relative contributions remain to be compared directly. Using the fungal enzyme cytosine deaminase, we examine...
www.biorxiv.org
September 10, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Really excited to share our latest paper led by @simonaube.bsky.social. Fascinating results examining whether regulatory mutations can lead to adaptation as fast as coding mutations do. #mevosky #evobio #evoSky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Haoran Cai
We are proud to present the new logo of Genome Biology and Evolution! 🙌
Our new face reflects our continued commitment to serving the fields of genomics and evolutionary biology as a society journal belonging to @official-smbe.bsky.social
#genome #evolution #science #biology #societyjournal
Our new face reflects our continued commitment to serving the fields of genomics and evolutionary biology as a society journal belonging to @official-smbe.bsky.social
#genome #evolution #science #biology #societyjournal
September 12, 2025 at 2:51 PM
We are proud to present the new logo of Genome Biology and Evolution! 🙌
Our new face reflects our continued commitment to serving the fields of genomics and evolutionary biology as a society journal belonging to @official-smbe.bsky.social
#genome #evolution #science #biology #societyjournal
Our new face reflects our continued commitment to serving the fields of genomics and evolutionary biology as a society journal belonging to @official-smbe.bsky.social
#genome #evolution #science #biology #societyjournal
Reposted by Haoran Cai
The next stand-alone meeting of the American Society of Naturalists @asn-amnat.bsky.social will be on the East Coast!!! Mark your calendars for January 8-12, 2027 and we'll talk evolution, ecology, behavior, and integrative organismal biology at www.themansionatglencove.com/meeting-venues
VENUES | The Mansion at Glen Cove | Luxury Mansion Wedding Venues & Events
Discover premium meeting spaces at The Mansion at Glen Cove. Our mansion is perfect for corporate events with elegant surroundings and modern amenities.
www.themansionatglencove.com
September 12, 2025 at 3:24 PM
The next stand-alone meeting of the American Society of Naturalists @asn-amnat.bsky.social will be on the East Coast!!! Mark your calendars for January 8-12, 2027 and we'll talk evolution, ecology, behavior, and integrative organismal biology at www.themansionatglencove.com/meeting-venues
Reposted by Haoran Cai
Full paper now out in GENETICS:
The relationship between sexual dimorphism and intersex correlation: do models support intuition?
🔗 academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
#Evolution #QuantGenetics @GeneticsGSA
The relationship between sexual dimorphism and intersex correlation: do models support intuition?
🔗 academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
#Evolution #QuantGenetics @GeneticsGSA
The relationship between sexual dimorphism and intersex correlation: do models support intuition?
Abstract. The evolution of sexual dimorphism (the difference in average trait values between females and males, SD), is often thought to be constrained by
academic.oup.com
August 23, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Full paper now out in GENETICS:
The relationship between sexual dimorphism and intersex correlation: do models support intuition?
🔗 academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
#Evolution #QuantGenetics @GeneticsGSA
The relationship between sexual dimorphism and intersex correlation: do models support intuition?
🔗 academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
#Evolution #QuantGenetics @GeneticsGSA
Reposted by Haoran Cai
Are you looking for a PhD position and want to spend your summers in the Rocky Mountains?
My lab @cudenverclas.bsky.social is looking for 1 PhD student to work on a NSF-funded project to study elevational range shifts in Colorado! 🧪🌍🐙
Apply by Nov 1!
Details here docs.google.com/document/d/1...
My lab @cudenverclas.bsky.social is looking for 1 PhD student to work on a NSF-funded project to study elevational range shifts in Colorado! 🧪🌍🐙
Apply by Nov 1!
Details here docs.google.com/document/d/1...
2025 - Hypoxia PhD job ad
The Moore lab at the University of Colorado Denver is searching for 1 Ph.D. student to study the elevational limits of dragonflies in Colorado (http://moore-evo-eco.weebly.com). This position is fully...
docs.google.com
August 18, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Are you looking for a PhD position and want to spend your summers in the Rocky Mountains?
My lab @cudenverclas.bsky.social is looking for 1 PhD student to work on a NSF-funded project to study elevational range shifts in Colorado! 🧪🌍🐙
Apply by Nov 1!
Details here docs.google.com/document/d/1...
My lab @cudenverclas.bsky.social is looking for 1 PhD student to work on a NSF-funded project to study elevational range shifts in Colorado! 🧪🌍🐙
Apply by Nov 1!
Details here docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Reposted by Haoran Cai
We are on the lookout for postdocs for two different projects at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and the human microbiome.
See thread for more information and reach out!
See thread for more information and reach out!
July 22, 2025 at 7:34 PM
We are on the lookout for postdocs for two different projects at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and the human microbiome.
See thread for more information and reach out!
See thread for more information and reach out!
An updated version www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... Don't hesitate to talk to me at SMBE2025 if you are interested!! #SMBE25
July 21, 2025 at 9:17 AM
An updated version www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... Don't hesitate to talk to me at SMBE2025 if you are interested!! #SMBE25
Looking forward to meeting old and new friends in Beijing!!
July 19, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Looking forward to meeting old and new friends in Beijing!!
Reposted by Haoran Cai
Elegant empirical validation of a theoretical expectation that changing your mutation bias allows you to access more beneficial mutations. From @deepaagashe.bsky.social & colleagues in @plosbiology.org
Mutations generate variation, critical for #evolution, but #MutationBias restricts the choice of mutation type. @deepaagashe.bsky.social &co use #Ecoli strains with different mutation biases to show that changing an old bias should yield more beneficial mutations @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/46LjCRt
July 16, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Elegant empirical validation of a theoretical expectation that changing your mutation bias allows you to access more beneficial mutations. From @deepaagashe.bsky.social & colleagues in @plosbiology.org
Reposted by Haoran Cai
Super excited to share our new study, where we introduce and apply a data-driven modeling approach to predict dynamical regimes of ecosystems at unseen environmental conditions (e.g. beyond a tipping point):
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
June 17, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Super excited to share our new study, where we introduce and apply a data-driven modeling approach to predict dynamical regimes of ecosystems at unseen environmental conditions (e.g. beyond a tipping point):
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Haoran Cai
#Evol2025 was for me maybe the most important meeting I have ever been to. My science will be drastically improved by my interactions over the past week. It was bittersweet due to the current situation and the people who weren't there, but I'm optimistic that we are strong enough to overcome this.
June 26, 2025 at 3:06 AM
#Evol2025 was for me maybe the most important meeting I have ever been to. My science will be drastically improved by my interactions over the past week. It was bittersweet due to the current situation and the people who weren't there, but I'm optimistic that we are strong enough to overcome this.
Reposted by Haoran Cai
How many paths lead to evolutionary innovation? How versatile are genomic toolkits? Excited to announce my new @pnas.org paper addressing these questions in collaboration with @rokaslab.bsky.social, @hittingerlab.bsky.social, and the Pennell lab!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
June 4, 2025 at 3:36 PM
How many paths lead to evolutionary innovation? How versatile are genomic toolkits? Excited to announce my new @pnas.org paper addressing these questions in collaboration with @rokaslab.bsky.social, @hittingerlab.bsky.social, and the Pennell lab!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...