William DeWitt
@wsdewitt.github.io
Assistant Professor, University of Washington, Genome Sciences.
Previous: JSMF Fellow, Berkeley EECS
♡: Computational biology, evolutionary dynamics, quantitative immunology
https://dewitt-lab.github.io/
[disclaimer: opinions mine] 🇺🇸🚫👑
Previous: JSMF Fellow, Berkeley EECS
♡: Computational biology, evolutionary dynamics, quantitative immunology
https://dewitt-lab.github.io/
[disclaimer: opinions mine] 🇺🇸🚫👑
Reposted by William DeWitt
Registration is open for the inaugural GRC conference in the Function of Evolving Systems. Aug 9-14, 2026, Waterville Valley. Truly stellar speaker lineup. Student/postdoc fellowships are available! Please come join us! www.grc.org/function-of-... @joybergelson.bsky.social
www.grc.org
January 29, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Registration is open for the inaugural GRC conference in the Function of Evolving Systems. Aug 9-14, 2026, Waterville Valley. Truly stellar speaker lineup. Student/postdoc fellowships are available! Please come join us! www.grc.org/function-of-... @joybergelson.bsky.social
"Fascism works by making the extreme normal. Habit, as Samuel Beckett has it, is a great deadener. It has been obvious since the start of Trump’s second term that he is trying to make the sight of armed and masked men with virtually unlimited powers one to which Americans are accustomed."
Fintan O’Toole @fotoole.bsky.social on the murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti https://go.nybooks.com/4bmNB4F
The Crime of Witness | Fintan O’Toole
Renée Good and Alex Pretti were murdered for daring to interfere with the Trump administration’s efforts to normalize abductions and state violence.
go.nybooks.com
January 29, 2026 at 8:31 PM
"Fascism works by making the extreme normal. Habit, as Samuel Beckett has it, is a great deadener. It has been obvious since the start of Trump’s second term that he is trying to make the sight of armed and masked men with virtually unlimited powers one to which Americans are accustomed."
Reposted by William DeWitt
One of my neighbors was murdered in the streets today by ICE agents motivated by this sort of race science propaganda.
Incredibly important story that everyone should read.
These are not disorganized lone actors, but well-funded and powerful networks to be treated as serious threats.
They are using our work to push a eugenicist and racist agenda that is scientifically invalid and morally reprehensible.
These are not disorganized lone actors, but well-funded and powerful networks to be treated as serious threats.
They are using our work to push a eugenicist and racist agenda that is scientifically invalid and morally reprehensible.
Genetic Data From Over 20,000 U.S. Children Misused for ‘Race Science’
www.nytimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
One of my neighbors was murdered in the streets today by ICE agents motivated by this sort of race science propaganda.
Reposted by William DeWitt
What does fighting look like? Different for everyone, without a doubt. But whatever form it takes, it's more than just conviction or advocacy or solidarity. (1/n)
bsky.app/profile/harm... I've been stewing on this question all week, and I finally have my answer: you've gotta figure out how you're gonna fight for what you love and what brings you joy. You've gotta be willing to put them on pause & fight to preserve the systems that make those things possible.
Getting asked about how academics can continue to do science & inspire trainees even in the midst of a continued (escalated) assault on science, reason, truth, & human rights. I don’t have great answers.
I would love to hear from mentors about advice they’re giving to trainees/ colleagues.
I would love to hear from mentors about advice they’re giving to trainees/ colleagues.
January 25, 2026 at 1:06 AM
What does fighting look like? Different for everyone, without a doubt. But whatever form it takes, it's more than just conviction or advocacy or solidarity. (1/n)
Reposted by William DeWitt
Weekend thoughts on Gas Town, Beads, slop AI browsers, and AI-generated PRs flooding overwhelmed maintainers. I don't think we're ready for our new powers we're wielding. lucumr.pocoo.org/2026/1/18/ag...
Agent Psychosis: Are We Going Insane?
What’s going on with the AI builder community right now?
lucumr.pocoo.org
January 18, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Weekend thoughts on Gas Town, Beads, slop AI browsers, and AI-generated PRs flooding overwhelmed maintainers. I don't think we're ready for our new powers we're wielding. lucumr.pocoo.org/2026/1/18/ag...
Reposted by William DeWitt
The lab is looking to hire 2 new undergraduate researchers! You'll get to work on yeast experimental evolution & genomics. UW students only (and this link won't work for others, sorry). Work study students very welcome to apply! Pays the prevailing minimum wage. app.joinhandshake.com/emp/jobs/106...
Sign In | Handshake
app.joinhandshake.com
January 14, 2026 at 7:33 PM
The lab is looking to hire 2 new undergraduate researchers! You'll get to work on yeast experimental evolution & genomics. UW students only (and this link won't work for others, sorry). Work study students very welcome to apply! Pays the prevailing minimum wage. app.joinhandshake.com/emp/jobs/106...
Reposted by William DeWitt
I am hiring a staff bioinformatician for my new lab at the University of Utah! Please consider applying if you are on the hunt:
employment.utah.edu/salt-lake-ci...
employment.utah.edu/salt-lake-ci...
Jobs | University of Utah
Founded in 1850, The University of Utah is the flagship institution of higher learning in Utah, and offers over 100 undergraduate and more than 90 graduate degree programs to over 30,000 students. Uni...
employment.utah.edu
January 12, 2026 at 9:04 PM
I am hiring a staff bioinformatician for my new lab at the University of Utah! Please consider applying if you are on the hunt:
employment.utah.edu/salt-lake-ci...
employment.utah.edu/salt-lake-ci...
Reposted by William DeWitt
Renee Good won a national prize six years ago for her poem "On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs," which muses on science and faith. Good was shot to death by an ICE agent this week in Minneapolis.
Opinion: Remembering Renee Good
Renee Good won a national prize six years ago for her poem "On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs," which muses on science and faith. Good was shot to death by an ICE agent this week in Minneapolis.
n.pr
January 10, 2026 at 7:36 PM
Renee Good won a national prize six years ago for her poem "On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs," which muses on science and faith. Good was shot to death by an ICE agent this week in Minneapolis.
Reposted by William DeWitt
a huge victory for universities, worth billions of dollars: Trump can’t cap indirect-cost rates on NIH grants, appeals court rules
www.chronicle.com/blogs/the-tr... via @andyandy.bsky.social
www.chronicle.com/blogs/the-tr... via @andyandy.bsky.social
Trump Can’t Cap Overhead Rate on NIH Grants to Research Universities, Appeals Court Rules
The ruling is a victory for higher-education associations who challenged the proposed 15-percent cap, calling it illegal and claiming it would devastate the research enterprise.
www.chronicle.com
January 6, 2026 at 6:29 PM
a huge victory for universities, worth billions of dollars: Trump can’t cap indirect-cost rates on NIH grants, appeals court rules
www.chronicle.com/blogs/the-tr... via @andyandy.bsky.social
www.chronicle.com/blogs/the-tr... via @andyandy.bsky.social
Reposted by William DeWitt
The invasion of Venezuela is being defended as a law enforcement operation and ”self-defense.” It is neither.
It is imperialism, pure and simple.
And illegal seven ways to Sunday.
www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...
It is imperialism, pure and simple.
And illegal seven ways to Sunday.
www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...
Trump’s War | David Cole
“It was a brilliant operation, actually.” So claimed Donald Trump early this morning in a phone call with The New York Times about the US military’s
www.nybooks.com
January 4, 2026 at 1:04 AM
The invasion of Venezuela is being defended as a law enforcement operation and ”self-defense.” It is neither.
It is imperialism, pure and simple.
And illegal seven ways to Sunday.
www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...
It is imperialism, pure and simple.
And illegal seven ways to Sunday.
www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...
Favorite reads, 2025
January 2, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Favorite reads, 2025
Reposted by William DeWitt
Now accepting applications for SFI’s 2026 CSSS program, a 3-week experience for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professionals to explore foundational theory, engage in collaborative projects, and connect with a global research community.
Apply by Feb 4, 2026
www.santafe.edu/csss
Apply by Feb 4, 2026
www.santafe.edu/csss
December 30, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Now accepting applications for SFI’s 2026 CSSS program, a 3-week experience for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professionals to explore foundational theory, engage in collaborative projects, and connect with a global research community.
Apply by Feb 4, 2026
www.santafe.edu/csss
Apply by Feb 4, 2026
www.santafe.edu/csss
Reposted by William DeWitt
The registration deadline is fast approaching for probgen 2026! Abstracts due by January 15, registration by January 31
probgen2026.github.io
probgen2026.github.io
Home - ProbGen 2026
Your Site Description
probgen2026.github.io
December 18, 2025 at 5:09 PM
The registration deadline is fast approaching for probgen 2026! Abstracts due by January 15, registration by January 31
probgen2026.github.io
probgen2026.github.io
Reposted by William DeWitt
I've slowly been reformatting notes from my population and conservation genetics course at Montana State University into a web book—a rough draft is now live here: elinck.org/popgen_conge...
December 22, 2025 at 9:32 PM
I've slowly been reformatting notes from my population and conservation genetics course at Montana State University into a web book—a rough draft is now live here: elinck.org/popgen_conge...
How much better is an ancestral recombination graph (ARG) than a site frequency spectrum (SFS)? For recovering mutation rate history, we can answer fairly precisely because both ARG and SFS are linear transforms of mutation rate history. This blog post uses spectral analysis to clarify the picture.
Observability of mutation rate histories from ancestral recombination graphs
This post explores mathematical aspects of recovering mutation rate histories from an ancestral recombination graph (ARG) Vs a sample frequency spectrum (SFS), expanding on a recent collaborative pape...
dewitt-lab.github.io
December 22, 2025 at 6:19 PM
How much better is an ancestral recombination graph (ARG) than a site frequency spectrum (SFS)? For recovering mutation rate history, we can answer fairly precisely because both ARG and SFS are linear transforms of mutation rate history. This blog post uses spectral analysis to clarify the picture.
Reposted by William DeWitt
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 William DeWitt
Just decline the peer review invitation.
What are you people even doing?
What are you people even doing?
More than half of researchers now use AI for peer review — often against guidance
A survey of 1,600 academics found that more than 50% have used artificial-intelligence tools while peer reviewing manuscripts.
www.nature.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Just decline the peer review invitation.
What are you people even doing?
What are you people even doing?
Secret to great science: find the absolute best collaborators 👇👇
Over the past 5+ years I've had the honor of working with @wsdewitt.github.io @victora.bsky.social and many others on a project to "replay" affinity maturation evolution from a fixed starting point.
matsen.group/general/2025...
matsen.group/general/2025...
December 12, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Reposted by William DeWitt
The point is much broader than poliovirus and pocapavir: if we're trying to design therapeutics that exploit social interactions between viruses, we need to account for the effects of therapeutic success in diminishing those interactions.
bsky.app/profile/alex...
bsky.app/profile/alex...
Big picture: the feedback loop between viral density leading to social interaction, which leads to realized phenotype, which alters fitness, leading to new viral densities, should be considered when designing optimal treatments.
December 10, 2025 at 9:07 PM
The point is much broader than poliovirus and pocapavir: if we're trying to design therapeutics that exploit social interactions between viruses, we need to account for the effects of therapeutic success in diminishing those interactions.
bsky.app/profile/alex...
bsky.app/profile/alex...
Reposted by William DeWitt
My first lead author paper is out with Ben Kerr and @alisonfeder.bsky.social! We found that making an antiviral too strong can sometimes make resistance easier to evolve. This has implications for how we design drugs, choose doses, and think about viral evolution in the face of treatment. (1/n)
Intracellular interactions shape antiviral resistance outcomes in poliovirus via eco-evolutionary feedback - Nature Ecology & Evolution
A model of intrahost poliovirus replication shows that, after several rounds of replication, pocapavir, a poliovirus capsid inhibitor, collapses viral density, preventing intracellular interactions th...
www.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
My first lead author paper is out with Ben Kerr and @alisonfeder.bsky.social! We found that making an antiviral too strong can sometimes make resistance easier to evolve. This has implications for how we design drugs, choose doses, and think about viral evolution in the face of treatment. (1/n)
Reposted by William DeWitt
Universities are racing to incorporate AI into their curriculum—but there’s a better way to prepare students for the future, Michael Clune argues.
Colleges Are Preparing to Self-Lobotomize
The skills that students will need in an age of automation are precisely those that are eroded by inserting AI into the educational process.
bit.ly
November 30, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Universities are racing to incorporate AI into their curriculum—but there’s a better way to prepare students for the future, Michael Clune argues.
Reposted by William DeWitt
Amazing example of influenza cheat/cooperator cycles in this recent paper - the repeatability of the oscillatory cycles is so striking
Congrats to @alnajifg.bsky.social , @christopherbrooke.bsky.social , @vignuzzilab.bsky.social & friends
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧪 #socialviruses
Congrats to @alnajifg.bsky.social , @christopherbrooke.bsky.social , @vignuzzilab.bsky.social & friends
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧪 #socialviruses
November 28, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Amazing example of influenza cheat/cooperator cycles in this recent paper - the repeatability of the oscillatory cycles is so striking
Congrats to @alnajifg.bsky.social , @christopherbrooke.bsky.social , @vignuzzilab.bsky.social & friends
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧪 #socialviruses
Congrats to @alnajifg.bsky.social , @christopherbrooke.bsky.social , @vignuzzilab.bsky.social & friends
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧪 #socialviruses