Yan Wong
@yanwong.bsky.social
Evolutionary geneticist, ex-media scientist. Trees of humans, trees of life, all things biology.
Reposted by Yan Wong
Applications for the Genetics Society Summer Studentship Grants are open! If you’re an undergrad itching to dive into real research, this is your doorway into the lab.
More information here: genetics.org.uk/grants/summe...
More information here: genetics.org.uk/grants/summe...
November 27, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Applications for the Genetics Society Summer Studentship Grants are open! If you’re an undergrad itching to dive into real research, this is your doorway into the lab.
More information here: genetics.org.uk/grants/summe...
More information here: genetics.org.uk/grants/summe...
Reposted by Yan Wong
#OnThisDay in 1859, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was first published.
Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!
#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)
Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!
#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)
November 24, 2025 at 11:26 AM
#OnThisDay in 1859, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was first published.
Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!
#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)
Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!
#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)
Reposted by Yan Wong
These weasels have locally adapted their winter coats to varying snow cover thanks to a million-year-old mutation 🌿
buff.ly/TnOfYWt
buff.ly/TnOfYWt
November 19, 2025 at 2:15 PM
These weasels have locally adapted their winter coats to varying snow cover thanks to a million-year-old mutation 🌿
buff.ly/TnOfYWt
buff.ly/TnOfYWt
Reposted by Yan Wong
Okay, here are some first reflections on Watson.
Watson's life is a tragedy, really of Shakespearean proportions. He did not, as most bios will tell you, do one great thing when he was young and then collect laurels for it for the next 60 years. His career arc was unlike any in science.
Watson's life is a tragedy, really of Shakespearean proportions. He did not, as most bios will tell you, do one great thing when he was young and then collect laurels for it for the next 60 years. His career arc was unlike any in science.
November 8, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Okay, here are some first reflections on Watson.
Watson's life is a tragedy, really of Shakespearean proportions. He did not, as most bios will tell you, do one great thing when he was young and then collect laurels for it for the next 60 years. His career arc was unlike any in science.
Watson's life is a tragedy, really of Shakespearean proportions. He did not, as most bios will tell you, do one great thing when he was young and then collect laurels for it for the next 60 years. His career arc was unlike any in science.
Reposted by Yan Wong
Full OA paper here: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Confounding fuels misinterpretation in human genetics | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
The scientific literature has seen a resurgence of interest in genetic influences
on human behaviour and socioeconomic outcomes. Such studies face the central difficulty
of distinguishing possible cau...
royalsocietypublishing.org
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Full OA paper here: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Yan Wong
On the event of James Watson's death, I highly recommend this 2023 commentary from @matthewcobb.bsky.social and Nathaniel Comfort with crucial new insights into the discovery of the double helix. (And also check out Cobb's brand new biography of Francis Crick) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:25 PM
On the event of James Watson's death, I highly recommend this 2023 commentary from @matthewcobb.bsky.social and Nathaniel Comfort with crucial new insights into the discovery of the double helix. (And also check out Cobb's brand new biography of Francis Crick) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Yan Wong
arXiv will no longer accept review articles and position papers unless they have been accepted at a journal or a conference and complete successful peer review.
This is due to being overwhelmed by a hundreds of AI generated papers a month.
Yet another open submission process killed by LLMs.
This is due to being overwhelmed by a hundreds of AI generated papers a month.
Yet another open submission process killed by LLMs.
Attention Authors: Updated Practice for Review Articles and Position Papers in arXiv CS Category – arXiv blog
blog.arxiv.org
November 1, 2025 at 5:28 PM
arXiv will no longer accept review articles and position papers unless they have been accepted at a journal or a conference and complete successful peer review.
This is due to being overwhelmed by a hundreds of AI generated papers a month.
Yet another open submission process killed by LLMs.
This is due to being overwhelmed by a hundreds of AI generated papers a month.
Yet another open submission process killed by LLMs.
Reposted by Yan Wong
Latest post on how to win at 20 questions, from penguins and probability to entropy and AI: kucharski.substack.com/p/are-you-as...
Are you asking the right questions?
What lions can tell us about entropy and AI
kucharski.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Latest post on how to win at 20 questions, from penguins and probability to entropy and AI: kucharski.substack.com/p/are-you-as...
Reposted by Yan Wong
The end of an era: the Tree of Life Web Project is going dark after 3 decades. Anyone interested in communicating phylogeny online should read David's account of goals, history, and future. @bembidion.bsky.social
subulatepalpomere.com/2025/11/02/t...
subulatepalpomere.com/2025/11/02/t...
The Passing of the Tree of Life Web Project
The Tree of Life Web Project began its journey almost 40 years ago, and was formally announced in early 1996. It has served thousands of pages of information about the evolutionary tree of life and…
subulatepalpomere.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:54 PM
The end of an era: the Tree of Life Web Project is going dark after 3 decades. Anyone interested in communicating phylogeny online should read David's account of goals, history, and future. @bembidion.bsky.social
subulatepalpomere.com/2025/11/02/t...
subulatepalpomere.com/2025/11/02/t...
Reposted by Yan Wong
Excited to share our new preprint for the tskit_arg_visualizer Python package! ARGs can sometimes feel like a black box, so
@yanwong.bsky.social and I have been developing a method to programmatically drawing these graphs.
🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2508.03958
1/6
@yanwong.bsky.social and I have been developing a method to programmatically drawing these graphs.
🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2508.03958
1/6
tskit_arg_visualizer: interactive plotting of ancestral recombination graphs
Summary: Ancestral recombination graphs (ARGs) are a complete representation of the genetic relationships between recombining lineages and are of central importance in population genetics. Recent brea...
arxiv.org
August 19, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Excited to share our new preprint for the tskit_arg_visualizer Python package! ARGs can sometimes feel like a black box, so
@yanwong.bsky.social and I have been developing a method to programmatically drawing these graphs.
🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2508.03958
1/6
@yanwong.bsky.social and I have been developing a method to programmatically drawing these graphs.
🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2508.03958
1/6
Reposted by Yan Wong
A study in Nature Ecology & Evolution identifies a bacterial species as a cause of sea star wasting disease, which has been responsible for billions of sea star deaths since 2013 and widespread loss of kelp habitats. go.nature.com/46I4kx2 🌊 🧪
August 4, 2025 at 7:22 PM
A study in Nature Ecology & Evolution identifies a bacterial species as a cause of sea star wasting disease, which has been responsible for billions of sea star deaths since 2013 and widespread loss of kelp habitats. go.nature.com/46I4kx2 🌊 🧪
Reposted by Yan Wong
I am super happy to see our dog rose's paper featuring the cover of the July 3rd issue of @nature.com
read more here: tinyurl.com/dog-rose
read more here: tinyurl.com/dog-rose
July 2, 2025 at 5:10 PM
I am super happy to see our dog rose's paper featuring the cover of the July 3rd issue of @nature.com
read more here: tinyurl.com/dog-rose
read more here: tinyurl.com/dog-rose
Reposted by Yan Wong
The tragic landslide in Blatten gives me the excuse to tell you the story of how we found out Ice Ages existed. It's a cool story and the most important bit is rather similar to what's happening now.
Aerial view westward over the Blatten deposit and the newly formed lake upstream! 🧊🌊
📷Via Christian Petit/Linkedin
📷Via Christian Petit/Linkedin
May 29, 2025 at 7:49 PM
The tragic landslide in Blatten gives me the excuse to tell you the story of how we found out Ice Ages existed. It's a cool story and the most important bit is rather similar to what's happening now.
Reposted by Yan Wong
Join us for our Anniversary Day and hear from:
Prof Josephine Pemberton (Genetics Society Medal)
Prof Kathy Niakan (Mary Lyon Medal)
Prof Gregory Radick (Haldane Lecture)
Prof Richard Durbin (Genomics keynote)
Rosie Parkin & Eldrian Tho (Student talks)
Registration: genetics.org.uk/events/genet...
Prof Josephine Pemberton (Genetics Society Medal)
Prof Kathy Niakan (Mary Lyon Medal)
Prof Gregory Radick (Haldane Lecture)
Prof Richard Durbin (Genomics keynote)
Rosie Parkin & Eldrian Tho (Student talks)
Registration: genetics.org.uk/events/genet...
May 15, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Join us for our Anniversary Day and hear from:
Prof Josephine Pemberton (Genetics Society Medal)
Prof Kathy Niakan (Mary Lyon Medal)
Prof Gregory Radick (Haldane Lecture)
Prof Richard Durbin (Genomics keynote)
Rosie Parkin & Eldrian Tho (Student talks)
Registration: genetics.org.uk/events/genet...
Prof Josephine Pemberton (Genetics Society Medal)
Prof Kathy Niakan (Mary Lyon Medal)
Prof Gregory Radick (Haldane Lecture)
Prof Richard Durbin (Genomics keynote)
Rosie Parkin & Eldrian Tho (Student talks)
Registration: genetics.org.uk/events/genet...
Reposted by Yan Wong
A paper in Nature reports the discovery of fossilized claw prints thought to belong to an amniote on a slab of rock from Australia dated to about 356 million years ago, suggesting that the origin of amniotes is earlier than expected. go.nature.com/4jm5XTP #Paleosky 🧪
May 14, 2025 at 10:15 PM
A paper in Nature reports the discovery of fossilized claw prints thought to belong to an amniote on a slab of rock from Australia dated to about 356 million years ago, suggesting that the origin of amniotes is earlier than expected. go.nature.com/4jm5XTP #Paleosky 🧪
Reposted by Yan Wong
➡️ This is another situation where we truly need public support. Please reach out and speak up - before it is too late.
May 6, 2025 at 8:19 PM
➡️ This is another situation where we truly need public support. Please reach out and speak up - before it is too late.
Reposted by Yan Wong
"C'est du sabotage"
Le président américain a licencié 800 scientifiques de la NOOA. La directrice du programme sur l'acidification de l'océan mise à la porte sans ménagement. Comme les chercheurs qui surveillent les alertes tsunami...
"C'est de l'obscurantisme"
www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/...
Le président américain a licencié 800 scientifiques de la NOOA. La directrice du programme sur l'acidification de l'océan mise à la porte sans ménagement. Comme les chercheurs qui surveillent les alertes tsunami...
"C'est de l'obscurantisme"
www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/...
Un vent de panique sur les sciences du climat
C'est une nouvelle conséquence de la politique de Donald Trump. Les sciences du climat ont froid dans le dos. On savait le président américain climato-sceptique, mais désormais il franchit une nouvell...
www.radiofrance.fr
March 7, 2025 at 9:39 PM
"C'est du sabotage"
Le président américain a licencié 800 scientifiques de la NOOA. La directrice du programme sur l'acidification de l'océan mise à la porte sans ménagement. Comme les chercheurs qui surveillent les alertes tsunami...
"C'est de l'obscurantisme"
www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/...
Le président américain a licencié 800 scientifiques de la NOOA. La directrice du programme sur l'acidification de l'océan mise à la porte sans ménagement. Comme les chercheurs qui surveillent les alertes tsunami...
"C'est de l'obscurantisme"
www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/...
Reposted by Yan Wong
We ( @zeniabaek.bsky.social @moicoll.bsky.social and @asgerhobolth.bsky.social ) present a new cool way to visualize the optimal trade off for hmm decoding called Artemis plots!
arxiv.org/pdf/2504.15156
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
arxiv.org/pdf/2504.15156
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
May 5, 2025 at 1:34 PM
We ( @zeniabaek.bsky.social @moicoll.bsky.social and @asgerhobolth.bsky.social ) present a new cool way to visualize the optimal trade off for hmm decoding called Artemis plots!
arxiv.org/pdf/2504.15156
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
arxiv.org/pdf/2504.15156
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Yan Wong
A complete and dynamic tree of birds - out today in PNAS! Teamwork with @eliotmiller.bsky.social and others at
@birdsoftheworld.bsky.social and Open Tree of Life to put together current relationships across all birds. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@birdsoftheworld.bsky.social and Open Tree of Life to put together current relationships across all birds. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
April 29, 2025 at 4:50 PM
A complete and dynamic tree of birds - out today in PNAS! Teamwork with @eliotmiller.bsky.social and others at
@birdsoftheworld.bsky.social and Open Tree of Life to put together current relationships across all birds. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@birdsoftheworld.bsky.social and Open Tree of Life to put together current relationships across all birds. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Yan Wong
This is a very cool article. They did T2T (high depth, low error) sequencing on genomes from FOUR generations of a family. 🧵
"Human de novo mutation rates from a four-generation pedigree reference"
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"Human de novo mutation rates from a four-generation pedigree reference"
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Human de novo mutation rates from a four-generation pedigree reference - Nature
Analysis of more than 95% of each diploid human genome of a four-generation, twenty-eight-member family using five complementary short-read and long-read sequencing technologies provides a truth set t...
www.nature.com
April 23, 2025 at 5:50 PM
This is a very cool article. They did T2T (high depth, low error) sequencing on genomes from FOUR generations of a family. 🧵
"Human de novo mutation rates from a four-generation pedigree reference"
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"Human de novo mutation rates from a four-generation pedigree reference"
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Yan Wong
New preprint from Luke Snell from GSTT, Suzanne Pickering in my lab and Rui Galao, my colleague at KCL.
Here we examine in detail the evolution of the SARS CoV-2 spike in persistent infections, and essentially catch a potential variant in the act of developing. 1/n
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Here we examine in detail the evolution of the SARS CoV-2 spike in persistent infections, and essentially catch a potential variant in the act of developing. 1/n
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Antibody escape drives emergence of diverse spike haplotypes resembling variants of concern in persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections
Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in long-term persistent infections is hypothesised to be a major source of variants of concern (VOC). However, the linkage of intra-host variants into haplotypes that reflect v...
www.biorxiv.org
April 23, 2025 at 6:42 AM
New preprint from Luke Snell from GSTT, Suzanne Pickering in my lab and Rui Galao, my colleague at KCL.
Here we examine in detail the evolution of the SARS CoV-2 spike in persistent infections, and essentially catch a potential variant in the act of developing. 1/n
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Here we examine in detail the evolution of the SARS CoV-2 spike in persistent infections, and essentially catch a potential variant in the act of developing. 1/n
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Yan Wong
ACTION ITEM-----ACTION ITEM
Implementation of Schedule F
This is what a lot of us have been worried about.
This allows for many civil service positions to replaced with political appointees. This could include NIH institute directors and even POs.
BUT THERE IS A COMMENT PERIOD...
1/n
Implementation of Schedule F
This is what a lot of us have been worried about.
This allows for many civil service positions to replaced with political appointees. This could include NIH institute directors and even POs.
BUT THERE IS A COMMENT PERIOD...
1/n
the word alert is in a purple circle
ALT: the word alert is in a purple circle
media.tenor.com
April 23, 2025 at 6:03 PM
ACTION ITEM-----ACTION ITEM
Implementation of Schedule F
This is what a lot of us have been worried about.
This allows for many civil service positions to replaced with political appointees. This could include NIH institute directors and even POs.
BUT THERE IS A COMMENT PERIOD...
1/n
Implementation of Schedule F
This is what a lot of us have been worried about.
This allows for many civil service positions to replaced with political appointees. This could include NIH institute directors and even POs.
BUT THERE IS A COMMENT PERIOD...
1/n
Reposted by Yan Wong
The White House has turned COVID.gov from a public health resource into a politically charged platform promoting the lab-leak theory and attacking specific scientists and the pandemic response in general. Let’s fact check its 5 headline claims… 🧵
April 19, 2025 at 8:47 AM
The White House has turned COVID.gov from a public health resource into a politically charged platform promoting the lab-leak theory and attacking specific scientists and the pandemic response in general. Let’s fact check its 5 headline claims… 🧵
Reposted by Yan Wong
Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions - rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking steps to make sure students can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope others follow suit.
April 15, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions - rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking steps to make sure students can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope others follow suit.
Reposted by Yan Wong
With @hybridzones.bsky.social & @jenncoughlan.bsky.social, we have been working on an update to Daven Presgraves' influential 2010 review on hybrid incompatibilities (shorturl.at/cJndf). The preprint is available here (shorturl.at/DTC48) with an updated table of almost 100 incompatibilities!
The molecular evolutionary basis of species formation - Nature Reviews Genetics
Recently, several new speciation genes have been identified that have contributed to our understanding of the molecular details of the evolution of hybrid dysfunction. This Progress article describes ...
shorturl.at
April 10, 2025 at 5:52 PM
With @hybridzones.bsky.social & @jenncoughlan.bsky.social, we have been working on an update to Daven Presgraves' influential 2010 review on hybrid incompatibilities (shorturl.at/cJndf). The preprint is available here (shorturl.at/DTC48) with an updated table of almost 100 incompatibilities!