Charleston Chiang
@charleston.bsky.social
Associate Professor at USC, Center for Genetic Epidemiology. Population genetics, statistical genetics & human genetics/genetic epidemiology. A city, mountain, dance, candy & a drosophila gene. UCLA->Harvard->UCLA->USC.
http://chianglab.usc.edu
http://chianglab.usc.edu
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
The missing heritability question is now (mostly) answered
Not with a bang but with a whimper
theinfinitesimal.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
My next R01 for improving robustness of gwas methodology… an automatic self-cleaning computer screen swiper!
As someone who looks at a lot of Manhattan plots, I can say that an under-appreciated cause of false positive GWAS hits is stuff stuck to my computer screen.
November 12, 2025 at 5:09 AM
My next R01 for improving robustness of gwas methodology… an automatic self-cleaning computer screen swiper!
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
Excited to help host the 54th European Mathematical Genetics Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, next spring!
Speakers include @timfrayling.bsky.social, @marylynritchie.bsky.social, Dr. Joelle Mbatchou and Dr. Eleonora Porcu
Travel grants available - register here: emgm2026.sciencesconf.org?lang=en
Speakers include @timfrayling.bsky.social, @marylynritchie.bsky.social, Dr. Joelle Mbatchou and Dr. Eleonora Porcu
Travel grants available - register here: emgm2026.sciencesconf.org?lang=en
November 4, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Excited to help host the 54th European Mathematical Genetics Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, next spring!
Speakers include @timfrayling.bsky.social, @marylynritchie.bsky.social, Dr. Joelle Mbatchou and Dr. Eleonora Porcu
Travel grants available - register here: emgm2026.sciencesconf.org?lang=en
Speakers include @timfrayling.bsky.social, @marylynritchie.bsky.social, Dr. Joelle Mbatchou and Dr. Eleonora Porcu
Travel grants available - register here: emgm2026.sciencesconf.org?lang=en
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
📣Online now!
📄The impact of Indigenous American-like ancestry on risk of acute lymphoblastic #leukemia in Hispanic/Latino children
🧑🤝🧑 @charleston.bsky.social @adamdesmith.bsky.social & co
👉 bit.ly/47qXY3Q
📄The impact of Indigenous American-like ancestry on risk of acute lymphoblastic #leukemia in Hispanic/Latino children
🧑🤝🧑 @charleston.bsky.social @adamdesmith.bsky.social & co
👉 bit.ly/47qXY3Q
October 27, 2025 at 2:48 PM
📣Online now!
📄The impact of Indigenous American-like ancestry on risk of acute lymphoblastic #leukemia in Hispanic/Latino children
🧑🤝🧑 @charleston.bsky.social @adamdesmith.bsky.social & co
👉 bit.ly/47qXY3Q
📄The impact of Indigenous American-like ancestry on risk of acute lymphoblastic #leukemia in Hispanic/Latino children
🧑🤝🧑 @charleston.bsky.social @adamdesmith.bsky.social & co
👉 bit.ly/47qXY3Q
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
More than two decades have passed since we discovered that rare disruptions of the FOXP2 gene disturb development of proficient speech/language skills. Today we know of multiple FOXP genes that are directly implicated in distinct brain-related conditions with differences in symptoms & severity.🧪 1/n
October 29, 2025 at 5:09 PM
More than two decades have passed since we discovered that rare disruptions of the FOXP2 gene disturb development of proficient speech/language skills. Today we know of multiple FOXP genes that are directly implicated in distinct brain-related conditions with differences in symptoms & severity.🧪 1/n
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
We @uga_genetics are hiring a TT assistant professor in Human Genetics to investigate how genetic makeup influences an individual’s risks for diseases or responses to drugs and therapies. All research
approaches will be considered. Please RT. ugajobsearch.com/postings/456597
approaches will be considered. Please RT. ugajobsearch.com/postings/456597
October 21, 2025 at 8:19 PM
We @uga_genetics are hiring a TT assistant professor in Human Genetics to investigate how genetic makeup influences an individual’s risks for diseases or responses to drugs and therapies. All research
approaches will be considered. Please RT. ugajobsearch.com/postings/456597
approaches will be considered. Please RT. ugajobsearch.com/postings/456597
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
No kings except for (1) the Kingman coalescent and (2) Kinship-based INference for Gwas
October 18, 2025 at 7:31 PM
No kings except for (1) the Kingman coalescent and (2) Kinship-based INference for Gwas
Thanks to the weather I've spent more time at O'Hare than #ASHG25 so far, but I'm now ready to go!
As usual, our research is well-represented at #ASHG2025, with four trainees presenting the advances in their research from this past year. Please go bombard them with your questions!
As usual, our research is well-represented at #ASHG2025, with four trainees presenting the advances in their research from this past year. Please go bombard them with your questions!
October 15, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
I will presenting a poster on Thursday on our recent work led by Kelsey Johnson (USC, not on Bluesky) on the genetic architecture of mtDNA copy number in human milk! Board #3049T!
October 14, 2025 at 3:11 AM
I will presenting a poster on Thursday on our recent work led by Kelsey Johnson (USC, not on Bluesky) on the genetic architecture of mtDNA copy number in human milk! Board #3049T!
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
Ahead of #ASHG25, we’re sharing some great news: South Korea has selected #PacBio HiFi sequencing as the core technology for its National Pangenome Project to generate 1,000+ high quality multi-omic Korean genomes and advance precision medicine.
Read the press release: bit.ly/4omiz06
Read the press release: bit.ly/4omiz06
October 13, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Ahead of #ASHG25, we’re sharing some great news: South Korea has selected #PacBio HiFi sequencing as the core technology for its National Pangenome Project to generate 1,000+ high quality multi-omic Korean genomes and advance precision medicine.
Read the press release: bit.ly/4omiz06
Read the press release: bit.ly/4omiz06
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
in retrospect, it was a mistake to teach algebra and geometry but not "statistics for everyone" in high school
we are drowning in lies, partly because we never learned to swim
we are drowning in lies, partly because we never learned to swim
September 23, 2025 at 7:35 AM
in retrospect, it was a mistake to teach algebra and geometry but not "statistics for everyone" in high school
we are drowning in lies, partly because we never learned to swim
we are drowning in lies, partly because we never learned to swim
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
Massive sibling regression study finds that human traits are largely environmentally driven (average heritability = 0.3)
Within-family heritability estimates for behavioural and disease phenotypes from 500,000 sibling pairs of diverse ancestries
Quantification of the direct effect of genetic variation on human behavioural traits is important for understanding between-individual variation in socio-economic and health outcomes but estimates of ...
www.medrxiv.org
September 20, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Massive sibling regression study finds that human traits are largely environmentally driven (average heritability = 0.3)
Not sure about this one… & and $ are harder to type. I would just mkdir blah cd bl+ tab
4/
Want to make a folder and go into it?
Don’t do:
mkdir blah
cd blah
Do this instead:
mkdir blah && cd $_
$_ = last argument.
Want to make a folder and go into it?
Don’t do:
mkdir blah
cd blah
Do this instead:
mkdir blah && cd $_
$_ = last argument.
September 19, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Not sure about this one… & and $ are harder to type. I would just mkdir blah cd bl+ tab
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
In the midst of the darkness, I am pleased to announce that UCLA will be hosting the upcoming Southern California Evolutionary Genetics (SCalE) conference on November 1! Registration & abstract submission is here: www.scalemeeting.org/home Deadline is October 13! Hope to see you at UCLA!
Home
The SCalE Meeting is a free, one day regional academic meeting focused on evolutionary genetics and genomics.
This year's SCalE Meeting is hosted by UCLA, sponsored by the Institute for Quantitative ...
www.scalemeeting.org
September 16, 2025 at 4:47 PM
In the midst of the darkness, I am pleased to announce that UCLA will be hosting the upcoming Southern California Evolutionary Genetics (SCalE) conference on November 1! Registration & abstract submission is here: www.scalemeeting.org/home Deadline is October 13! Hope to see you at UCLA!
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
A huge shoutout to all the dedicated grants management specialists at the NIH who are working around the clock to push grants out before the Sep 30 deadline. And also to the POs responding to frantic emails.
Not an easy job under the best of circumstances and right now it's the pits.
Thank you!
Not an easy job under the best of circumstances and right now it's the pits.
Thank you!
September 15, 2025 at 8:17 PM
A huge shoutout to all the dedicated grants management specialists at the NIH who are working around the clock to push grants out before the Sep 30 deadline. And also to the POs responding to frantic emails.
Not an easy job under the best of circumstances and right now it's the pits.
Thank you!
Not an easy job under the best of circumstances and right now it's the pits.
Thank you!
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
SINGER, our ARG inference method, is finally published and freely available online:
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
It was a long journey – 16 months from initial submission to acceptance. Is it just me, or has peer review gotten more arduous lately? 4+ rounds of review isn't so unusual these days...
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
It was a long journey – 16 months from initial submission to acceptance. Is it just me, or has peer review gotten more arduous lately? 4+ rounds of review isn't so unusual these days...
Robust and accurate Bayesian inference of genome-wide genealogies for hundreds of genomes - Nature Genetics
SINGER is a method for creating ancestral recombination graphs to understand the genealogical history of genomes. The method has increased speed, and thus scalability, without sacrificing accuracy.
doi.org
September 11, 2025 at 3:50 AM
SINGER, our ARG inference method, is finally published and freely available online:
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
It was a long journey – 16 months from initial submission to acceptance. Is it just me, or has peer review gotten more arduous lately? 4+ rounds of review isn't so unusual these days...
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
It was a long journey – 16 months from initial submission to acceptance. Is it just me, or has peer review gotten more arduous lately? 4+ rounds of review isn't so unusual these days...
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
What determines the human gut fungal community? @emilyvansyoc.bsky.social @erdavenport.bsky.social @symbionticism.bsky.social &co present the first #GWAS of human genetic loci that influence the abundance of gut #fungi, linking these to disease risk #mycobiome @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/42bCKou
September 3, 2025 at 7:38 AM
What determines the human gut fungal community? @emilyvansyoc.bsky.social @erdavenport.bsky.social @symbionticism.bsky.social &co present the first #GWAS of human genetic loci that influence the abundance of gut #fungi, linking these to disease risk #mycobiome @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/42bCKou
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
Announcing SimHumanity, a baseline SLiM 5.0 model of the full human genome, replete with demographic history, autosomes, X/Y, and mtDNA. A shared starting point for reproducible evolutionary simulations. We’d love your feedback! #SLiM #evolution #genomics www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
SimHumanity: Using SLiM 5.0 to run whole-genome simulations of human evolution
The reconstruction of human evolutionary history has undergone repeated advances, each made possible by methodological innovations. In recent decades, genetic and genomic data played a central role in...
www.biorxiv.org
September 3, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Announcing SimHumanity, a baseline SLiM 5.0 model of the full human genome, replete with demographic history, autosomes, X/Y, and mtDNA. A shared starting point for reproducible evolutionary simulations. We’d love your feedback! #SLiM #evolution #genomics www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
Beautiful mural honoring Henrietta Lacks painted by Baltimore community members popped up near Hopkins med campus recently.
August 17, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Beautiful mural honoring Henrietta Lacks painted by Baltimore community members popped up near Hopkins med campus recently.
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
An abbreviation (ABB) in a journal article (JA) or Grant Application (GA) is rarely worth the words it saves. Every ABB requires cognitive resources (CR) and at my age by the time I'm halfway through a JA or GA I no longer have the CR to remember what your ABB stood for.
August 15, 2025 at 9:39 AM
An abbreviation (ABB) in a journal article (JA) or Grant Application (GA) is rarely worth the words it saves. Every ABB requires cognitive resources (CR) and at my age by the time I'm halfway through a JA or GA I no longer have the CR to remember what your ABB stood for.
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
So if you take 1+2+3+4:
--> contact tracing does nothing (inverse swiss cheese as @dcourvoisier.bsky.social says)
But why simulation studies say it should work ?
Because nobody in the simulation studies dares taking number as bad as the reality.
Dear simu friends: consider that life is shitty
6/6
--> contact tracing does nothing (inverse swiss cheese as @dcourvoisier.bsky.social says)
But why simulation studies say it should work ?
Because nobody in the simulation studies dares taking number as bad as the reality.
Dear simu friends: consider that life is shitty
6/6
August 13, 2025 at 10:08 AM
So if you take 1+2+3+4:
--> contact tracing does nothing (inverse swiss cheese as @dcourvoisier.bsky.social says)
But why simulation studies say it should work ?
Because nobody in the simulation studies dares taking number as bad as the reality.
Dear simu friends: consider that life is shitty
6/6
--> contact tracing does nothing (inverse swiss cheese as @dcourvoisier.bsky.social says)
But why simulation studies say it should work ?
Because nobody in the simulation studies dares taking number as bad as the reality.
Dear simu friends: consider that life is shitty
6/6
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
I wrote about how genetic risk works in the context of embryo selection and how people often think about it all wrong. A short 🧵:
What we talk about when we talk about risk
How embryo selection exploits our flawed intuitions about risk
open.substack.com
August 10, 2025 at 7:08 PM
I wrote about how genetic risk works in the context of embryo selection and how people often think about it all wrong. A short 🧵:
Maybe the level of the worst PhD student ever.
My worry isn’t so much AI can do PhD level work, but mentors will lose the motivation to train students to think, as it may be more efficient to tell AI to execute the analysis without thinking.
My worry isn’t so much AI can do PhD level work, but mentors will lose the motivation to train students to think, as it may be more efficient to tell AI to execute the analysis without thinking.
This is a great read - it nails a whole bunch of ways in which LLMs simply don’t ‘think’, let alone at a ‘PhD level’.
August 10, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Maybe the level of the worst PhD student ever.
My worry isn’t so much AI can do PhD level work, but mentors will lose the motivation to train students to think, as it may be more efficient to tell AI to execute the analysis without thinking.
My worry isn’t so much AI can do PhD level work, but mentors will lose the motivation to train students to think, as it may be more efficient to tell AI to execute the analysis without thinking.
Reposted by Charleston Chiang
It is depressing, but all too predictable, how swiftly we’ve gone from the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium offering reassurances about the uses of behavioural polygenic scores to one of their lead authors marketing embryo selection for IQ
August 2, 2025 at 2:15 AM
It is depressing, but all too predictable, how swiftly we’ve gone from the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium offering reassurances about the uses of behavioural polygenic scores to one of their lead authors marketing embryo selection for IQ