Jennifer Raff
@jenniferraff.bsky.social
Anthropological geneticist, NYT bestselling author, martial artist, professor, Ox mother. Rock chalk.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
This headline is wrong and misleading, and the brief text below it is not much better. Whatever might constitute a full explanation of the differences between sapiens and other hominins, we remain confident that 'genes' will be central to it.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Genes don’t explain what made humans different
Tiny genetic variations between humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans might not be all they were cracked up to be.
www.nature.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:55 AM
This headline is wrong and misleading, and the brief text below it is not much better. Whatever might constitute a full explanation of the differences between sapiens and other hominins, we remain confident that 'genes' will be central to it.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
While stories of singular DNA changes that drove evolution of human brain/behaviour remain seductive, advances across multiple fields of biology cast doubt on such simplistic narratives of our origins. A new paper from my lab shows how biobanks may speak to this fundamental question.🧪
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Evaluating the effects of archaic protein-altering variants in living human adults
Promise and pitfalls of using large biobanks to study impacts of archaic protein-coding variants in living humans.
www.science.org
December 18, 2025 at 1:51 PM
While stories of singular DNA changes that drove evolution of human brain/behaviour remain seductive, advances across multiple fields of biology cast doubt on such simplistic narratives of our origins. A new paper from my lab shows how biobanks may speak to this fundamental question.🧪
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
I've spent all day struggling to write a single page of a popular science article. I bang away at a word processor; give up; start diagramming on paper. Take some notes; draft a few sentences in pen; return to the computer...and very slowly I figure out what I was trying to say in the first place.
December 16, 2025 at 11:41 PM
I've spent all day struggling to write a single page of a popular science article. I bang away at a word processor; give up; start diagramming on paper. Take some notes; draft a few sentences in pen; return to the computer...and very slowly I figure out what I was trying to say in the first place.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
🏺Stellar work by @andyjmwalton.bsky.social and colleagues. Previous craniometric analysis of the Beachy Head Woman, a Roman burial from near Eastbourne Sussex, had suggested she had ancestry from Africa. Ancient DNA analysis finds no evidence for this...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Beachy Head Woman: clarifying her origins using a multiproxy anthropological and biomolecular approach
The skeletal remains of an individual colloquially referred to as Beachy Head Woman (BHW) were re-discovered in the Eastbourne Town Hall collection in…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 17, 2025 at 11:31 AM
🏺Stellar work by @andyjmwalton.bsky.social and colleagues. Previous craniometric analysis of the Beachy Head Woman, a Roman burial from near Eastbourne Sussex, had suggested she had ancestry from Africa. Ancient DNA analysis finds no evidence for this...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
Women in science in #Africa 🌍
Christina Mutinda, a HERI PhD candidate at @UCT_news, explores how early humans adapted to changing environments.
Using fossils, isotopes and ecological clues, she reconstructs East Africa’s Early Pleistocene habitats, when Paranthropus boisei roamed.
Christina Mutinda, a HERI PhD candidate at @UCT_news, explores how early humans adapted to changing environments.
Using fossils, isotopes and ecological clues, she reconstructs East Africa’s Early Pleistocene habitats, when Paranthropus boisei roamed.
December 17, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Women in science in #Africa 🌍
Christina Mutinda, a HERI PhD candidate at @UCT_news, explores how early humans adapted to changing environments.
Using fossils, isotopes and ecological clues, she reconstructs East Africa’s Early Pleistocene habitats, when Paranthropus boisei roamed.
Christina Mutinda, a HERI PhD candidate at @UCT_news, explores how early humans adapted to changing environments.
Using fossils, isotopes and ecological clues, she reconstructs East Africa’s Early Pleistocene habitats, when Paranthropus boisei roamed.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
Couldn’t catch Diyendo Massilani’s talk, “Archaic human genomes”? 🧬💡 Don’t worry! It’s now available to watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=piOS...
CARTA: Archaic Human Genomes with Diyendo Massilani
YouTube video by University of California Television (UCTV)
www.youtube.com
December 16, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Couldn’t catch Diyendo Massilani’s talk, “Archaic human genomes”? 🧬💡 Don’t worry! It’s now available to watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=piOS...
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
Reading a bunch of books this year has really solidified for me how awful the internet is in comparison nowadays. Obviously in terms of general hostility but more generally in terms of lack of depth, insight, reading comprehension, base of knowledge, etc
December 15, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Reading a bunch of books this year has really solidified for me how awful the internet is in comparison nowadays. Obviously in terms of general hostility but more generally in terms of lack of depth, insight, reading comprehension, base of knowledge, etc
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
A TikTok town hall, my first and one of the ways we can reach voters across a district as big as the Kansas First.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-mh...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-mh...
December 16, 2025 at 6:38 PM
A TikTok town hall, my first and one of the ways we can reach voters across a district as big as the Kansas First.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-mh...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-mh...
@kolyin.bsky.social's scholarship on Superman, the KKK, and conspiracy theories.
A @universityofkansas.bsky.social scholar says Superman's KKK battle is a model to thwart conspiracy theories. “My chapter is trying to convince the writers of modern mass media to ... use their stories to tell what conspiracy theories actually do in the real world.”
news.ku.edu/news/article...
news.ku.edu/news/article...
Superman’s bygone battle with hate group provides strategy for thwarting modern conspiracy theories
A new book chapter traces the story of Superman’s battle with the KKK in a 1946 radio serial and suggests it may provide strategies for thwarting the damage done by conspiracy theories.
news.ku.edu
December 16, 2025 at 4:04 PM
@kolyin.bsky.social's scholarship on Superman, the KKK, and conspiracy theories.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
There’s a specific mechanism in authoritarian movements that we’re seeing play out in real-time across American media and tech. It’s a simple rule: "If we cannot co-opt it, we must destroy it."
It is the logic of "scorched earth." It's the logic of the Nero Decree and it's happening right now. 🧵
It is the logic of "scorched earth." It's the logic of the Nero Decree and it's happening right now. 🧵
December 14, 2025 at 9:11 PM
There’s a specific mechanism in authoritarian movements that we’re seeing play out in real-time across American media and tech. It’s a simple rule: "If we cannot co-opt it, we must destroy it."
It is the logic of "scorched earth." It's the logic of the Nero Decree and it's happening right now. 🧵
It is the logic of "scorched earth." It's the logic of the Nero Decree and it's happening right now. 🧵
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
Our latest preprint revisits the classic model of mutation-selection balance.
Do human recessive genes fit Haldane's 100-year old model?
This work is by the wonderful @jonj-udd.bsky.social, and co-mentored by @jeffspence.github.io
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Do human recessive genes fit Haldane's 100-year old model?
This work is by the wonderful @jonj-udd.bsky.social, and co-mentored by @jeffspence.github.io
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Allele Frequencies at Recessive Disease Genes are Mainly Determined by Pleiotropic Effects in Heterozygotes
The classic theory of mutation-selection balance predicts the equilibrium frequency of genetic variation under negative selection. The model predicts a simple relationship between the total frequency ...
www.biorxiv.org
December 13, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Our latest preprint revisits the classic model of mutation-selection balance.
Do human recessive genes fit Haldane's 100-year old model?
This work is by the wonderful @jonj-udd.bsky.social, and co-mentored by @jeffspence.github.io
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Do human recessive genes fit Haldane's 100-year old model?
This work is by the wonderful @jonj-udd.bsky.social, and co-mentored by @jeffspence.github.io
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
🧪🏺🦣 Strong case for *oldest fire-starting* 🔥 capacity, before 400 Ka, suggested by multi-stranded analysis: geochem, magnetic, sedimentary evidence of anthropogenic burning, + heated lithics + remains of iron pyrite.
Behaviourally heading towards #Neanderthals.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Behaviourally heading towards #Neanderthals.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
December 10, 2025 at 5:47 PM
🧪🏺🦣 Strong case for *oldest fire-starting* 🔥 capacity, before 400 Ka, suggested by multi-stranded analysis: geochem, magnetic, sedimentary evidence of anthropogenic burning, + heated lithics + remains of iron pyrite.
Behaviourally heading towards #Neanderthals.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Behaviourally heading towards #Neanderthals.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
Oh, look! My friends around Magdalena Fraser & Federico Sanchez-Quinto et al have a new study analyzing more high-coverage Neolithic #aDNA genomes from the Baltic island of Gotland (including pathogens!!!) 👀 🧪 🏺
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Ancestry, admixture, and pathogens in contemporaneous Neolithic farmers and foragers on the Island of Gotland
Two archaeological cultural complexes coexisted on Gotland for over 500 years, between ~3300 and 2800 calBCE, i.e. the Neolithic Funnelbeaker culture (FBC), and the Pitted ware culture (PWC). The ance...
www.biorxiv.org
December 11, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Oh, look! My friends around Magdalena Fraser & Federico Sanchez-Quinto et al have a new study analyzing more high-coverage Neolithic #aDNA genomes from the Baltic island of Gotland (including pathogens!!!) 👀 🧪 🏺
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
Almost a quarter of a million more children are projected to die in 2025 than in 2024, for the first time in this century--despite the fact that these deaths are almost entirely preventable.
No wonder Trump is worried about getting into heaven: www.wsj.com/health/for-f...
No wonder Trump is worried about getting into heaven: www.wsj.com/health/for-f...
For First Time in Decades, Child Deaths Will Rise This Year
Almost a quarter of a million more children around the world are projected to die in 2025 than in 2024.
www.wsj.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Almost a quarter of a million more children are projected to die in 2025 than in 2024, for the first time in this century--despite the fact that these deaths are almost entirely preventable.
No wonder Trump is worried about getting into heaven: www.wsj.com/health/for-f...
No wonder Trump is worried about getting into heaven: www.wsj.com/health/for-f...
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
You will be visited by three spirits
December 9, 2025 at 4:10 PM
You will be visited by three spirits
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
Who has made this 🤣
December 7, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Who has made this 🤣
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
Disabled students belong in biological sciences spaces! Here is a thread of some tips and suggestions to make your spaces more inclusive.
December 5, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Disabled students belong in biological sciences spaces! Here is a thread of some tips and suggestions to make your spaces more inclusive.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
ALERT: Emergency Caturday has been declared.
Special holiday edition. 🎄🐈
Special holiday edition. 🎄🐈
December 5, 2025 at 1:37 PM
ALERT: Emergency Caturday has been declared.
Special holiday edition. 🎄🐈
Special holiday edition. 🎄🐈
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
Great question!
1) First and foremost, we evaluate a candidate based on the departmental guidelines and expectations provided. We don't hold the candidate to arbitrary standards, or even to those of our own institution unless asked to do so. We assess the materials against the guidelines provided.
1) First and foremost, we evaluate a candidate based on the departmental guidelines and expectations provided. We don't hold the candidate to arbitrary standards, or even to those of our own institution unless asked to do so. We assess the materials against the guidelines provided.
Dear senior profs who have written tenure letters.
Can you help demystify the process for some junior profs up for tenure soon?
What do you look for? How do you make your evaluation?
We are told that the letters are the most important part of the file, but not what letter writers look for.
1/
Can you help demystify the process for some junior profs up for tenure soon?
What do you look for? How do you make your evaluation?
We are told that the letters are the most important part of the file, but not what letter writers look for.
1/
December 4, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Great question!
1) First and foremost, we evaluate a candidate based on the departmental guidelines and expectations provided. We don't hold the candidate to arbitrary standards, or even to those of our own institution unless asked to do so. We assess the materials against the guidelines provided.
1) First and foremost, we evaluate a candidate based on the departmental guidelines and expectations provided. We don't hold the candidate to arbitrary standards, or even to those of our own institution unless asked to do so. We assess the materials against the guidelines provided.
#nowreading and I am learning a lot about the state I grew up in. (this was not something I learned in high school in Indiana)
December 5, 2025 at 1:45 AM
#nowreading and I am learning a lot about the state I grew up in. (this was not something I learned in high school in Indiana)
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
Military personnel: This is what following unlawful orders looks like. Don’t do it. You don’t have the president’s get out of jail free card from SCOTUS, and these losers will not protect you.
December 5, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Military personnel: This is what following unlawful orders looks like. Don’t do it. You don’t have the president’s get out of jail free card from SCOTUS, and these losers will not protect you.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
Students! Don't miss the chance to submit your essay for the William S. Pollitzer Student Travel Award! The deadline is TOMORROW (Dec 5) at 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time.
William S. Pollitzer Student Travel Award - AABA
The Pollitzer Student Travel Awards are designed to help students defray the costs of attending the AABA meetings. The awards are named in honor of […]
bioanth.org
December 4, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Students! Don't miss the chance to submit your essay for the William S. Pollitzer Student Travel Award! The deadline is TOMORROW (Dec 5) at 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
Historian of eugenics here. I don't normally like to retweet bad arguments, but this is such a fundamental misunderstanding of eugenics, I think it's important to point out. I don't have time to debunk all of the ways this is inaccurate, but I'll highlight a few things and then recommend some books🧵
December 4, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Historian of eugenics here. I don't normally like to retweet bad arguments, but this is such a fundamental misunderstanding of eugenics, I think it's important to point out. I don't have time to debunk all of the ways this is inaccurate, but I'll highlight a few things and then recommend some books🧵
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
A classic book on UFO believers and their “cognitive dissonance” after aliens failed to land is called into question, reports Anna Merlan. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
It’s one of the most influential social psychology studies ever. Was it all a lie?
A classic book on UFO believers and their "cognitive dissonance" after aliens failed to land is called into question.
www.motherjones.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:01 PM
A classic book on UFO believers and their “cognitive dissonance” after aliens failed to land is called into question, reports Anna Merlan. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
this is my #1 advice to grad students: anyone can reproduce jargon; the bigger flex is being able to make the argument in straightforward prose. clarity is indicative of deep thought and engagement. even chatGPT can write word salad.
i strongly, strongly believe that good writing is downstream of clear thinking and a strong understanding of the subject matter at hand. without fail, tortured writing comes from writers who don’t know and can’t think clearly about anything.
Oh man! This paragraph is brutal. The best thing about this review is it's not trying to be mean. It's just listing how bad the writing is.
December 3, 2025 at 7:36 PM
this is my #1 advice to grad students: anyone can reproduce jargon; the bigger flex is being able to make the argument in straightforward prose. clarity is indicative of deep thought and engagement. even chatGPT can write word salad.