J. Rodrigo Flores

Human evolutionary genetics at @genomicstartu. Formerly at @unil, @inmegen, @sangerinstitute and @lcgunam | #genomics, #bioinformatics, #datascience

[Ajai Pathak @apatk]

Day 1 of #SLiM workshop in #Tartu with #BenHaller, hosted by @genomicstartu, bringing together participants from around the world to explore cutting-edge evolutionary simulations. 5 days of deep dives into #PopGen ahead.@JRodrigo_F #SLiMWorkshopTartu #Genomics
#UniverstyofTartu

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

https://t.co/WShKBNCgp4

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

Genetic structure and ancestry proportions in #Greenland.

Just checking for a project.

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

No brain is needed to sleep, but neurons.
(simple nerve nets)

The upside-down jellyfish 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢 sleeps for roughly eight hours a day.

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

Active voluntary #euthanasia is legal only in a few countries. Uruguay was the most recent to join that list, and the first in Latin America.

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

A scientific journal club meeting, as imagined by impressionist painter Konrad Mägi 🇪🇪🎨🧬

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth?

~117 billion people have ever lived and roughly 7% are alive today.

#demography #popgenquestions

https://t.co/iwlv3jtd7W

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

Selection signatures in an Arctic Circle population cohort.

#GeneForum2025
🧬

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

There was a time when PCA plots showing full variation along the axes were just theoretical.

#geneforum2025
🇪🇪🧬✨

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

The DJ at the #PacBio party playing to the crowd Baile Inolvidable (Salsa song) from Bad Bunny.

Fantástico.

One couple spotted dancing cuban (casino) style. Nais.

#ESGH2025

[Anne Wojcicki @annewoj23]

The 23andMe Special Committee released news today indicating their plan to take the company through the Chapter 11 process.   While I am disappointed that we have come to this conclusion and my bid was rejected, I am supportive of the company and I intend to be a bidder.   I have resigned as CEO of the company so I can be in the best position to pursue the company as an independent bidder. 

Nineteen years ago, when I co-founded 23andMe, the direct to consumer industry did not exist and most people had no idea why they would ever want to see their genome.   So much has changed.   There is now a thriving direct to consumer industry and over 15 million people are now 23andMe customers.   These customers are continuing to learn about their family relationships and how to optimize their health thanks to the incredible team of individuals at 23andMe who innovate and help customers gain insights from their genetic information.

What made so many of our innovations possible were the 85% of our customers who opted in to research.  Thanks to them they have empowered an incredible platform for discovery.  You enabled our pursuit into novel drug discovery and our 50 programs with GSK.   In addition, over 250 publications have come out because of you and we have meaningfully impacted the research world.   Thank you.

We have had many successes but I equally take accountability for the challenges we have today. There is no doubt that the challenges faced by 23andMe through an evolving business model have been real, but my belief in the company and its future is unwavering.  Consumers are rising up and asking for more control over their health and want greater knowledge about how to be healthy and why they may have health issues. We fought for consumers to have direct access to their information and for them to have choice and transparency with respect to their personal data.   As I think about the future, I will continue to tirelessly advocate for customers to have choice and transparency with respect to their personal data, regardless of platform.

Since 2006, we have built an incredible consumer brand with one of the world's largest and most diverse genetic communities. Our foundation was the trust and respect of our customers, and they were always the guiding light on how we made decisions. If I am fortunate enough to secure the company’s assets through the restructuring process, I remain committed to our long-term vision of being a global leader in genetics and establishing genetics as a fundamental part of healthcare ecosystems worldwide.

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

We've always refered to the Mayans as a 'civilization''.

They were not a conquering power in the same sense as the Aztecs. While they engaged in warfare and political rivalry, their city-states remained largely independent, and their legacy is more cultural than 'imperial'.

[Sandy Petersen 🪔 @SandyofCthulhu]

In 1999, I was assigned to design the expansion pack to Age of Empires 2. I chose The Conquerors as the theme, and wishing to have 4 civs (as we had on Rise of Rome), I chose the Spanish, the Aztecs, the Huns, and the Mayans.

The project went ahead extremely well. We were almost completely finished, 5 weeks ahead of schedule as of January 2000. I was excited to move onto Age of Empires 3.

Then Microsoft called and we had an important conference call.
1/

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

- Fácil: Mmmmmmiamortz

Cora en este tuit y te escribo un viernes por la noche bien sobrio.

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

~200 years ago, "Golfo de México" made even more sense, I guess.

(image seen out there in the internets)

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

..

1968

1989

2025

..

(... y el veinte veinticuatro, el año kmenamoré)

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

Got it some weeks ago.

Evolution gave Llamas heavy-chain-only 'nanobodies':

These are antibodies with unmatched precision that endure through thermal denaturation, entropy and time.

🫶

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

4o vs R1

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

Impressionist-style depiction of the contrast between Realism and Liberalism in international relations.

[J. Rodrigo Flores @JRodrigo_F]

~ "mutations can also be beneficial because they are restoring a state of higher fitness lost due to genetic drift in a stable environment,..

The contribution non-adaptive mutations to molecular evolution has been widely neglected mainly because detection is very challenging .."