UCL mace-lab

@ucl Molecular and Cultural Evolution Laboratory

[Prof Francois Balloux @BallouxFrancois]

There have been claims that #COVID19 has acquired mutations leading to more transmissible strains. We formally tested whether this was the case using 15,000 #SARSCoV2 genomes from all over the world:
... and the answer is no, not at all!
(1/5)

https://t.co/NxIlUcFDE9

[Lucy van Dorp @LucyvanDorp]

Our work highlights that, to date, there is no strong evidence for the emergence of more transmissible lineages of #SARSCoV2 due to recurrent #mutations and suggests the important role of host RNA editing in shaping viral genomic diversity.

[Lucy van Dorp @LucyvanDorp]

A wonderful & truly collaborative effort with Damien Richard @CedricCSTan1 @liampshaw @misac42 @BallouxFrancois @UGI_at_UCL.

➡️https://t.co/6GwkaC9QfX

#openscience #genomics #COVID #WomenInSTEM

[David Balding @djbalding]

Video of my recent talk now available: How to evaluate evidence in a criminal courtroom https://t.co/BRdID2W8SQ via @YouTube

[Lucy van Dorp @LucyvanDorp]

Our latest @biorxivpreprint tests whether any #mutations recurrently acquired to date impact the #transmission of #SARSCoV2, the virus responsible for #Covid_19.

➡️https://t.co/6GwkaC9QfX

#SpoilerAlert we don't.

👇

[Lucy van Dorp @LucyvanDorp]

In our latest @NatureComms paper we reconstruct an alignment-free distance network comprising >10000 bacterial #plasmids.

Link ➡️ https://t.co/EvLRPf7kwC

Plasmids are mobile extra-chromosomal elements & important vehicles of #AMR exchange between species.

#stopsuperbugs

[Mislav Acman @misac42]

I am so happy this piece of work is out! 🥳
👉Large-scale network analysis captures biological features of bacterial plasmids (https://t.co/jLCyJCZ6zx). Hopefully a guide on how to study and classify #plasmids based on their genetic similarity
#microbiology #genomics
More below👇

[Prof Francois Balloux @BallouxFrancois]

I've seen many alarmist and incorrect claims about mutations in #SARSCoV2 . In this thread I will address some of the major misconceptions. Parts of the material I cover can be found expressed more formally in an article we published recently. https://t.co/p4BDOTmuFM.
(1/11)

[Lucy van Dorp @LucyvanDorp]

There are a lot of phylogenetic trees 🌳getting bounced about in the midst of #COVID19 and they’re getting really really big. A phylogenetic tree is a valuable resource mid #pandemic but they're not always easy to interpret.

Here's a brief explainer on just one aspect. 1/11

[Mark Thomas @mt_genes]

Well done Beth and Kat

[Mark Thomas @mt_genes]

Our response to Angela Saini's misleading piece in @nature 9 March 2020.
https://t.co/D9rPdujUU9
Her statement "... it was not the university’s biologists, but its humanities scholars ... who forced their workplace to confront a sordid history ..." is untrue.

[Tom Booth @Boothicus]

Good read.

‘In other words, what you'd expect from a dynamic interconnected patchwork of populations that were at times more or less isolated from each other.’

Statement could be applied to entirety of human history to be fair.

[Debbie Kennett 🧬🌳 @DebbieKennett]

My new paper for Forensic Science International on "Using genetic genealogy databases in missing persons cases and to develop suspect leads in violent crimes" https://t.co/nzqweTNbuB

[Tom Booth @Boothicus]

We’ve blogged about it here

https://t.co/W4GkvcjxSm

But if you want the spoilers...read on...

[Tom Booth @Boothicus]

Our imaginatively-titled liquorice pizza ‘Ancient Genomes Indicate Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain’ feat. Cheddar Man dropped in @NatureEcoEvo today. Props to @LucyvanDorp whose haplotype matching took it beyond ‘just another aDNA paper’.
https://t.co/FbDzj99wCD

[NatureEcoEvo @NatureEcoEvo]

+ see here for a free-to-read link: https://t.co/NsV3zWlpUP

[Lucy van Dorp @LucyvanDorp]

With @SelBrace @Boothicus @mt_genes @NadinRohland @SophyCharlton @ChrisStringer65 @UCLmacelab @UGI_at_UCL @NHM_London and many others (5/5)

[Lucy van Dorp @LucyvanDorp]

See this great explainer thread https://t.co/QTbIDb4peb and blog post https://t.co/wyDTtpTMsn from @Boothicus for more (4/5)

[Lucy van Dorp @LucyvanDorp]

Very exciting to share #AncientGenomes from Britain dating to 8500-2500BCE including ~2X #Mesolithic and a ~10X #Neolithic individual. These genomes revealed the story of how farming arrived in #Britain around 4000BCE (2/5)

[Lucy van Dorp @LucyvanDorp]

Great to work on “Ancient Genomes Indicate Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain” published today in @NatureEcoEvo https://t.co/jj4r6ZjETF #aDNA #popgen (1/5)