Anders Bergström

Anders Bergström

@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

Research in genomics, evolution, biodiversity, ancient DNA. Group leader at University of East Anglia, previously postdoc at The Francis Crick Institute, PhD at Wellcome Sanger Institute

627 followers464 following23 posts

Anders Bergström reposted

AaRC
@aarc-community.bsky.social

🐺🐶 Join us for TikTalks on October 30 to hear about dogs and wolves! It's going to be a howling good Halloween weekend 😉 In Europe? Don’t forget to turn your clocks back one hour this weekend!

Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

A PhD project in my group to work on the sequencing of whole animal genomes from mosquito blood meals is open to applications, through the @nrpdtp.bsky.social.

biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.ukWhole genome sequencing from mosquito blood meals (BERGSTROM_U27DTP) | Doctoral Training PartnershipMosquitos can be seen as tiny, autonomous samplers of blood from wild animals. It is well-established that mosquito blood meals contain animal DNA, as well as DNA from animal pathogens.
View full thread
Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

This was a highly collaborative effort involving 68 authors representing 56 institutions. A huge thanks to the many geneticists and archaeologists that made this research possible! Thanks also to Lauren Hennelly and Mikkel Sinding for writing a News & Views piece: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.comDogs have deep genetic roots in ice-age EuropeTwo studies report the oldest dog genomes ever to be sequenced, representing leaps in scientists’ understanding of the animal’s origins.
View full thread
Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

We also studied the impact the arrival of agriculture had on Europe’s dogs. We know that incoming farmers from Southwest Asia replaced 80-90% of the ancestry of humans in Europe. Did the same thing happen to dogs? Image from the Skateholm Mesolithic site in Southern Sweden, credit: Lars Larsson.

Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

We find an influx of Southwest Asian dog ancestry into Europe with agriculture, but the magnitude is smaller than in humans: only up to ~50% replacement in dogs. This suggests that the dogs from Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies contributed substantially to the Neolithic farmer dog populations.

View full thread
Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

We find the Kesslerloch dog is genetically closer to present-day dogs in Europe than those in Asia. This means the diversification of European dog ancestry had started already 14,200 years ago, and that there has been some degree of continuity in European dogs since the late Ice Age until today.

Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

We analysed 216 canid remains, mostly from pre-Neolithic European contexts. To improve DNA recovery, we developed a genome-wide capture approach targeting 500,000 SNPs. We were able to obtain enough DNA to determine dog-vs-wolf ancestry for 2/3rds of the remains.

Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

The oldest dog is 14,200 years old, from Kesslerloch cave in Switzerland. This maxilla has long been one of the most iconic likely Paleolithic dog specimens, and we now confirm genetically that it is indeed a dog. Image © Cantonal Archaeological Service (KASH) of Schaffhausen, photo: Ivan Ivic.

Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

Human prehistory keeps delivering surprises, here in the shape of wolves. A very fun project to work on 👇

Pontus Skoglund@pontus-skoglund.bsky.social

🐺 Wolves in dog's clothing 🐺 Our latest in @pnas.org uncovers a surprise three to five thousand years ago: 2 canids in human contexts on a tiny island in the middle of the Baltic Sea, that ate marine food—but had 100% gray wolf ancestry. Where they tame wolves, or even an incipient domestication?

Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

A PhD project on historical genomics in the declining red squirrel in Britain is available in my group, through the @aries-dtp.bsky.social. Use historical genomes to track the effects of decline and genetic rescue in this charismatic species. aries-dtp.ac.uk/studentships...

aries-dtp.ac.ukHistorical genomics of the declining red squirrel in Britain | AriesDr Anders Bergström, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia Professor Cock van Oosterhout, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia Dr Selina Brace…

Anders Bergström reposted

AaRC
@aarc-community.bsky.social

And the registration is open for our next AaRCademy workshop! Join us on February 3rd to learn how to reconstruct the demographic history of a population with Pablo Librado. Registration through the QR code or following this link: tinyurl.com/2nysdwhv

Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

A PhD project in human genomics with me is open for applications through the @nrpdtp.bsky.social. Use biobank-scale genomics datasets to answer long-standing questions about the evolution of our species: biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/the...

biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.ukThe genomics of modern human biological uniqueness (BERGSTROM_U26DTP) | Doctoral Training PartnershipModern humans are unique as a species, having spread widely and transformed the world with technology and large-scale societies. But until relatively recently (~50,000 years ago)…

Anders Bergström reposted

Nikolay Oskolkov
@oskolkov.bsky.social

I am starting a computational lab at LIOS, Riga, Latvia, and going to recruit a few people. Please DM if you are interested in a postdoc or PhD position in my Metabolic Research Group within the TARGETWISE project. I can highly recommend Riga, it is a beautiful city with very good living conditions.

Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

Don't miss the AaRC pre-ISBA event on the 26th of August - anyone interested in ancient DNA in animals is welcome to come along. And if you didn't get a talk at ISBA itself, submit an abstract here!

AaRC@aarc-community.bsky.social

Come and Board the AaRC at #ISBA2025 in Torino, Italy. Are you presenting a poster and want more people to see it? Come and share it with us! We'll have a set of Short Talks, a Round Table and some time for networking. If you are in Torino on the 26th of August, please drop by!

Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

A 4-year postdoc position in population genomics is available in my group at the University of East Anglia, to work on a project sequencing a thousand fox genomes across rural and urban environments in the UK. vacancies.uea.ac.uk/vacancies/15...

vacancies.uea.ac.ukSenior Research Associate in Population Genomics (RA2327) in University of East Anglia | UEAView details and apply for this Senior Research Associate in Population Genomics (RA2327) vacancy in University of East Anglia. Faculty of Science School of Biological Sciences Senior Research A...
Anders Bergström
@anders-bergstrom.bsky.social

In this comment piece with James Fellows Yates and Christina Warinner (@christinawarinner.bsky.social), we highlight the mounting problems with data archiving and metadata reporting in ancient DNA research. The field cannot afford to keep neglecting this issue. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.comAncient DNA data hold insights into past organisms and ecosystems — handle them with more careDNA recovered from ancient remains is transforming our understanding of organisms and ecosystems from tens, thousands and even millions of years ago – but the growing volume of data must be better pre...

You are up to date.