1/ So pleased to share our paper on genetic adaptation to micronutrients in humans! Our biggest conclusion? Trace minerals in the diet have shaped human evolution far more than previously appreciated 🧬🌍👇 https://t.co/80oK6hW99J

12/ TLDR: we identify widespread signatures of positive selection associated with 13 different micronutrients at different timepoints in human evolutionary history, suggesting that micronutrients have been a powerful selective force in modern humans 🧬🌎🍎

11/ Side bar: this work was done as our chapter of my PhD, under two incredible supervisors (@AidaAndres & @scastesparraka), and I hope some of the joy of my time at @UCLchildhealth & @UGI_at_UCL translated into the paper (but not too much, it is a scientific article after all).

10/ If true, this has the potential to drive or exacerbate micronutrient-linked health disparities across populations - especially when over-farming and climate change continues to decrease soil quality. It is hard to ignore potential public/global health connotations🌎

9/ Why is this important? We suggest dietary micronutrients have shaped the recent evolution of humans and likely contributed to population differentiation in diet-related genes - possibly resulting in average differences in their micronutrient uptake, metabolism or regulation.

8/ In some cases, signatures of positive selection are identified in areas of the world with soil of known deficiencies or toxicities of micronutrients - potentially reflecting genetic adaptation to soil-driven micronutrient levels in the diet. Read our paper to see where 🤓

7/ Rather than isolated cases, we see evidence for monogenic and/or oligogenic adaptation for all micronutrients , across diverse geographic and temporal scales ⚠️

6/ We used methods informed by extensive simulations to identify signatures of positive selection in ~300 genes associated with 13 essential trace minerals in 40 diverse human populations, considering monogenic, oligogenic and polygenic selection 🧬

5/ We wanted to ask: have all micronutrients acted as selective pressures? Or only a few? And in which populations and timepoints? Is this likely to be driven by differing micronutrient levels in local soils? 🌎

4/ But soils can be extremely variable in their micronutrient content (even amongst really close-by environments!) - and have previously been suggested to drive some isolated examples of local adaptation to dietary micronutrients in human populations 🧬

3/ For much of human evolution, the amount of micronutrients in our diet have depended on the underlying soil content, since micronutrients are taken up by local plants and animals that then make up the human diet 🐔🍎🌽

2/ Micronutrients - including trace minerals and vitamins - are essential components in the human diet, needed in very small and precise quantities. Deficiencies can be super harmful, leading to stunted growth and increased risk of infectious, metabolic or respiratory diseases.🤒

One of my shots made it into the trailer!! Here's a sneak peak🐕- A lot of great work went into this film. Can't wait to see it on the big screen🐶 #Dogman

Here's my submission for this month's Agora Anin-challenge. I made this in my spare time over 3-4 weeks. All of the 2D effects (expect for the explosion) were animated using simple Maya geo. I had an absolute blast making this- Enjoy! #animation #Deadpool

can the UK submit the DNC as our 2025 eurovision entry

Very excited to be starting my group this autumn at https://t.co/aBIREK5Ck3 @RIKEN_JP and we’re hiring! https://t.co/KMHG7Tpe7f Many more fellowship opportunities as well, please get in touch if interested and see you in Tokyo!

Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP @Ed_Miliband as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero @energygovuk.

This started as just a silly anim test, heavily inspired by Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal. I had so much fun that I ended up creating a fully-fleshed performance shot. Please enjoy! 🦍 #animation #ProRigs

Very happy to have received this very important award from @uniofeastanglia for our team effort on genomic surveillance of #wheat #blast @hernanaburbano @UCLLifeSciences @CloeFor

Our new paper on Herbarium Genomics is part of the special issue on Ancient DNA #aDNA in @ScienceMagazine.