Will Freyman
@willfreyman.bsky.social
computational population genetics and phylogenetics. http://willfreyman.org
into oakland, bikes, synths, mountains, cities, bayesian stuff
he/him
into oakland, bikes, synths, mountains, cities, bayesian stuff
he/him
Reposted by Will Freyman
Reposted by Will Freyman
🧵Remember the preprint claiming SARS-CoV-2 has a "synthetic fingerprint"?
It said a restriction map was "extremely unlikely to have arisen by random evolution.”
I took its claims seriously.
The "synthetic fingerprint" hypothesis collapses. My new preprint explains why.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.23833
It said a restriction map was "extremely unlikely to have arisen by random evolution.”
I took its claims seriously.
The "synthetic fingerprint" hypothesis collapses. My new preprint explains why.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.23833
October 29, 2025 at 7:32 AM
🧵Remember the preprint claiming SARS-CoV-2 has a "synthetic fingerprint"?
It said a restriction map was "extremely unlikely to have arisen by random evolution.”
I took its claims seriously.
The "synthetic fingerprint" hypothesis collapses. My new preprint explains why.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.23833
It said a restriction map was "extremely unlikely to have arisen by random evolution.”
I took its claims seriously.
The "synthetic fingerprint" hypothesis collapses. My new preprint explains why.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.23833
Reposted by Will Freyman
Proud of the latest edition of my free intro biostats book.
gitrepo: github.com/ybrandvain/b...
book: ybrandvain.github.io/biostats/
Not complete but at a good point to take a break, and I think its quite usable
dm me with comments , ideas etc
gitrepo: github.com/ybrandvain/b...
book: ybrandvain.github.io/biostats/
Not complete but at a good point to take a break, and I think its quite usable
dm me with comments , ideas etc
Applied Biostatistics
ybrandvain.github.io
October 24, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Proud of the latest edition of my free intro biostats book.
gitrepo: github.com/ybrandvain/b...
book: ybrandvain.github.io/biostats/
Not complete but at a good point to take a break, and I think its quite usable
dm me with comments , ideas etc
gitrepo: github.com/ybrandvain/b...
book: ybrandvain.github.io/biostats/
Not complete but at a good point to take a break, and I think its quite usable
dm me with comments , ideas etc
Reposted by Will Freyman
Bay Resistance has announced a rally and march this Thursday at 5pm, starting at San Francisco's Embarcadero Plaza.
There will also be upcoming meetups at libraries around the Bay Area later on. Details at www.bayresistance.org/get-ready
There will also be upcoming meetups at libraries around the Bay Area later on. Details at www.bayresistance.org/get-ready
October 23, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Bay Resistance has announced a rally and march this Thursday at 5pm, starting at San Francisco's Embarcadero Plaza.
There will also be upcoming meetups at libraries around the Bay Area later on. Details at www.bayresistance.org/get-ready
There will also be upcoming meetups at libraries around the Bay Area later on. Details at www.bayresistance.org/get-ready
Reposted by Will Freyman
Reposted by Will Freyman
In the event of an encounter with immigration agents in the East Bay, make sure you and your family know your rights. (1/2)
October 23, 2025 at 1:12 AM
In the event of an encounter with immigration agents in the East Bay, make sure you and your family know your rights. (1/2)
Reposted by Will Freyman
BAY AREA: Rumors confirmed. Local governments have been notified that 100 ICE agents have been deployed.
Get ready to show the regime that the Bay won't sit quietly back and let masked goons kidnap people. Sign up for Bay Resistance text alerts @ www.bayresistance.org/about
Get ready to show the regime that the Bay won't sit quietly back and let masked goons kidnap people. Sign up for Bay Resistance text alerts @ www.bayresistance.org/about
BAY AREA: Rumors are flying about ICE targeting Home Depots across the region starting soon. These are RUMORS. But we know it's coming eventually.
So time to organize a group of action buddies and spread flyer about planned meet-ups.👇 QR code for sign-up.
Together we will defend our communities.
So time to organize a group of action buddies and spread flyer about planned meet-ups.👇 QR code for sign-up.
Together we will defend our communities.
October 22, 2025 at 9:00 PM
BAY AREA: Rumors confirmed. Local governments have been notified that 100 ICE agents have been deployed.
Get ready to show the regime that the Bay won't sit quietly back and let masked goons kidnap people. Sign up for Bay Resistance text alerts @ www.bayresistance.org/about
Get ready to show the regime that the Bay won't sit quietly back and let masked goons kidnap people. Sign up for Bay Resistance text alerts @ www.bayresistance.org/about
Reposted by Will Freyman
Oakland is OUT and LOUD to say NO KINGS #NOKINGSOAKLAND #NOKINGS
October 18, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Oakland is OUT and LOUD to say NO KINGS #NOKINGSOAKLAND #NOKINGS
@replsimon.bsky.social fired up the crowd at #NoKings in Oakland!
October 18, 2025 at 11:49 PM
@replsimon.bsky.social fired up the crowd at #NoKings in Oakland!
Reposted by Will Freyman
Great review on The Genetics of Human Handedness: Microtubules and Beyond www.cell.com/trends/genet... - handedness is such an interesting phenotype!
Genetics of human handedness: microtubules and beyond
Handedness (i.e., the preference to use either the left or the right hand for fine
motor tasks) is a widely investigated trait. Handedness heritability is consistently
estimated to be 25%. After decad...
www.cell.com
October 16, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Great review on The Genetics of Human Handedness: Microtubules and Beyond www.cell.com/trends/genet... - handedness is such an interesting phenotype!
Reposted by Will Freyman
Out now in Biology Letters, my latest paper tackles an apparently simple question: how many characters are needed to reconstruct a phylogeny? TL;DR: in most cases between 100 and 500, more than a substantial portion of morphological datasets, but the story is more complex... doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
October 15, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Out now in Biology Letters, my latest paper tackles an apparently simple question: how many characters are needed to reconstruct a phylogeny? TL;DR: in most cases between 100 and 500, more than a substantial portion of morphological datasets, but the story is more complex... doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
Reposted by Will Freyman
We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT
October 15, 2025 at 3:53 PM
We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT
Reposted by Will Freyman
Be sure to spread it around
October 13, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Be sure to spread it around
Reposted by Will Freyman
In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.
Your Genes Are Simply Not Enough to Explain How Smart You Are
Seven years ago, I took a bet with Charles Murray about whether we’d basically understand the genetics of intelligence by now.
www.theatlantic.com
October 13, 2025 at 1:33 PM
In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.
Reposted by Will Freyman
Excited to preprint our latest work (w/ Drew DeHaas, Zhibai Jia, Leo Speidel) on using ARGs for demographic inference. w/ applications using data from 1000 Genomes Project. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Inference of complex demographic history using composite likelihood based on whole-genome genealogies
Accurate parametric inference on complex demographic models is a continuing challenge in population genetics. Ancestral recombination graphs (ARGs) provide richer information than simple population ge...
www.biorxiv.org
October 8, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Excited to preprint our latest work (w/ Drew DeHaas, Zhibai Jia, Leo Speidel) on using ARGs for demographic inference. w/ applications using data from 1000 Genomes Project. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@govpritzker.illinois.gov ICE agents committing these crimes must be arrested and prosecuted.
They took these US citizens naked and put them in zip ties and threw them in a van.
“Four children who are U.S. citizens were taken into custody amid the operation at the apartment complex on Tuesday until they could be placed in the care of guardians or the state, the DHS spokesperson said.”
people.com/ice-agents-o...
people.com/ice-agents-o...
October 3, 2025 at 8:06 PM
@govpritzker.illinois.gov ICE agents committing these crimes must be arrested and prosecuted.
Reposted by Will Freyman
My husband was detained by ICE today
Juan Muñoz, an American citizen, father of 2, and local government official, was peacefully protesting w. other elected officials. He was assaulted and taken away
I have had zero contact or updates since
#SOS
@duckworth.senate.gov @durbin.senate.gov
Juan Muñoz, an American citizen, father of 2, and local government official, was peacefully protesting w. other elected officials. He was assaulted and taken away
I have had zero contact or updates since
#SOS
@duckworth.senate.gov @durbin.senate.gov
October 3, 2025 at 5:12 PM
My husband was detained by ICE today
Juan Muñoz, an American citizen, father of 2, and local government official, was peacefully protesting w. other elected officials. He was assaulted and taken away
I have had zero contact or updates since
#SOS
@duckworth.senate.gov @durbin.senate.gov
Juan Muñoz, an American citizen, father of 2, and local government official, was peacefully protesting w. other elected officials. He was assaulted and taken away
I have had zero contact or updates since
#SOS
@duckworth.senate.gov @durbin.senate.gov
Reposted by Will Freyman
Bridging forward-in-time and coalescent simulations using pyslim https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.30.679676v1
October 2, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Bridging forward-in-time and coalescent simulations using pyslim https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.30.679676v1
Reposted by Will Freyman
Can’t even laugh at this. The idea of these meatheads skulking around my beautiful, glittering jewel box of a city, looking to tackle every non-white person they see, makes me sick to my stomach. This is the real domestic terrorism.
ICE attempted
and failed to disappear a food delivery guy.
It needed to be scored.
and failed to disappear a food delivery guy.
It needed to be scored.
September 29, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Can’t even laugh at this. The idea of these meatheads skulking around my beautiful, glittering jewel box of a city, looking to tackle every non-white person they see, makes me sick to my stomach. This is the real domestic terrorism.
Reposted by Will Freyman
Dearborn bike lane FTW
ICE Nazis in Chicago tried to kidnap a food delivery worker but my man was too fast for those slow bastards
September 29, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Dearborn bike lane FTW
Reposted by Will Freyman
The final version of our transformer-based model of natural selection has come out in MBE. I hope some molecular evolution researchers find this interesting & useful as a way to express richer models of natural selection. doi.org/10.1093/mol... (short 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 10:24 PM
The final version of our transformer-based model of natural selection has come out in MBE. I hope some molecular evolution researchers find this interesting & useful as a way to express richer models of natural selection. doi.org/10.1093/mol... (short 🧵)
Reposted by Will Freyman
Delighted to finally announce a preprint describing the Q100 project! “A complete diploid human genome benchmark for personalized genomics” For which we finished HG002 to near-perfect accuracy: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵[1/14]
A complete diploid human genome benchmark for personalized genomics
Human genome resequencing typically involves mapping reads to a reference genome to call variants; however, this approach suffers from both technical and reference biases, leaving many duplicated and ...
www.biorxiv.org
September 22, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Delighted to finally announce a preprint describing the Q100 project! “A complete diploid human genome benchmark for personalized genomics” For which we finished HG002 to near-perfect accuracy: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵[1/14]
Reposted by Will Freyman
We are excited to share GPN-Star, a cost-effective, biologically grounded genomic language modeling framework that achieves state-of-the-art performance across a wide range of variant effect prediction tasks relevant to human genetics.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/n)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/n)
September 22, 2025 at 5:29 AM
We are excited to share GPN-Star, a cost-effective, biologically grounded genomic language modeling framework that achieves state-of-the-art performance across a wide range of variant effect prediction tasks relevant to human genetics.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/n)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/n)
Reposted by Will Freyman
Both bioRxiv Founders came to the US on H-1Bs
Trump is cutting America off from the world by degrees.
The H-1B visa is for high-skilled specialists.
The H-1B visa is for high-skilled specialists.
Trump to Add New $100,000 Fee for H-1B Visas in Latest Crackdown
President Donald Trump is expected to sign a proclamation as soon as Friday that would move to extensively overhaul the H-1B visa program, requiring a $100,000 fee for applications in a bid to curb ov...
www.bloomberg.com
September 20, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Both bioRxiv Founders came to the US on H-1Bs
Reposted by Will Freyman
HUGE NEWS: Governor Newsom just signed into law our bill to ban ICE & other law enforcement from wearing ski masks & other extreme masks.
The No Secret Police Act (SB 627) will help stop the masked secret police who are kidnapping people in our communities.
Show your damn faces.
The No Secret Police Act (SB 627) will help stop the masked secret police who are kidnapping people in our communities.
Show your damn faces.
September 20, 2025 at 6:55 PM
HUGE NEWS: Governor Newsom just signed into law our bill to ban ICE & other law enforcement from wearing ski masks & other extreme masks.
The No Secret Police Act (SB 627) will help stop the masked secret police who are kidnapping people in our communities.
Show your damn faces.
The No Secret Police Act (SB 627) will help stop the masked secret police who are kidnapping people in our communities.
Show your damn faces.