Felix M Key

First paper of the Key lab is out! We present the first prehistoric Y. pestis genome from a domesticated animal - a sheep - providing evidence that domestication elevated human infection risk with plague thousands of years ago. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

Come visit us in Tübingen!

Two announcements regarding AccuSNV, which calls high precision SNVs across microbial genomes: Version 1.1 is now incredibly easy to install, run, and perform downstream analyses with (see image of typical output!). The manuscript was also published this summer in Genome Research! Links next...

📣 📣 📣 UPDATE: The 2026-2027 list of faculty and postdoc positions in ecology and evolutionary biology is out! Be sure to check out this active and helpful community run resource! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

🧬 Ancient DNA → ancient proteins? We now have the computational toolkit to make this possible: CarpeDeam + AdDeam + AlphaFold + Foldseek. In our new preprint, we reconstruct an archaeal ATP synthase from ~2M-yo aeDNA from Greenland and predict its 3D structure. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Thx Tom. Expectations are high 😅. With plenty of faunal aDNA generated the initial bottleneck is that often no one looks into the pathogen signature. But I hope more and more people appreciate the unseen bycatch they may have. Our lab is happy to team up on the pathogen hunt if expertise is wanted.

Wrote a short piece about the opportunities and challenges of pushing ancient pathogen genomics into a new frontier: the zooarchaeological record. Pretty excited about what is going to come. www.science.org/eprint/MSG3Z...

What a life! www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/s...

Enjoyed reading this balanced piece on whether we are able to link the Neolithic 'decline' explicitly to pathogens (plague). Short answer: Probably not. It's complicated.

Thx for the invitation and organization of this exciting event about current frontiers in microbiome research. It makes me look forward to the Xmas season already.

Very much looking forward to visiting and meeting those working @mpiib-berlin.mpg.de next week, and the chance to speak about my postdoc work on within-patient AMR evolution, thanks to @keyfm.bsky.social and @mfenk.bsky.social for the kind invitation.

Pls re-post: My department @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social are recruiting for several new faculty positions (links below). Broad search in molecular biology/biochemistry, across prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Interested in understanding life at the molecular level, this job might be for you! 1/n

Leipzig U and the MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) have an open faculty position (W2) in evolutionary population genetics! This position is tenured and comes with generous core funding. We are eager to welcome a new colleague! Deadline March 11. www.uni-leipzig.de/en/newsdetai...

The @scilifelab.se Ancient DNA Unit is recruiting a (permanent) Research Engineer for planning user projects and generating #aDNA 🧬 data: Application deadline: March 25th 🧪🏺 www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

🚨 New pre-print! 🚨 In the largest study of its kind to-date, we investigate the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms driving within-patient evolution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Read here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... , and follow along with this thread, discussing our findings (1/21)

Are you interested in human DNA from ancient sediments? Do you want to do a PhD in Vienna? We have two open positions in our group! You can learn more and apply here (scroll down to the very bottom, ours are the last two listings): careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/s...

Institut Pasteur (@pasteur.fr) is recruiting new young PIs to open new groups in the Institute. Deadline is February 9th! Don't miss the opportunity!

📢 We're hiring a postdoc (33 months) in human evolutionary genomics / paleogenomics / statistical genetics, Paris 🇫🇷 Project on selection on disease-associated variants, integrating ancient genomes, GWAS, and Ancestral Rec. Graphs. Start May 2026 (flexible). Apply here: emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...

Please share: We are hosting the 2026 DZG evolutionary biology graduate meeting at Uni Hamburg on March 25-27: "Interactions and Coevolution: from Molecules to Species". #PhD students, early postdocs and advanced Master students in evolutionary biology are welcome to register! t1p.de/dzg2026evolbio

A new year brings new opportunities: we are looking to fill a permanent professorship position with a Microbiologist preferably with expertise on archaeal biology, RNA biology or imaging techniques to unravel cell biology in prokaryotes! Please share and/or apply :)! www.nature.com/naturecareer...

We’re hiring 2 Postdocs (f/m/d) in Drug–Microbiome–Host Interactions 🦠💊 Focus: how non-antibiotic drugs shape the gut microbiome, drug efficacy & side effects. #PostdocJobs #Microbiome #AcademicJobs Full job ad: lisamaierlab.com/wp-content/u...

We are recruiting! If you like evolutionary biology, microbial genomics, and host-pathogen interactions we have a PhD opening at @ugiatucl.bsky.social using population-scale metagenomics to map global phage diversity and uncover evolutionary signatures that could point to new antimicrobials.

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...

Our new preprint, led by Martin (@mfenk.bsky.social), is online. We address the microbiome’s role as a source and incubator of acute infections by combining prospective collection of native samples with population-wide, culture-based sequencing. Please check out Martin’s wonderful thread. ⬇️🧵🎉

📣 Open call for life science #interns Our International Summer #Internship 2026 is now open for applications. Three-months fully funded internships at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology. 👉 Information on the internship projects and how to apply: www.mpiib-berlin.mpg.de/mpiib-isi

Two group leader positions available in the broader areas of RNA science, RNA technologies, and RNA medicine. Attractive packages and a great environment. Come and join us at Helmholtz RNA Würzburg, Bavaria.

Two new positions are available at the MPI for Evolutionary Biology to support development of our genomics facility. Both stand to become permanent. Both offer a ton of opportunity to engage in a wide range of creative science. Pls repost 🙏 www.evolbio.mpg.de/3838377/job_...

Great to see the preprint & code out. Large scale within host evolution analysis made easy. Happy that we could contribute to the development. Kudos to all involved including @i-light-maka.bsky.social & @mfenk.bsky.social from the Key lab.

Fascinating study delineating plasmid evolution during the last 100 years.

New ERC funded computational postdoc position in my lab! We are looking for someone who will study the genomics of bacterial evolution using samples from experimental evolution and clinical trials. Lots of opportunities for interesting and fun collaboration! my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

I have funding for a 2-year dry-lab postdoc to join our team @humanevouu.bsky.social 🧪 (Deadline Oct 21st) The project will utilize modern and #aDNA data from humans and sheep to study environmental adaptation (including method development and simulations). Please share! www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

❓ Do you develop a #Nextflow pipeline for #metagenomics, #metataxonomics, #metatranscriptomics, #metaproteomics, etc? 🧑‍💻 I'm looking for #bioinformatics developers to give demos of their #opensource pipelines to the scientific community in a ‘Meta-*omics Nextflow pipeline community exhibition […]

Open postdoc position in in my lab in Berlin @mpiib-berlin.mpg.de. Join us to push the frontier in ancient microbial genomics. Please apply until Oct 17th. Reach out in case you have any questions. www.mpiib-berlin.mpg.de/2193291/job_...

We are looking for a postdoc to study single-cell transcriptional heterogeneity in the human skin microbiome. We have a new protocol mostly developed, but need someone to see it through. Experience with protocol dev or RNAseq appreciated. Funded by a new grant from MIT-HEALS.

We have a new article out in Cell! Learn more about plague in prehistoric livestock: "Bronze Age Yersinia pestis genome from sheep sheds light on hosts and evolution of a prehistoric plague lineage" www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

The FIRST International Conference on Palaeogenomics will happen in Stockholm, Sweden, June 23-26, 2026! Topics will encompass all corners of ancient DNA research, from humans to wildlife and sediments🧬🦣💀🦠 Save the dates ✅ Check the website icp2026.palaeogenomics.org and follow us for updates!