SPAAM

What affects aDNA recovery from dental calculus? 🦷📊 In 32 mammal species, library success (~74%) was possibly shaped by host diet. #MetagenomicsMonday #SPAAM #aDNA

Interested in the past of reef organisms and ecosystems? 🪸 Sign up for the 2026 International Coral Reef Symposium that will take place in Auckland, NZ. The abstract submissions are open until December. #aDNA #SPAAM #ecosystems #reef #coral #symposium

A 75,000-y-old Scandinavian Arctic cave deposit reveals past faunal diversity and paleoenvironment | PNAS During the last glacial period (~118 to 11.7 ka), the Arctic has been characterized by a major redistribution of flora and fauna as a consequence o...

What lived in Arctic Norway ~80,000 years ago? ❄️🦌 Ancient sediments from a cave reveal 46 taxa of mammals, birds & fish — a unique cold-adapted coastal ecosystem. #MetagenomicsMonday #SPAAM #aDNA
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Bronze Age Yersinia pestis genome from sheep sheds light on hosts and evolution of a prehistoric plague lineage Most human pathogens are of zoonotic origin. Many emerged during prehistory, coinciding with domestication providing more opportunities for spillover …

Did prehistoric sheep carry plague? 🐑🦠 A 3rd-millennium BCE Yersinia pestis genome from domesticated sheep links livestock to human infections in prehistory. #MetagenomicsMonday #SPAAM #aDNA
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

Ancient host-associated microbes obtained from mammoth remains Ancient genomic studies have extensively explored human-microbial interactions, yet research on non-human animals remains limited. In this study, we a…

What can a million-year-old mammoth teach us about microbes? 🦠 From pathogens to commensals, this new study reconstructs the oldest known host-associated microbial DNA. #MetagenomicsMonday #SPAAM #aDNA
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

#MetagenomicsMonday A new study shares 174 archaeological dental calculus metagenomes from across the UK, spanning multiple periods. With rich metadata and rigorous quality control, the dataset opens new doors to exploring ancient microbiome through time.
doi.org/10.1016/j.di...

SPAAM Summer School (2025): Introduction to Ancient Metagenomics Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

Interested in learning more about how researchers analyze ancient DNA? Here you can find the free lectures from the SPAAM Summer School 2025 - Introduction to Ancient Metagenomics: tinyurl.com/3u9mhmd2
Slides: tinyurl.com/mkfrvru4
Feel free to ask questions in the comments!
#ancientDNA #SPAAM

#MetagenomicsMonday Are you interested in ancient microbiome and sedaDNA? Check out wholeskim - new fast and efficient pipeline that uses unassembled genome skims to index and query k-mers for taxonomic annotation of environmental DNA.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Our wonderful speakers:
@aidanva.bsky.social
@davidebozzi.bsky.social
Yuejiao Huang
@zoepochon.bsky.social
Keri Burge
Katherine Hearne
Marcel Keller
@jmuurine.bsky.social
Madeleine Thirolle
@bbonucci.bsky.social
@giuliazamp93.bsky.social
@anthbyte.bsky.social

A huge thanks to all the amazing speakers and participants at #SPAAM7 yesterday 🧬🙌

The sessions were full of inspiring talks and great discussions!✨

Davide Bozzi shared results from his study of Aboriginal Australian saliva microbiomes, revealing a high diversity of novel species🦠

Follow him for more insights!
@davidebozzi.bsky.social

#SPAAM7 #aDNA

Aida Andrades Valtueña, our keynote speaker at #SPAAM7, gave a fantastic talk on SPAAM’s history, its current state, and where the future might take us. A great reminder of how far this community has come and how much lies ahead!

Don't be afraid to join us! ❤️

@aidanva.bsky.social

#MetagenomicsMonday A new review highlights the potential of sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) to uncover lost coastal ecologies, human–environment interactions, and biocultural change. #aDNA #sedaDNA
doi.org/10.1098/rstb...

SPAAMtisch evaluation form 2025 Give us your feedback on our SPAAMtisch initiative which runs almost every month alternating seminars and round tables

Dear SPAAM community, help us improve #SPAAMtisch our longest ongoing initiative!

Whether you're a regular or just joined, we want your feedback to give voice to the community!

Please fill out this form, it will take only 3 minutes.

forms.gle/XwPko88y4D1U...

#MetagenomicsMonday A new aDNA study of >200 kākāpō coprolites spanning >800 years reveals significant parasite loss. >80% of pre-1990 endoparasite taxa are absent from contemporary kākāpō, suggesting that host population decline can drive irreversible parasite extinctions doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

Blog · SPAAM Community Standards, Precautions, and Advances in Ancient Metagenomics

Hello SPAAM Community!
We are looking for volunteers to contribute to our SPAAM blog: www.spaam-community.org/category/blog/
If you are interested in authoring a blog post on the SPAAM website, do not hesitate to contact us at paam.community@gmail.com :)

Help us give a warm welcome to our newest #SPAAM7 invited speaker, Keri Burge! 🙌

Catch her talk on August 26th — live in Turin or online!

#MetagenomicsMonday Environmental aDNA was used to reconstruct 3k years of marine biodiversity off the coast of Iceland. Herring abundance was linked to temperature, highlighting climate as a key driver of marine biodiversity
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

We're excited to welcome Sterling Wright as the next invited speaker at #SPAAM7!🎉

@anthbyte.bsky.social

Listen to his talk on August 26th in Turin or online!🔥

The spatiotemporal distribution of human pathogens in ancient Eurasia - Nature Screening shotgun-sequencing data from ancient humans covering 37,000 years of Eurasian history uncovers the widespread presence of ancient bacterial, viral and parasite DNA and zoonotic pathogens…

#MetagenomicsMonday Analysis of aDNA from 1313 ancient human remains spanning 37k years revealed that the rise of infectious diseases coincided with animal domestication around 65k years ago, with disease spread intensifying during pastoralist migrations.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Registration form - SPAAM7 SPAAM7 will take place as a hybrid satellite meeting of the ISBA11 in Turin When? 26th August 2025 Where? Accademia Albertina 13 in Turin and online via Zoom. Zoom link will be sent to online partici...

🗣️ Pssst… we’ve got good news!
Missed the deadline for #SPAAM7? No worries! Registration is now open until 4.8. 🎉
That’s your second chance to join the fun. Don’t sleep on it! 😉

🔗 forms.gle/sr83nxn1FWfp...

See you in Turin or via zoom! 🔥

#MetagenomicsMonday A review paper from Boualam et al., highlights the evolution of diagnostic methods for ancient infectious diseases and emphasizes how interdisciplinary approaches are transforming our understanding of disease.
doi.org/10.1016/j.di...

Ancient DNA integrates fossil and modern giant salamander taxonomy - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Ancient DNA integrates fossil and modern giant salamander taxonomy

#MetagenomicsMonday aDNA from giant salamander fossils from Shikoku Island confirmed they belonged to Andrias japonicus, matching the mitochondrial DNA of the extant species. The population persisted until around 3,500–4,100BP.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

📢 Registration Now Open for SPAAM7!

Join as for the pre-ISBA hybrid event, to be held on August 26th, 2025,in Turin, Italy 🇮🇹
Check out our preliminary program 🧬🦠

🔗 Register by the 30th of July using this link!!
forms.gle/6jiHhCKFk3Qh...

We look forward to seeing you (In person or via zoom)! 🔥🔥

Next up at #SPAAM7 – invited speaker Giulia Zampirolo 🙌

@giuliazamp93.bsky.social

Don’t miss her talk in the Round table session about Bioinformatic methods in Turin on August 26th

#aDNA #SPAAM7

Sedimentary ancient DNA as part of a multimethod paleoparasitology approach reveals temporal trends in human parasitic burden in the Roman period Author summary A multimethod approach in paleoparasitology, combining microscopy, ELISA and aDNA, provides a more complete reconstruction of past parasite diversity. Applying this multimethod…

#MetagenomicsMonday aDNA analysis revealed a shift from zoonotic parasites in the pre-Roman period to a dominance of sanitation-related parasites in later periods. A multimethod approach proved most effective for reconstructing past parasite diversity.
journals.plos.org/plosntds/art...

The infectious disease burden seems to have fluctuated over time, which is likely tied to multiple factors, including famine, crowding, proximity to animals, etc. The "lack of doctors" probably did not help ;)
- JH Bonczarowska

Say hi to our next invited speaker for #SPAAM7 – Zoé Pochon! 👋

@zoepochon.bsky.social

Catch her talk in Turin (or online) on August 26th!

#aDNA #SPAAM7

#MetagenomicsMonday Clostridial neurotoxin genes are surprisingly common in both human and animal ancient remains, sreflecting the close ecological relationship between pathogenic Clostridia and decomposing tissue.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Pathogen genomics study of an early medieval community in Germany reveals extensive co-infections - Genome Biology Background The pathogen landscape in the Early European Middle Ages remains largely unexplored. Here, we perform a systematic pathogen screening of the rural community Lauchheim “Mittelhofen,” in…

#MetagenomicsMonday Pathogen screening of a rural early medieval community uncovers a surprisingly high rate of infectious diseases (>30%). Researchers suggest that major climate changes at the time might have influenced the disease burden.
doi.org/10.1186/s130...