Research Group Leader @mpiib_berlin. #Genetics of clinical and ancient #microbes to understand the #evolution of #infectious #diseases and the #microbiome mpiib-berlin.mpg.de/2003543/key-labhttps://bsky.app/profile/keyfm.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/keyfm.bsky.social/post/3momqej55ss24Thx 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. [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Jun 2026 06:41 +0000at://did:plc:xel2q6o7qrosu6vta63plaf4/app.bsky.feed.post/3momqej55ss24https://bsky.app/profile/keyfm.bsky.social/post/3molm4s5lgc2eWrote 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. https://www.science.org/eprint/MSG3ZVGWFCBQF8HATVHD/full?activationRedirect=/doi/full/10.1126/science.aef094118 Jun 2026 19:52 +0000at://did:plc:xel2q6o7qrosu6vta63plaf4/app.bsky.feed.post/3molm4s5lgc2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/keyfm.bsky.social/post/3mkqdjvlh4c2yWhat a life! https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/science/j-craig-venter-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.e1A.E3Rx.vq7Ej-lma3R2&smid=nytcore-ios-share30 Apr 2026 19:21 +0000at://did:plc:xel2q6o7qrosu6vta63plaf4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkqdjvlh4c2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/keyfm.bsky.social/post/3mkphusdl7c2iCan we reconstruct ancient pathogen genomes from animal remains? Can paleopathology help prioritize promising specimens? Our new paper demonstrates this by screening more than 300 specimens from across Eurasia over the past 6,000 years. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-71543-430 Apr 2026 11:06 +0000at://did:plc:xel2q6o7qrosu6vta63plaf4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkphusdl7c2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/keyfm.bsky.social/post/3miwep6erg22fEnjoyed 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. [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 Apr 2026 18:08 +0000at://did:plc:xel2q6o7qrosu6vta63plaf4/app.bsky.feed.post/3miwep6erg22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/keyfm.bsky.social/post/3mhs42ievhs27Thx 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. [contains quote post or other embedded content]24 Mar 2026 07:57 +0000at://did:plc:xel2q6o7qrosu6vta63plaf4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhs42ievhs27https://bsky.app/profile/keyfm.bsky.social/post/3m46c2jtyb22aOur 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. ⬇️🧵🎉 [contains quote post or other embedded content]27 Oct 2025 11:14 +0000at://did:plc:xel2q6o7qrosu6vta63plaf4/app.bsky.feed.post/3m46c2jtyb22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/keyfm.bsky.social/post/3m235ljlyt22vGreat 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. [contains quote post or other embedded content]30 Sep 2025 18:26 +0000at://did:plc:xel2q6o7qrosu6vta63plaf4/app.bsky.feed.post/3m235ljlyt22vhttps://bsky.app/profile/keyfm.bsky.social/post/3lzpsow3lqs2pFascinating study delineating plasmid evolution during the last 100 years. [contains quote post or other embedded content]26 Sep 2025 06:11 +0000at://did:plc:xel2q6o7qrosu6vta63plaf4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzpsow3lqs2p