Christian Huber
Assistant Professor of Biology
- He/Him/His
- cdh5313@psu.edu
- 814-863-6634
Research Summary
How evolutionary mechanisms such as mutation, recombination, and natural selection shape genetic diversity and the variability between individuals and species.
Huck Graduate Students
Huck Affiliations
- Bioinformatics and Genomics
- Ecology
- Master of Biotechnology
- Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Biosciences
Links
Most Recent Publications
The distribution of fitness effects varies phylogenetically across animals.
M Lin, S Chakraborty, Amorim CEG, S Nigenda-Morales, A Beichman, P Nuñez-Valencia, J Mah, J Robinson, C Kyriazis, Christian Huber, A Webb, S Kocher, F Archer, A Moreno-Estrada, R Wayne, K Lohmueller, 2025, bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Performance of qpAdm-based screens for genetic admixture on graph-shaped histories and stepping stone landscapes.
O Flegontova, U Işıldak, E Yüncü, M Williams, Christian Huber, J Kočí, L Vyazov, P Changmai, P Flegontov, 2025, Genetics
A likelihood-based framework for demographic inference from genealogical trees
Caoqi Fan, Jordan L. Cahoon, Bryan L. Dinh, Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo, Christian D. Huber, Michael D. Edge, Nicholas Mancuso, Charleston W.K. Chiang, 2025, Nature Genetics on p. 865-874
Accessible, realistic genome simulation with selection using stdpopsim.
G Gower, N Pope, M Rodrigues, S Tittes, L Tran, O Alam, Cavassim MIA, P Fields, B Haller, X Huang, B Jeffrey, K Korfmann, C Kyriazis, J Min, I Rebollo, C Rehmann, S Small, Smith CCR, G Tsambos, Y Wong, Y Zhang, Christian Huber, G Gorjanc, A Ragsdale, I Gronau, R Gutenkunst, J Kelleher, K Lohmueller, D Schrider, P Ralph, A Kern, 2025, bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Patterns of population structure and genetic variation within the Saudi Arabian population.
D Malomane, M Williams, Christian Huber, S Mangul, M Abedalthagafi, Chiang CWK, 2025, bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Apollo: A comprehensive GPU-powered within-host simulator for viral evolution and infection dynamics across population, tissue, and cell.
D Perera, E Li, F van der Meer, Tarah Lynch, J Gill, D Church, Christian Huber, G van Marle, A Platt, Q Long, 2024, bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Testing times: Disentangling admixture histories in recent and complex demographies using ancient DNA
Matthew P. Williams, Pavel Flegontov, Robert Maier, Christian D. Huber, 2024, Genetics
The complete sequence and comparative analysis of ape sex chromosomes
Kateryna D. Makova, Brandon Pickett, R Harris, Gabrielle Hartley, Monika Cechova, Karol Pal, Sergey Nurk, DongAhn Yoo, Qiuhui Li, Prajna Hebbar, B McGrath, Francesca Antonacci, Margaux Aubel, Arjun Biddanda, Matthew Borchers, Erich Bornberg-Bauer, Gerard Bouffard, Shelise Brooks, Lucia Carbone, Laura Carrel, Andrew Carroll, Pi-Chuan Chang, Chen-Shan Chin, Daniel Cook, S Craig, Luciana de Gennaro, Mark Diekhans, Amalia Dutra, Gage Garcia, Patrick Grady, Richard Green, Diana Haddad, Pille Hallast, William Harvey, Glenn Hickey, David Hillis, Savannah Hoyt, Hyeonsoo Jeong, Kaivan Kamali, Sergei Pond, Troy LaPolice, Charles Lee, Alexandra Lewis, Yong-Hwee Loh, Patrick Masterson, Kelly McGarvey, Rajiv McCoy, P Medvedev, Karen Miga, Katherine Munson, Evgenia Pak, Benedict Paten, Brendan Pinto, Tamara Potapova, Arang Rhie, Joana Rocha, Fedor Ryabov, Oliver Ryder, Samuel Sacco, Kishwar Shafin, Valery Shepelev, Viviane Slon, Steven Solar, Jessica Storer, Peter Sudmant, Sweetalana, Sweetalana, Alex Sweeten, Michael Tassia, Françoise Thibaud-Nissen, Thibaud-Nissen, Fran\ccoise, Mario Ventura, Melissa Wilson, Alice Young, Huiqing Zeng, Xinru Zhang, Z Szpiech, Christian D. Huber, Jennifer Gerton, Soojin Yi, Michael Schatz, Ivan Alexandrov, Sergey Koren, Rachel J. O’Neill, Rachel O'Neill, Evan Eichler, Adam Phillippy, 2024, Nature on p. 410-411
Population genetic simulation: Benchmarking frameworks for non-standard models of natural selection
Olivia L. Johnson, Raymond Tobler, Joshua M. Schmidt, Christian D. Huber, 2024, Molecular Ecology Notes
The Promise of Inferring the Past Using the Ancestral Recombination Graph
Debora Y.C. Brandt, Christian D. Huber, Charleston W.K. Chiang, Diego Ortega Del Vecchyo, 2024, Genome Biology and Evolution
Most-Cited Papers
The inflated significance of neutral genetic diversity in conservation genetics
João C. Teixeira, Christian D. Huber, 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SweepFinder2: Increased sensitivity, robustness and flexibility
M DeGiorgio, Christian Huber, Melissa Hubisz, Ines Hellmann, Rasmus Nielsen, 2016, Bioinformatics on p. 1895--1897
Inference of the distribution of selection coefficients for new nonsynonymous mutations using large samples
Bernard Y. Kim, Christian D. Huber, Kirk E. Lohmueller, 2017, Genetics on p. 345-361
Detecting recent selective sweeps while controlling for mutation rate and background selection
Christian Huber, M DeGiorgio, Ines Hellmann, Rasmus Nielsen, 2016, Molecular Ecology on p. 142--156
Determining the factors driving selective effects of new nonsynonymous mutations
Christian D. Huber, Bernard Y. Kim, Clare D. Marsden, Kirk E. Lohmueller, 2017, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 4465-4470
Deleterious variation shapes the genomic landscape of introgression
Bernard Y. Kim, Christian D. Huber, Kirk E. Lohmueller, 2018, PLoS Genetics
Gene expression drives the evolution of dominance
Christian D. Huber, Arun Durvasula, Angela M. Hancock, Kirk E. Lohmueller, 2018, Nature Communications
Population genetic models of GERP scores suggest pervasive turnover of constrained sites across mammalian evolution
Christian D. Huber, Bernard Y. Kim, Kirk E. Lohmueller, 2020, PLoS Genetics
An ancient viral epidemic involving host coronavirus interacting genes more than 20,000 years ago in East Asia
Yassine Souilmi, M. Elise Lauterbur, Ray Tobler, Christian D. Huber, Angad S. Johar, Shayli Varasteh Moradi, Wayne A. Johnston, Nevan J. Krogan, Kirill Alexandrov, David Enard, 2021, Current Biology on p. 3504-3514.e9
Understanding the Hidden Complexity of Latin American Population Isolates
Jazlyn A. Mooney, Christian D. Huber, Susan Service, Jae Hoon Sul, Clare D. Marsden, Zhongyang Zhang, Chiara Sabatti, Andrés Ruiz-Linares, Gabriel Bedoya, Scott C. Fears, Susan K. Service, Barbara Kremeyer, Carmen Araya Lic, Xinia Araya Lic, Julio Bejarano, Margarita Ramirez Lic, Gabriel Castrillón, Maria C. Lopez, Gabriel Montoya, Patricia Montoya, Terri M. Teshiba, Lori Altshuler, George Bartzokis, Javier Escobar, Jorge Ospina-Duque, Neil Risch, Andrés Ruiz-Linares, Rita M. Cantor, Carlos Lopez-Jaramillo, Gabriel Macaya, Julio Molina, Victor I. Reus, Chiara Sabatti, Nelson B. Freimer, Carrie E. Bearden, Jae Hoon Sul, Alden Y. Huang, Vasily Ramensky, Sun Goo Hwang, Young Jun Park, Zhongyang Zhang, Loes M. Olde Loohuis, Mitzi Spesny, Juliana Gomez-Makhinson, Gabriel Bedoya, Giovanni Coppola, Nelson Freimer, Kirk E. Lohmueller, 2018, American Journal of Human Genetics on p. 707-726
News Articles Featuring Christian Huber
Apr 09, 2025
Complete genome sequences of six ape species unveiled
Differences among the DNA of seven ape species — including humans — are greater than originally thought, according to an international team led by researchers at Penn State, the National Human Genome Research Institute, and the University of Washington.
Full Article
Apr 09, 2025
Complete genome sequences of six ape species unveiled
Previously inaccessible regions reveal novel insights that may advance understanding of evolution and conservation genetics for endangered apes as well as human health.
Full Article
May 29, 2024
Complete X and Y chromosome sequences of living great ape species determined
Newly generated, complete “end-to-end” reference genomes for the sex chromosomes of five great ape species and one lesser ape species — produced by an international collaborative team led by researchers at Penn State, the National Human Genome Research Institute and the University of Washington — highlight extremely rapid changes on the male-specific Y chromosome among ape species.
Full Article
Nov 02, 2022
Ancient genomes reveal hidden history of human adaptation
It is widely believed that the genetics of our human ancestors did not change in response to environmental pressures as much as that of other animals. However, a new study comparing modern human genomes with ancient human DNA finds that certain genetic changes in humans may have been more common than previously thought.
Full Article