ISBA11 Debriefing
by The Steering Committee and SPAAM7 organizing committee
At the conclusion of the ISBA conference, members of our ancient metagenomics community gathered for a debriefing session to share our impressions and feedback on the ISBA conference program. Below is a summary of the key points discussed.
Keynote Sessions
The keynote presentations were generally very well received. In particular, Cristina Valdiosera’s keynote (Biomolecular Echoes: The Unequal Footprint of Human History; https://media.unito.it/?content=11523) stood out as a clear favourite among attendees.
Accessibility of Keynotes
Some participants found the first keynote by Joanna Brück (Decolonizing European prehistory; https://media.unito.it/?content=11522) challenging to follow, especially those without a background in theoretical archaeology. To promote better interdisciplinary understanding, SPAAM will be launching an initiative – starting with a dedicated channel on Element – to connect archaeologists interested in metagenomics. This will hopefully foster further collaborative activities, such as joint seminars.
Methodological Talks
Talks focusing on methodologies were highly appreciated. There was consensus within the group that future conferences should dedicate more discussion time to methodological topics. Mohamed Sarhan’s presentation (De-novo assembly and reconstruction of an ancient Streptococcus pyogenes genome from a pre-Columbian mummy: Insights into the evolution of a human adapted pathogen) on de-novo assembly of ancient metagenomes was highlighted as particularly valuable. Mohamed Sarhan also won the ISBA Future Fellows prize for the best talk. Congratulations!
Scientific Sessions
There was strong enthusiasm for the Evolution session held on Thursday, August 28, which featured a strong showing of SPAAM-related talks, such as Kristen Bos’ talk on treponematoses, Mario Apata on oral health in pre-columbian populations, Maria Lopopolo on leprosy in pre-contact Americas, Meriam Guellil on human Betaherpesviruses, Iseult Jackson on Salmonella enterica, Ian Light-Maka on Yersinia pestis in Bronze Age sheep, and Louis L’Hôte on Sheeppox virus. Maria Lopopolo, Charlotte Avanzi and Nicolas Rascovan received the ISBA Distinguished Article Award for their related paper (https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adu7144). Congratulations!
Museomics & Ethics
Presentations covering museomics and associated ethical considerations were also well liked and generated discussion. The importance of involving museums in the first stages of thinking about projects was highlighted. There was a discussion on who “owns” the samples and on where the data (extracts, libraries) should be stored. It was pointed out that there is a need for collaborations across archives and labs, to keep track of what was sampled, in order to connect researchers and avoid double sampling (for example: libraries or extracts could be shared and re-used across labs). Cross-disciplines dialogue is needed to establish sorts of ‘protocols’ or ‘lists’ of things that a museum/collection owner should ask when a researcher arrives to ask for samples.
sedaDNA and Contamination Minimization
Arjen de Groot’s talk (Towards an archaeological workflow for sedaDNA sample collection: methods and best practices for minimizing surface contamination) on methods for minimizing surface contamination in sedaDNA research was another highlight, offering practical insights for the community.
Poster Sessions
Many found it challenging to follow the poster sessions, as the espresso talks were sometimes scheduled on different days from the related poster presentations. Additionally, it was often unclear when presenters would be available at their posters. For future conferences, having a clearer list and schedule for poster sessions as well as presenter availability would be beneficial.
Best SPAAM talks
Just like at the last ISBA10 in Tartu 2023, we took a vote on the best SPAAM talk presented at ISBA this year (with a total of 13 SPAAM talks between plenary and espresso talks). This year’s favorites were all about leprosy! We congratulate:
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Maria Lopopolo for the best plenary talk: Uncovering pre-European contact leprosy in the Americas and its enduring persistence
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Aida Andrades Valtueña for the best espresso talk: Mycobacterium leprae genomes from Central Europe provide clues into the past diversity of the leprosy bacterium
Thank you all for your active participation and valuable feedback!
