Our Publications

2025

Nieves-Colón MA. (2025) Commentary on Special Issue: “Towards a Biocultural Synthesis of the Peopling of the Americas”. American Journal of Biological Anthropology. 188(3), e70149 [link here]

2024

Nieves-Colón MA*, Ulrich EC*, Chen L, Torres Colón GA, Rivera Clemente M, Corporación Piñones se Integra (COPI), Benn Torres J. Genomic variation in Puerto Rican Afro-descendants illustrates diverse histories of African diasporic populations. American Journal of Biological Anthropology.185(3), e25059.

Nieves-Colón MA. El ADN antiguo y la arqueología del Caribe.Revista Patrimonios, Volumen XII: Aproximaciones recientes a la arqueología de Puerto Rico . Oficina Estatal de Conservacion Histórica de Puerto Rico. v12 2024: 74-83. [Full text here]

2023

Villa-Islas V, Izarraras-Gomez A, Larena M, Perez Campos EM, Sandoval-Velasco M, Rodríguez-Rodríguez JE, Bravo-Lopez M, Moguel B, Fregel R, Garfias-Morales E, Medina Tretmanis J, Velázquez-Ramírez DA, Herrera-Muñoz A, Sandoval K, Nieves-Colón MA, García Moreno GZ, Villanea FA, Villanueva Medina EF, Aguayo-Haro R, Valdiosera C, Ioannidis AG, Moreno-Estrada A, Jay F, Huerta-Sanchez E, Moreno-Mayar V, Sánchez- Quinto F, Ávila-Arcos MC. Demographic history and genetic structure in pre-hispanic Central Mexico. Science Advances. 380(6645): eadd6142.

Kowal E, Weyrich LS, Argüelles JM, Bader AC, Colwell C, Cortez AD, Davis JL, Figueiro G, Fox K, Malhi RS, Matisoo-Smith E, Nayak A, Nelson EA, Nicholas G, Nieves-Colón MA, Russell L, Ulm S, Vergara-Silva F, Villanea FA, Wagner JK, Yracheta JM, Tsosie KM. Community partnerships are fundamental to ethical ancient DNA research. Human Genetics and Genomics Advances. 42(2): 100161. (Authors listed alphabetically)

2022

Caro-Consuegra R*, Nieves-Colón MA*, Rawls, E, Rubin-de-Celis V, Lizárraga B, Vidaurre T, Sandoval K, Fejerman L, Stone AC, Moreno-Estrada A, Bosch E. Uncovering signals of positive selection in Peruvian populations from three ecological regions. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 39(8): msac158

Nieves-Colón MA*, Badillo Rivera K*, Sandoval Mendoza K, Villanueva Dávalos V, Enriquez Lencinas LE, Mendoza-Revilla J, Adhikari K, González-Buenfil R, Chen JW, Zhang ET, Sockell A, Ortiz Tello P, Hurtado GM, Condori Salas R, Cebrecos R, Manzaneda Choque JC, Manzaneda Choque FP, Yábar Pilco GP, Rawls E, Eng C, Huntsman S, Gonzàlez Burchard E, Poletti G, Gallo C, Bustamante CD, Baker JC, Gignoux CR, Wojcik GL, Moreno-Estrada A. Clotting factor genes are associated with preeclampsia in high altitude pregnant women in the Peruvian Andes. American Journal of Human Genetics. 109(6): 1117-1139.

Ávila-Arcos MC*, de la Fuente Castro*, Nieves-Colón MA*, Raghavan M*. Recommendations for sustainable ancient DNA research in the Global South: Voices from a new generation of paleogenomicists. Frontiers in Genetics. Contribution to Special Issue: The ethics and challenges of studying the genetics of marginalized populations. 13. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.880170. (Authors listed alphabetically due to equal contributions).

Mohammed RM, Turner G, Fowler K, Pateman M, Nieves-Colón MA, Fanovich L, Cooke SB, Dávalos LM, Fitzpatrick SM, Giovas CM, Stokowsi M, Wrean AA, Kemp M, LeFebvre MJ, Mychajliw A. Colonial legacies influence biodiversity lessons: How past trade routes and power dynamics shape present day scientific research and professional opportunities for Caribbean scientists.American Naturalist. 200(1): 140-155.

Mendoza-Revilla J, Chacón-Duque JC, Fuentes-Guajardo M, Ormond L, Wang K, Hurtado M, Villegas V, Granja V, Acuña-Alonzo V, Jaramillo C, Arias W, Barquera Lozano R, Gómez-Valdés J, Villamil-Ramírez H, Silva de Cerqueira CC, Badillo Rivera K, Nieves-Colón MA, Gignoux CR, Wojcik GL, Moreno-Estrada A, Hunemeier T, Ramallo V, Schuler-Faccini L, Gonzalez-José R, Bortolini MC, Canizales-Quinteros S, Gallo C, Poletti G, Bedoya G, Rothhammer F, Balding D, Fumagalli M, Adhikari K, Ruiz-Linares A, Hellenthal G. Disentangling signatures of selection before and after European colonization in Latin Americans.Molecular Biology and Evolution. 39(4). doi: 10.1093/molbev/msac076

Nieves-Colón MA. Anthropological genetic insights on Caribbean population history.Evolutionary Anthropology. 31: 118-137.

2021

Nieves-Colón MA, Blevins KE, Contreras-Seick MA, Bravo López M. Paleogenómica y Bioarqueología en México.Cuicuilco Revista de Ciencias Antropológicas. 28(81): 187-223.

2020

Bravo-López M, Villa-Islas V, Rocha C, Villaseñor AB, Solís A, Sandoval-Velasco M, Alcántara K, Gómez-Valdés J, Herrera A, Mejía E, Meraz Moreno A, Moreno Cabrera ML, Moreno-Estrada A, Nieves-Colón MA, Olvera J, Pérez-Pérez J, Iversen KH, Rasmussen S, Sandoval-Mendoza K, Wesp J, Zepeda G, Ávila-Arcos MC. Paleogenomic insights into the red complex bacteria Tannerella forsythia in pre-hispanic and colonial individuals from Mexico.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 375: 20190580.

Motti JMB, Winingear S, Valenzuela LO, Nieves-Colón MA, Harkins KM, García Laborde P, Bravi CM, Guichón R, Stone AC. Identification of the geographic origins of people buried in the Cemetery of the Salesian Mission of Tierra del Fuego through the analysis of mtDNA and stable isotopes.Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 33: 102559.

​Nägele K, Posth C, Orbegozo MI, Chinque de Armas Y, Hernandez Godoy ST, González Herrera UM, Nieves-Colón MA, Sandoval-Velasco M, Mylopotamitaki D, Radzeviciute R, Laffoon J, Pestle WJ, Ramos-Madrigal J, Lamnidis TC, Schaffer WC, Carr RS, Day JS, Arredondo Antúnez C, Rangel Rivero A, Martínez-Fuentes AJ, Crespo-Torres E, Roksandic I, Stone AC, Lalueza-Fox C, Hoogland M, Roksandic M, Hofman C, Krause J, Schroeder H. Genomic insights into the early peopling of the Caribbean. Science. 369(6502): 456-460.

Gokhman, D, Nissim-Rafinia M,​ Agranat-Tamir L, Housman G, García-Perez R, Lizano E, Chernoet O, Mallick S, Nieves-Colón MA, Li H, Alpaslan-Roodenberg S, Novak, M, Gu H, Ferrando-Bernal M, Gelabert P, Lipende I, Mjungu D, Kondova I, Bontrop R, Kullmer O, Quillen EE, Meissner A, Lahav Y, Kandel L, Liebergall M, Prada ME, Vidal JM, Gronostajski RM, Stone AC, Yakir B, Lalueza-Fox C, Pinhasi R, Reich D, Marques-Bonet T, Meshorer E. Differential DNA methylation of vocal and facial anatomy genes in modern humans. Nature Communications. 11:1189.

Nieves-Colón MA, Pestle WJ, Reynolds AW, Llamas B, de la Fuente C, Fowler, K, Skerry K, Crespo-Torres E, Bustamante CD, Stone AC. Ancient DNA reconstructs the genetic legacies of pre-contact Puerto Rico. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 37(3):611-620.

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2018

Belbin GM, Nieves-Colón MA, Kenny EE, Moreno-Estrada A, Gignoux CR. (2018) Genetic diversity in populations across Latin America: Implications for population and medical genetic studies.Current Opinions in Genetics and Development. 53:98-104.

Cruz-Dávalos DI, Nieves-Colón MA, Sockell AS, Poznick DG, Schroeder H, Stone AC, Bustamante CD, Malaspinas AS, Ávila-Arcos, MC. (2018). In-solution Y-chromosome enrichment on ancient DNA libraries.BMC Genomics. 19:608.

Nieves-Colón MA, Ozga AT, Pestle WJ, Cucina A, Tiesler V, Stanton T, Stone AC. (2018) Comparison of two ancient DNA extraction protocols for skeletal remains from tropical environments. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 16:824-836.

2017

Díaz-Zabala HJ, Nieves-Colón MA, Martínez-Cruzado JC. (2017) A mainly circum- Mediterranean origin for West Eurasian mtDNAs in Puerto Rico with strong contributions from the Canary Islands and West Africa. Human Biology. 89(2): 125-155.

Watkins JK, Blatt SH, Bradbury CA, Alanko GA, Kohn MJ, Lytle ML, Taylor J, Lacroix D, Nieves-Colón MA, Stone AC, Butt DP. (2017) Determining the affinity of an unprovenienced human skull for repatriation. Journal of Archaeological Science. 12: 384-394.

2016

Ozga AT, Nieves-Colón MA, Honap TP, Sankaranarayanan K, Hofman CA, Milner G, Lewis CM, Stone AC, Warinner C. (2016) Successful enrichment and recovery of whole mitochondrial genomes from ancient human dental calculus. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 160(2): 220-228.

2026 (Forthcoming)

Nägele K, Benn Torres J, Nieves-Colón MA. Research ethics in Caribbean Archaeogenomics. In Fricke F, Herrera Malatesta E (Eds.). Ethics in Caribbean Archaeology: Past, Present and Future. University Press of Florida. [link]

2025 

Nägele K, Nieves-Colón MA. Ancient DNA analysis and its applications to pre-contact Caribbean archaeology. In Weston D, Chinque de Armas Y (Eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Bioarchaeology in the Caribbean. New York: Routledge. p. 11-49.

2024

Reynolds AW, Lea AJ, Nieves-Colón MA. Genomics research in lower and middle income countries: Ethics, common challenges and emerging solutions. In Möller, M and Uren, C (Ed.) Population Genomics in the Developing World: Concepts, Applications and Challenges. London: Elsevier. p. 65-82.

Pestle WJ, Nieves-Colón MA, Dine H, Pourmand A. The Tibes burials: New perspectives on ancient lives. In Curet LA and Stringer L (Eds). The Archaeology of Tibes: Life, Death, and Memory at an Early Ceremonial Center in the Caribbean.Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. p.152-175.

2021​

Stone JH and Nieves-Colón MA. Stepping stones and genomes: Using ancient DNA to reconstruct island colonization. In Napolitano MF, Stone JH and DiNaploi RJ (Eds). The Archaeology of Island Colonization. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

2018

Nieves-Colón MA and Stone AC. Ancient DNA analysis of archaeological remains. In MA Katzenberg and AL Grauer (Eds). Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton. Third Edition. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 515-544.

2025

Nieves-Colón MA. Q&A interview for Current Biology. Vol. 35 (1), PR6. [ink]

2020

Dávalos LM, Austin RM, Balisi MA, Begay RL, Hofman CA, Kemp ME, Lund JR, Monroe C, Mychajliw A, Nelson EA, Nieves-Colón MA, Redondo SA, Sabin S, Tsosie KS, Yracheta JM. Pandemics’ historical role in inequality [Letter to the Editor]. Science. 368(6497): 1322-1323. (All authors contributed equally).

2019

Nieves-Colón MA. Ancient DNA and Caribbean Archaeology. The SAA Archaeological Record. 19(2): 26-31