Alejandro Montenegro
@aemonten.bsky.social
Molecular Biologist (aemonten.github.io) 丨Chief Editor @ CSH Protocols (cshprotocols.cshlp.org) 丨Head of the Integrity in Publishing Group at CSHL Press 丨Chair "Molecular Biosystems Conference" (molbiosystems.com) 丨(Oxford) Comma King 丨Central Dogma Police
Pinned
🚀 Another edition of the Molecular Biosystems Conference is in the books! #mbiosys25
Thank you to our amazing speakers, participants, and sponsors, including ICGEB and @unubiolac.bsky.social, for making Puerto Varas a hub of exciting discussions on gene regulation and functional genomics. 🔽
Thank you to our amazing speakers, participants, and sponsors, including ICGEB and @unubiolac.bsky.social, for making Puerto Varas a hub of exciting discussions on gene regulation and functional genomics. 🔽
Thank you all. And we hope to see you again in 2027 for the premier conference on gene regulation in Latin America!
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
Great career opportunity at @viennabiocenter.bsky.social: The @impvienna.bsky.social is looking for a new Junior Group Leader in cell and molecular biology, synthetic biology, genomics, gene regulation, development, cancer, immunology or infection biology.
More: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
More: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
Junior Group Leader Positions | Research Institute of Molecular Pathology
www.imp.ac.at
November 10, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Great career opportunity at @viennabiocenter.bsky.social: The @impvienna.bsky.social is looking for a new Junior Group Leader in cell and molecular biology, synthetic biology, genomics, gene regulation, development, cancer, immunology or infection biology.
More: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
More: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
There are lots of answers out there that are beautiful because the truth of the system is beautiful. If I find one of these beautiful facts, it doesn’t make me brilliant. Just right place and right time. True scientific heroes acknowledge that fact.
November 9, 2025 at 12:35 AM
There are lots of answers out there that are beautiful because the truth of the system is beautiful. If I find one of these beautiful facts, it doesn’t make me brilliant. Just right place and right time. True scientific heroes acknowledge that fact.
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
The truly noble are those who work to lift all who are deserving, regardless of whether it benefits themselves.
November 8, 2025 at 11:31 PM
The truly noble are those who work to lift all who are deserving, regardless of whether it benefits themselves.
Found in books.
Not in GFAJ-1.
Not in GFAJ-1.
These green books are toxic. Here's why #Ontario #Video
Poison books that contain arsenic in their cover or spine have been identified in some of Western University's libraries in London, Ont.
/1 thread
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
Poison books that contain arsenic in their cover or spine have been identified in some of Western University's libraries in London, Ont.
/1 thread
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
These green books are toxic. Here's why
Poison books that contain arsenic in their cover or spine have been identified in some of Western University's libraries in London, Ont. Special collections and rare books librarian Deborah Meert-Will...
www.cbc.ca
November 8, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Found in books.
Not in GFAJ-1.
Not in GFAJ-1.
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
AI tells you what you want to hear, statisticians usually tell you what you don't want to hear
The advances we've made in statistics, experimental study design, and causal inference over the past century are remarkably useful for understanding our world. But there is never been a push to make people use them like we are seeing with generative AI. Perhaps take a moment to consider why.
November 7, 2025 at 9:13 AM
AI tells you what you want to hear, statisticians usually tell you what you don't want to hear
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
If you believe either that Franklin discovered the double helix, and / or Watson and Crick stole her data, ask yourself how you know this. Then take a read of this article.
If I see one more stupid Rosalind Franklin take I'm going to lose my mind. Thank god for @matthewcobb.bsky.social and @nccomfort.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:32 AM
If you believe either that Franklin discovered the double helix, and / or Watson and Crick stole her data, ask yourself how you know this. Then take a read of this article.
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
Even how the New York Times reported it today is based on Watson’s flawed description (and an assumption) because Watson seemed to want to have a ‘eureka’ moment.
Photo 51 was important to what Franklin published alongside Watson and Crick in Nature. But, it was not used to create their model.
Photo 51 was important to what Franklin published alongside Watson and Crick in Nature. But, it was not used to create their model.
November 8, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Even how the New York Times reported it today is based on Watson’s flawed description (and an assumption) because Watson seemed to want to have a ‘eureka’ moment.
Photo 51 was important to what Franklin published alongside Watson and Crick in Nature. But, it was not used to create their model.
Photo 51 was important to what Franklin published alongside Watson and Crick in Nature. But, it was not used to create their model.
James D. Watson died on Thursday in East Northport, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 97.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
James Watson, Who Helped Discover the Structure of DNA, Is Dead at 97
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:35 PM
James D. Watson died on Thursday in East Northport, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 97.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
We are hiring an immunologist. This is a hard money position. We have a very robust research infrastructure. Rowan is rapidly growing, with 20,000+ undergrads, two med schools, and a vet school. Contact me for more details. jobs.rowan.edu/en-us/job/50...
Rowan HR - Details - Open-Rank Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty, Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences (CMSRU)Job Postings | Human Resources | Rowan University
Rowan University is a Carnegie-classified national doctoral research institution dedicated to excellence in undergraduate and graduate education.
jobs.rowan.edu
November 7, 2025 at 4:46 PM
We are hiring an immunologist. This is a hard money position. We have a very robust research infrastructure. Rowan is rapidly growing, with 20,000+ undergrads, two med schools, and a vet school. Contact me for more details. jobs.rowan.edu/en-us/job/50...
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
Good journals (and good editors), and there are plenty that I love, do much more than peer review
November 7, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Good journals (and good editors), and there are plenty that I love, do much more than peer review
The authors introduced precise DNA breaks (w/Cas 9) & tracked changes in genome organization & gene activity. They found that even after the DNA was repaired, the affected regions remained misfolded & showed reduced gene expression, & these changes were passed on to daughter cells
Repair of DNA double-strand breaks leaves heritable impairment to genome function
Upon DNA breakage, a genomic locus undergoes alterations in three-dimensional chromatin architecture to facilitate signaling and repair. Although cells possess mechanisms to repair damaged DNA, it is ...
www.science.org
November 7, 2025 at 2:12 PM
The authors introduced precise DNA breaks (w/Cas 9) & tracked changes in genome organization & gene activity. They found that even after the DNA was repaired, the affected regions remained misfolded & showed reduced gene expression, & these changes were passed on to daughter cells
A Massachusetts superior court judge threw out his claim of gender discrimination against the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and its president and Director Ruth Lehmann.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
November 7, 2025 at 1:50 PM
A Massachusetts superior court judge threw out his claim of gender discrimination against the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and its president and Director Ruth Lehmann.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
FINALLY a beauty contest that I can get behind
November 7, 2025 at 12:37 PM
FINALLY a beauty contest that I can get behind
Yes, and who to complain to is your funder and institution
Scientists feel that the pressure to publish is rising, but that the time and resources they have to do the necessary research are falling, according to a survey of 3,200 researchers
go.nature.com/4hNDvuN
go.nature.com/4hNDvuN
Pressure to publish is rising as research time shrinks, finds survey of scientists
Researchers feel that pressures to publish are increasing, but the time and resources available to do research are decreasing, according to a survey by Elsevier.
go.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Yes, and who to complain to is your funder and institution
An enforcing community standards. That is a key function of (good) journals.
Among many other things.
Among many other things.
As an aside: journals do a lot more than just send manuscripts for review. A good editor will spend far more time on quality control and contextualisation, than on inviting a few peer reviewers. It's one of those overlooked and underappreciated parts of the job that keep the slop at bay.
November 7, 2025 at 1:13 PM
An enforcing community standards. That is a key function of (good) journals.
Among many other things.
Among many other things.
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
The q.e.d feedback that you get when you run your paper via @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social is not posted there, it's private and for your eyes only. In the future we want to create a report that you'll be able to attach to your preprint like a cover letter (it's all opt in of course)
IT'S HAPPENING! 💥 I'm psyched to launch the collaboration between @qedscience.bsky.social & @openrxiv.bsky.social @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social! Preprint + q.e.d = your science is out there, and anyone can appreciate it. Let's care about making discoveries, and not on “getting published” (1/3) 👇
November 6, 2025 at 3:50 PM
The q.e.d feedback that you get when you run your paper via @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social is not posted there, it's private and for your eyes only. In the future we want to create a report that you'll be able to attach to your preprint like a cover letter (it's all opt in of course)
Yup
This is correct, with one important caveat - most decisions on funding, admin, publishing, career, are made (and can be derailed) by people who by definition benefited the most from these metrics and incentives, and stand to lose the most by changing them.
Academics set their metrics and incentives. And that defines everything. Including the future of scientific publishing.
And if at any point, one feels that incentives are being defined from outside, that's what needs to be fought against.
But the power of change lies within.
And if at any point, one feels that incentives are being defined from outside, that's what needs to be fought against.
But the power of change lies within.
November 6, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Yup
Academics set their metrics and incentives. And that defines everything. Including the future of scientific publishing.
And if at any point, one feels that incentives are being defined from outside, that's what needs to be fought against.
But the power of change lies within.
And if at any point, one feels that incentives are being defined from outside, that's what needs to be fought against.
But the power of change lies within.
November 6, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Academics set their metrics and incentives. And that defines everything. Including the future of scientific publishing.
And if at any point, one feels that incentives are being defined from outside, that's what needs to be fought against.
But the power of change lies within.
And if at any point, one feels that incentives are being defined from outside, that's what needs to be fought against.
But the power of change lies within.
A film you've seen more than seven times with a gif
November 5, 2025 at 9:20 PM
A film you've seen more than seven times with a gif
"Thus, statistical analysis should serve to improve biological understanding, rather than distract from it. This means moving beyond the question ‘Is this significant?’ and instead asking ‘Is this meaningful, and how sure are we?’"
Statistical thinking is a core part of solid biological results. However, many studies still include insufficient sample sizes, have poor experimental design, or select incorrect statistical tests.
Here, the authors present ten statistical tips for cell biology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here, the authors present ten statistical tips for cell biology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ten essential tips for robust statistics in cell biology - Nature Cell Biology
Statistical thinking is a core part of solid, trustworthy biology. However, many studies still include insufficient sample sizes, have poor experimental design or select an incorrect statistical metho...
www.nature.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:56 PM
"Thus, statistical analysis should serve to improve biological understanding, rather than distract from it. This means moving beyond the question ‘Is this significant?’ and instead asking ‘Is this meaningful, and how sure are we?’"
Well, the editors work only with what is submitted.
So that's an alternative.
So that's an alternative.
Evidence of publication bias is even present at PLOS ONE--where the editors (supposedly) "make decisions on submissions based on scientific rigor, regardless of novelty”
November 5, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Well, the editors work only with what is submitted.
So that's an alternative.
So that's an alternative.
OK.
"Tie co-founded the firm with Eriona Hysolli, former head of biological sciences at Colossal Biosciences"
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
"Tie co-founded the firm with Eriona Hysolli, former head of biological sciences at Colossal Biosciences"
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘Biotech Barbie’ says the time has come to consider CRISPR babies. Do scientists agree?
A company’s plan to edit the genomes of human embryos worries some researchers — but it might reflect the changing attitudes towards the controversial approach.
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:14 PM
OK.
"Tie co-founded the firm with Eriona Hysolli, former head of biological sciences at Colossal Biosciences"
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
"Tie co-founded the firm with Eriona Hysolli, former head of biological sciences at Colossal Biosciences"
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Statistical thinking is a core part of solid biological results. However, many studies still include insufficient sample sizes, have poor experimental design, or select incorrect statistical tests.
Here, the authors present ten statistical tips for cell biology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here, the authors present ten statistical tips for cell biology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ten essential tips for robust statistics in cell biology - Nature Cell Biology
Statistical thinking is a core part of solid, trustworthy biology. However, many studies still include insufficient sample sizes, have poor experimental design or select an incorrect statistical metho...
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Statistical thinking is a core part of solid biological results. However, many studies still include insufficient sample sizes, have poor experimental design, or select incorrect statistical tests.
Here, the authors present ten statistical tips for cell biology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here, the authors present ten statistical tips for cell biology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...