Alexander Arguello
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alexander-arguello.bsky.social
Alexander Arguello
@alexander-arguello.bsky.social
620 followers 220 following 36 posts
Into brains and genomes | Pragmatist and Pluralist | Thinking about what it means to do good science and be a good scientist

LA | DC | NY
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alexander-arguello.bsky.social
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The reason the medical community is so divided on this issue is because "there's a big fight in the literature over how strong that association is." But Dr. Bhattacharya's personal opinion after looking at the available evidence is that "there's enough there to tell people, especially pregnant women, to be careful with it." And that is precisely what President Trump's announcement was: a warning for pregnant women to be cautious about taking Tylenol.
September 27, 2025 at 3:22 PM
alexander-arguello.bsky.social
I have seen the future of science. It is ruled by bitter competition instead of collaboration, pageantry instead of exploration. Bright minds beginning careers in science will be taught to debase their training for drudgerous pursuit of meaningless metrics. Those willing to toil over genuine questions will necessarily lose out to those that can furnish cheap answers.
August 5, 2025 at 4:15 PM
alexander-arguello.bsky.social
Current aDNA data is biased towards Western Eurasian samples and consists mostly of targeted sequences. Higher coverage genomes that better represent past global genetic diversity would allow new insights into recent human evolution and the potential origins of modern disease risk.
Map from the Allen Ancient DNA resource showing the geographic origins of published ancient DNA data. (Mallick et al 2024)
June 23, 2025 at 9:27 PM
alexander-arguello.bsky.social
Last week the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research met and approved a new initiative: ancient DNA for Modern Genomics (aDMG).

You can watch the presentation and discussion here at the 1:54:00 mark. videocast.nih.gov/watch=56826
Photo of the skeletal remains of a man buried about 8000 years ago in Turkey (Photo credit: JACOB ROODENBERG)
June 23, 2025 at 9:27 PM
alexander-arguello.bsky.social
21st century technology.
18th century taxonomy.
April 8, 2025 at 3:28 PM
alexander-arguello.bsky.social
Reading “The usefulness of useless knowledge” by Abraham Flexner, founding director of the Institute for Advanced Study. Writing in 1939, this passage stood out:
The subject which I am discussing has at this moment a peculiar poignancy. In certain large areas-Germany and Italy especially-the effort is now being made to clamp down the freedom of the human spirit. Universities have been so reorganized that they have become tools of those who believe in a special political, economic, or racial creed. Now and then a thoughtless individual in one of the few democracies left in this world will even question the fundamental importance of absolutely untrammeled academic freedom. The real enemy of the human race is not the fearless and irresponsible thinker, be he right or wrong. The real enemy is the man who tries to mold the human spirit so that it will not dare to spread its wings, as its wings were once spread in Italy and Germany, as well as in Great Britain and the United States.
March 24, 2025 at 9:22 PM
alexander-arguello.bsky.social
How do genetic and non-genetic factors shape trait variation in people? How do these factors act across scales of biological organization? Register for NHGRI’s workshop - Advances in the Genetic Architecture of Complex Human Traits.

Thurs 16th - Fri 17th Nov
nih.zoomgov.com/webinar/regi...
Interdependencies across scales of biological, social, and ecological organization may confound modern-day genetic association studies limiting their interpretation and application both within and between individuals, families, and populations. Large-scale genetic, genomic, and phenotypic data now provide an opportunity to develop novel approaches that embrace and leverage this real-world complexity and improve our understanding of phenotypic variation. Covariances among biological, social, and geographical effects may be used to better delineate how genetic and non-genetic factors contribute to health-and disease-related trait variation and disparities. The goal of this workshop is to provide historical context, build on the current state of the field, identify gaps and emerging opportunities, and to develop a framework for future research directions in the genetics of complex traits, from cells and tissues to individuals and populations.
October 6, 2023 at 3:22 PM
alexander-arguello.bsky.social
funding opportunity: NHGRI is seeking R01/R21 applications to develop novel theory and methods for understanding the genetic architecture of complex human traits grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
The goal of this NOFO is to support applications for novel theory and methods development that enable better understanding of how genetic and non-genetic factors contribute to complex trait variation across individuals, families, and populations. Approaches should be interdisciplinary drawing from the natural and social sciences, account for interdependencies across scales of biological, social, and ecological organization, and make extensive use of theory, modeling, and validation with available large-scale datasets.
September 26, 2023 at 4:05 PM