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!
My former manager, who run a journal on quantum chemistry, used to joke that these sort of things were common in his inbox
Wow, *two* emails in one day from two different people unfamiliar with physics claiming they have developed a Theory of Everything that has eluded tens of thousands of trained professional scientists for decades?
<plonk>
<plonk>
November 30, 2025 at 3:36 PM
My former manager, who run a journal on quantum chemistry, used to joke that these sort of things were common in his inbox
Well, that should be "PIs", so I think I'm running a pretty clean account 😊
@aemonten.bsky.social has swears! They've used 5 profanities in their last 1,420 posts.
🥇 "pis" (3 times)
🥈 "crap" (1 times)
🥉 "damn" (1 times)
🥇 "pis" (3 times)
🥈 "crap" (1 times)
🥉 "damn" (1 times)
November 30, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Well, that should be "PIs", so I think I'm running a pretty clean account 😊
😅
November 30, 2025 at 3:07 PM
😅
Yay?
More than 200 Korean papers retracted over AI use www.donga.com/en/article/a...
November 30, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Yay?
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
There are a couple of empty chairs at our table — want to sit with us?
Reach out to me or any lab member www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/research... We’ll be hiring two postdocs in 2026.
We’re excited about ambitious and creative ideas and are committed to supporting future group leaders 1/2
Reach out to me or any lab member www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/research... We’ll be hiring two postdocs in 2026.
We’re excited about ambitious and creative ideas and are committed to supporting future group leaders 1/2
November 29, 2025 at 8:46 PM
There are a couple of empty chairs at our table — want to sit with us?
Reach out to me or any lab member www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/research... We’ll be hiring two postdocs in 2026.
We’re excited about ambitious and creative ideas and are committed to supporting future group leaders 1/2
Reach out to me or any lab member www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/research... We’ll be hiring two postdocs in 2026.
We’re excited about ambitious and creative ideas and are committed to supporting future group leaders 1/2
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
November 30, 2025 at 12:34 PM
The damage that Gold OA has caused to scientific publishing and academia in general is inmense. Catastrophic consequences, which while likely unintended, were not unexpected, and many indeed voiced them at the beginning.
And they continue today.
And they continue today.
November 30, 2025 at 12:22 PM
The damage that Gold OA has caused to scientific publishing and academia in general is inmense. Catastrophic consequences, which while likely unintended, were not unexpected, and many indeed voiced them at the beginning.
And they continue today.
And they continue today.
"We find that the evidence for in vivo LLPS is often phenomenological and inadequate to discriminate between phase separation and other possible mechanisms. Moreover, the causal relationship and functional consequences of LLPS in vivo are even more elusive"
(2019)
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31594803/
(2019)
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31594803/
Evaluating phase separation in live cells: diagnosis, caveats, and functional consequences - PubMed
The idea that liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) may be a general mechanism by which molecules in the complex cellular milieu may self-organize has generated much excitement and fervor in the cell biology community. While this concept is not new, its rise to preeminence has resulted in renewed in …
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
November 30, 2025 at 12:08 PM
"We find that the evidence for in vivo LLPS is often phenomenological and inadequate to discriminate between phase separation and other possible mechanisms. Moreover, the causal relationship and functional consequences of LLPS in vivo are even more elusive"
(2019)
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31594803/
(2019)
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31594803/
Sigh. The article (as similar ones) goes on the trite tangent of publishers & profit margins, instead of focusing more on the academic editors who were actually responsible for allowing those low-quality studies to be published & the academic evaluation system.
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
The fall of a prolific science journal exposes the billion-dollar profits of scientific publishing
One of the 15 publications that put out the most studies globally has been expelled from the indexing system for irregularities. Its publisher, Elsevier, has a 38% profit margin that reached $1.5 bill...
english.elpais.com
November 30, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Sigh. The article (as similar ones) goes on the trite tangent of publishers & profit margins, instead of focusing more on the academic editors who were actually responsible for allowing those low-quality studies to be published & the academic evaluation system.
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
"You do not win battles by debating exactly what is meant by the word 'battle'" - Francis Crick
November 29, 2025 at 3:39 PM
"You do not win battles by debating exactly what is meant by the word 'battle'" - Francis Crick
November 29, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
With the internet becoming ever more unreliable, I wonder if anyone will publish known facts and general knowledge in a book or, rather, multiple books, everything in alphabetical order, safely printed on paper so it can’t be changed on the sly. Numbered spines would be a plus.
November 28, 2025 at 9:08 PM
With the internet becoming ever more unreliable, I wonder if anyone will publish known facts and general knowledge in a book or, rather, multiple books, everything in alphabetical order, safely printed on paper so it can’t be changed on the sly. Numbered spines would be a plus.
"There are few if any 'rights' and 'wrongs' in writing. Rather there are better and worse choices. The point, then, is to develop your judgment so that you can make better choices" - M Zeiger
November 28, 2025 at 4:55 PM
"There are few if any 'rights' and 'wrongs' in writing. Rather there are better and worse choices. The point, then, is to develop your judgment so that you can make better choices" - M Zeiger
This is from 1986, a piece covering the book by Dr. Stephen Lock, editor of The British Medical Journal, on peer review.
www.nytimes.com/1986/02/25/s...
www.nytimes.com/1986/02/25/s...
THE DOCTOR'S WORLD; PEER REVIEW IS CHALLENGED (Published 1986)
www.nytimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 3:48 PM
This is from 1986, a piece covering the book by Dr. Stephen Lock, editor of The British Medical Journal, on peer review.
www.nytimes.com/1986/02/25/s...
www.nytimes.com/1986/02/25/s...
Reposted by Alejandro Montenegro
I am very excited to announce that a fully funded PhD position is available in my group.
Topic: Synergistic coevolution in mono-specific and multi-species microbial consortia
Please RT or forward this information to interested candidates.
Deadline: 11.01.26
More info:
shorturl.at/f1TuF
Topic: Synergistic coevolution in mono-specific and multi-species microbial consortia
Please RT or forward this information to interested candidates.
Deadline: 11.01.26
More info:
shorturl.at/f1TuF
November 27, 2025 at 2:24 PM
I am very excited to announce that a fully funded PhD position is available in my group.
Topic: Synergistic coevolution in mono-specific and multi-species microbial consortia
Please RT or forward this information to interested candidates.
Deadline: 11.01.26
More info:
shorturl.at/f1TuF
Topic: Synergistic coevolution in mono-specific and multi-species microbial consortia
Please RT or forward this information to interested candidates.
Deadline: 11.01.26
More info:
shorturl.at/f1TuF
Exactly.
Figures (outline)> Methods > Results > Discussion > Introduction > Abstract > Title
Figures (outline)> Methods > Results > Discussion > Introduction > Abstract > Title
Interesting. For me/us it is figures before the paper. I typically try to get lab members to assemble a draft of all main figures and only then write the paper. Sometimes things move around during the writing.
November 28, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Exactly.
Figures (outline)> Methods > Results > Discussion > Introduction > Abstract > Title
Figures (outline)> Methods > Results > Discussion > Introduction > Abstract > Title
I'm a strong supporter of window shades *only* being open during takeoff and landing.
November 28, 2025 at 12:23 PM
I'm a strong supporter of window shades *only* being open during takeoff and landing.
“A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit" -Arnold H. Glasow
November 28, 2025 at 11:33 AM
“A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit" -Arnold H. Glasow
Coinciding with @greenlab.bsky.social joining Bluesky, I found this bar in Chile today!
November 26, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Coinciding with @greenlab.bsky.social joining Bluesky, I found this bar in Chile today!