Why is publishing so expensive? In this Editorial, we (@katherine-brown.bsky.social @drmichaelway.bsky.social & @seemagrewal.bsky.social) provide details and context on JCS's finances, and hope to dispel some of the myths around the economics of publishing. journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

BIGGEST problem in #science peer review (wasting massive time/$$): Say you created device that prevents dogs from wagging tail (novel, lets say works, ?utility). Rev #1: "This is all good but does it work in Pekingese poodles?". Why, because he has one. Guess what Editor agrees...she has one too!

I'm not getting this go around the moon and come back home thing. If we are doing the 70s again lets bring back disco.

"[A] way to reduce the effects of news overwhelm is to unplug from the news" www.nature.com/articles/d41...

#JNeurosci: In this work, Tumminia, Mezache, @christlet.bsky.social et al. have developed a new method to induce the formation of synapses along axons directly on the glass coverslip rather than in contact with another neuron. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1741-24.2026

Great video to help set up your Biosketch in SciENcv www.youtube.com/watch?v=lThi...

Excited to share a pre-print from a collaboration between my lab at NIH, Len Petrucelli's lab at University of Miami, and Shyamal Mosalaganti's lab at University of Michigan.

I was at a barbershop this morning where the guy said his mother and sister think all scientists are hiding information ("there IS a cure for cancer!!"). I gave him a 20 min lecture on the joys of peer review. Jokes aside surprising how little people know about the scientific process.

@juanbonifacino.bsky.social ...about time!

No advocacy experience needed. ASCB provides training and support for members participating in the Texas Virtual Capitol Hill Day on April 22. Register: https://www.ascb.org/ascb-meetings/ascb-texas-virtual-capitol-hill-day-2/

"Its more of a comment than a question"

Our lab has an open postdoctoral position. Work in the lab ranges from trafficking of neuronal cargoes to developing gene editing therapeutics for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. I'm looking for the right person, project is flexible. Please apply immediately. www.roylab.org

In case you didn't know this....don't use mitotracker lol. www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Seen at our local Indian store in #SanDiego. I don't think Italians know what garlic bread looks like.

Looking at raw data always reminds me why I chose to do this. Saw some handsome synapses yesterday.

Sometimes EM shows weird things...what in the name of the Lord is this?

Visit our fully accessible journal archive, providing perpetual access to 34k articles from over a century of pioneering research in developmental biology, cell biology, comparative physiology and biomechanics, including work from 60+ Nobel Prize-winners bit.ly/3PfIjib

NIH wants feedback from us lol

"So let’s see what the FDA does now. That’ll depend on who replaces Vinay Prasad, how much of a loon they are, and how much they’re willing to make decisions like this" www.science.org/content/blog...

"I wonder if we do not waste most of our energy just by spending every waking minute saying hello to ourselves" Annie Dillard on Unselfconsciousness www.themarginalian.org/2026/03/07/a...

🔬🔦In our latest Imaging spotlight, Nicholas Boyer takes us through the key results, & offers some top technical tips, from their research on the axonal membrane-associated periodic skeleton with Rohan Sharma, Christophe Leterrier @christlet.bsky.social, Subhojit Roy @roylab-ucsd.bsky.social & team.

The what, why, and how of feedback on writing: Its no use telling people WHAT to write (though this is fastest). You must tell them WHY what they wrote is not working, and HOW your changes make it better (open for discussion). Unfortunately, a very painful process for both parties.

Sydney Peterson is among the U.S. athletes heading to the 2026 Winter Paralympics. A neuroscientist in training, Peterson is studying movement disorders, similar to her own condition. n.pr/3P0q28t

“I’ve had federal funding in the past, but right now I don’t,” he says. “To be honest, I’d be happy to find a rich person, but one with better morals than Jeffrey Epstein” www.science.org/content/arti...

"There’s a constant background noise of “promising clinical results” stories in the news, but people generally don’t get a chance to see how few of those lead anywhere" The Best Ideas Are Not Always Enough | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/blog...

It was fun to be the editor for this one.

LLPS in Chinese Fish soup

Since grad school interviews are happening, here's some things you should probably not say to the faculty interviewer: - "why don't you tell me a little bit about your research?" - "yeah yeah yeah...I've seen it all, know what y're sayin'..." - "UCSD is ok, but really.." - "so...who's your PI?"

"But most faculty seem to view the academic hierarchy as some kind of natural law, where they are knowledge producers and staff are knowledge supporters" www.science.org/content/arti...

Often when I find no answers to a question, it turns out to be the wrong question.

Cotton wool Abeta plaque

"My student’s feedback prompted me to think why I pursued career in academia in first place. I recalled the excitement I felt as a postdoc, when curiosity was king for me...I lost sight of this when I was consumed by problems and fears under the tenure clock" www.science.org/content/arti...

"What I wish for now is no longer happiness but simply awareness… I hold onto the world with every gesture, to men with all my gratitude and pity" share.google/Jf3cKGPKY9mr...

"I might not have felt the need to step away from academia had we aimed for a lower impact journal...success isn’t solely a matter of high-impact papers...its tracing a path that isn’t defined by what others expect of me" www.science.org/content/arti...

"His groundbreaking work was not the result of mythical serendipity alone, but rather the culmination of perseverance, intellect and a willingness to think differently from the heart of a colonial world" aeon.co/essays/why-s...

The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

the original language in the Senate appropriations bill kept the MYF policy to 2024 levels ask your congressional representatives for the current language in the funding bill to be replaced with this language: keep MYF at 2024 levels, NOT 2025 levels 🧪

The NIH's MYF policy in 2025 resulted in 4000 fewer grants and fellowships that touched every area of biology and medicine; continuing it in 2026 would be disastrous for science, technology and health in the United States 🧪 www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

"The first is the pleasure in having the initial idea or insight. The insight could be asking a new question or finding a new answer; there is surprisingly not much difference...in either case, the essential event is a shift of perspective..." journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

Clock in and Clock out to make new discoveries and improve human health. Simple.

Annie Dillard in An American Childhood. All great writers are ultimately Yogis.

Full pdf @cp-iscience.bsky.social collab w/ @christlet.bsky.social www.cell.com/action/showP... I may go down ya'll but this was the best thing I wrote: DECLARATION OF GENERATIVE AI AND AI-ASSISTED TECHNOLOGIES IN THE WRITING PROCESS "No AI/AI-assisted tools were used in the writing process"

"More recently, I've also noticed that trainees don't spend time thinking on their own and only do so when prodded" Didn't want to sound like dad in interview...BUT I think this is due to passive consumption of media. Specifically excessive cell phone usage. journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

American author Joan Didion once said: “I write entirely to find out what I am thinking.” What happens when we stop writing? Do we stop finding out? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Looking forward to #2026

“One discovers the light in darkness, that is what darkness is for; but everything in our lives depends on how we bear the light,” James Baldwin @themarginalian.org.web.brid.gy www.themarginalian.org/2023/09/28/i...

How does the axonal sub-membrane periodic cytoskeleton develop? Nick & Rohan from our lab found that building blocks are delivered in packets and co-assemble locally with actin for final structure. Fun collaboration with imaging Guru @christlet.bsky.social and his team. www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

I was in Bondi beach about this time last year...

"The gene therapy was previously licensed by Orchard Therapeutics which stopped work in 2022 to save cash amid layoffs. It’s one of the many gene therapies abandoned by industry even with promising clinical data because they may not be profitable" New paradigm? endpoints.news/in-a-first-f...