G. Andrés Cisneros

A Reality-Based View of Government Funding of Science Getting the diagnosis right before designing treatments

A well-played meme by Jeremy Berg in response to Stuart Buck and Aishwarya Khanduja on their R&D funding piece : https://goodscience.substack.com/p/a-reality-based-view-of-government

Prof. R. Hernandez speaking to UTD-ACS and UTD-SACNAS students

Prof. Hernandez and comp/theory students

Always an honor and a pleasure to host JHU Prof and @acs.org president Dr. R. Hernandez.
Thanks for the fascinating science and all advice and wisdom shared.
¡Gracias Rigoberto!

Waiting to see how long it takes institutions reinstate the diversity, equity, and inclusion programs they shut down, re-hire those they pushed out, and rewrite all the language they rushed to change.

Something tells me it'll likely be a long wait.

A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... - this looks super cool, but does it really relate to the origin of life?

Freeman Hrabowski III, the President Emeritus from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, giving a TED talk.

This is a powerful message from Freeman Hrabowski.

🧵

1/12

🚨 Epstein survivors release this powerful PSA in advance of the Super Bowl demanding answers from the Justice Department. This is the Super Bowl ad every American should see. Spread it everywhere.

Meyerson stage, chandelier and little prince program

Full cast

Opening night of the Dallas Opera’s production of The Little Prince with the Greater Dallas Choral Society (GDCS)

Really enjoying Colbert's final season of "fuck it, we're going down swinging" tour.

5-Year-Old Boy Abducted By ICE Gets Wings From Pilot On Flight Home To Minneapolis In Sweet Viral Video

Welcome home, Liam ❤️

A reminder that proteins are highly dynamic molecules.

🟧 We have made much progress in measuring & predicting static protein structures, but the dynamics that animate life remain challenging to measure & model.

This video warrants reposting again & again. ICE is not slowing down in MN. They’re just changing tactics that you must be aware of.
Please, please listen and pass this on.
#StandTogether #Pinks #ProudBlue #OneV1

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

Vibrant color portrait of Jane S. Richardson, the visionary biophysicist and artist who revolutionized structural biology with her invention of ribbon diagrams. She gazes warmly at the camera with a bright, knowing smile that radiates quiet brilliance and decades of curiosity. Her silver-blonde hair woven with gentle waves. Large, elegant dangling earrings catch the light, and she wears a richly patterned brown blouse embroidered with intricate turquoise paisley motifs and delicate beadwork that echoes the molecular elegance she has spent her life depicting. Behind her floats a luminous, dreamlike backdrop of glowing molecular structures--interlocking hexagonal and ribbon-like forms in electric blues, teals, and greens--blending science and art in a single, living canvas.

Hand-drawn and hand-colored (by Jane Richardson) scientific artwork known as a Richardson ribbon diagram (or “ribbon model”), one of the iconic visual inventions of Jane Richardson that transformed the way we see and understand protein structures. A graceful, three-dimensional tangle of protein backbone ribbons twists and spirals through space, rendered in soft pencil lines and luminous watercolor hues. Smooth golden-brown coils represent α-helices that curl like elegant ribbons, while broad teal-green arrows trace the flat, pleated strands of β-sheets slicing through the molecule with directional purpose. Thin, looping golden threads connect the secondary structures, creating a delicate, almost dance-like choreography of biology’s hidden architecture. The entire form is framed by a simple olive-green mat and dark border, giving the drawing the quiet dignity of both fine art and precise scientific illustration—a timeless bridge between molecular reality and human imagination.

Jane Richardson was born #OTD in 1941

+ Developed the Richardson (ribbon) diagram to represent proteins' 3D structure (becoming a standard representation for protein structures)
+ MacArthur Fellow, 1985
+ Elected, Nat'l Academy of Sciences, 1991
+ President, Biophysical Society, 2012

#WomenInSTEM

The Senate may choose to vote together on the DHS and LHHS bills. Thus, a filibuster on DHS may mean no funding for NIH. What my colleagues are saying:

“Shut it down, public health will understand. I’ll work without pay again.”
- anonymous NIHer

Particularly of interest to people who want to do protein design in an academic environment w/ many colleagues in basic science (cancer biology, cell signaling, immunology, virology) & clinicians who can drive the discovery of new targets for hard-to-treat diseases & bring therapeutics to patients.

A person holding out their arm while people line up on it. The hedline is: One mentor isn’t enough. Here’s how I built a network of mentors

"One email at a time, one informational interview after another, I became comfortable, confident, and strategic in building my network of mentors."

One mentor isn’t enough, wrote Erika Moore in this 2021 Working Life essay. https://scim.ag/3Zfm0e8 #NationalMentoringMonth

The Matilda Effect: what an infuriating but all too familiar narrative of credit for discoveries owed to women in science being *stolen* by male colleagues who then go on to reap the recognition/profits from it and behave so appallingly.

YouTube video by Green Day Green Day - American Idiot [Official Music Video] [4K Upgrade]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee_u...

Extending QM/GEM Capabilities: Geometry Optimization and Multipoles Applied to Molecular Cooperativity Studies. Hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methods have become a powerful tool for simulating complex molecular systems, offering a balance between accuracy and computational efficiency. The...

Last pre-print of 2025 with Jessica Arcudia and Jorge Nochebuena:
"Extending QM/GEM Capabilities: Geometry Optimization and Multipoles Applied to Molecular Cooperativity Studies."

We Let AI Run Our Office Vending Machine. It Lost Hundreds of Dollars. An AI agent ran a snack operation in the WSJ newsroom. It gave away a free PlayStation, ordered a live fish—and taught us lessons about the future of AI.

Gift link, probably the funniest thing the Wall Street Journal has done this year.

Shubham Chatterjee and G. Andrés Cisneros

So long to Shubham @shubhamchatterjee.bsky.social, we are proud of all your accomplishments and wish you much success in your postdoc and beyond!

‘Pre-order’ research in sights of science academy president-elect Epilepsy pioneer vows to target ‘negative view’ of discovery science and ‘mindset’ of expecting the outcomes in advance

'Berkovic said it was difficult to imagine the Human Genome Project gaining traction in the current funding environment, where policymakers expect predetermined results from their investments. Much of its $3 billion...costs were met, somewhat inexplicably, by the US Department of Energy.' 1/2

Who is the brillant teacher who found a way to get kids to listen to Beethoven’s 5th—and like it! #AMomentofJoy

Raleigh/Durham!!!! 🚨

🚨Applications for LANL's 2026 Quantum Computing Summer School are open!

Please apply here 👇

academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31108

Reposts appreciated!

Deadline to Apply is January 11th 2026. Still, you should go and apply now!

Comparing Force Field Treatments in QM/MM Studies of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase (RdRp) Mechanism Molecular simulations have been instrumental in elucidating the SARS-CoV-2 lifecycle, thereby supporting the design and development of antiviral therapies and diagnostic tools for COVID-19. Here, the molecular mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), a potential target for antiviral drugs to treat COVID-19, was explored based on QM/MM simulations with fixed-charge and polarizable force fields (cFF and pFF, respectively). The free energy perturbation (FEP) method allowed exploring the free energy landscape of the enzymatic reaction mechanism, addressing key questions about the initial deprotonation of the 3′-OH group of the terminal nucleotide before a nucleophilic attack on the incoming nucleotide takes place. Indeed, among the five mechanisms explored, the most favorable was identified as a three-step process. The first step consists of a proton transfer from the 3′-OH group of the terminal nucleotide to a hydroxide group coordinated with an Mg2+ ion. Subsequently, the O3′ atom nucleophilically attacks the Pα atom of the incoming ATP. Finally, a proton is transferred from the water molecule formed in the first step to the γ-phosphate group of the pyrophosphate leaving group, regenerating the Mg2+-coordinated hydroxide group. This mechanism was found to be exergonic, with the rate-determining step being the nucleophilic attack, having a free energy barrier of 15.2 kcal mol–1. Both cFF and pFF yield consistent energetic and geometrical descriptions of the full RdRp-catalyzed reaction. Noncovalent interaction (NCI) and electron localization function (ELF) analyses provide insights into the electronic evolution during the reaction, showing strong polarization on electronic basins associated with the reactive oxygens O3′ and O3α. Together, findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the RdRp mechanism, which could aid in the discovery of new antiviral inhibitors.

Latest paper from our group, from Yazdan Maghsoud in collaboration with @vicentmoliner.bsky.social @kswiderek.bsky.social and Maite Roca:
doi.org/10.1021/acs....

Finally out in @nature.com! We uncovered a mechanistic framework for a general and conserved mRNA nuclear export pathway. www.nature.com/articles/s41.... 1/

Check the list of confirmed speakers for the MDDB Conference and apply to be part of this excellent lineup ➡️ mddbr.eu/conference/

Present your work, connect with leading experts from the community, and be part of the discussions shaping the future of MD research!

#MDDB #FAIRdata

Também vale para o povo brasileiro.

Millionaire Tax That Inspired Mamdani Fuels $5.7 Billion Haul in Massachusetts A millionaire levy in Massachusetts that New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani holds up as a model for taxing the rich has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing...

NEW: The first two years of Massachusetts' millionaire tax has raised $3 billion more than expected.

And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*

Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com: