TJ McCorvie

Publisher demands $500 from impersonated author to retract paper Last year, we wrote about a Walsh Medical Media journal that refused to withdraw an author’s paper unless he paid a fee — even though he didn’t write or submit the article. For one reader, some det…

Well, this takes the biscuit.
I know of cases where people were named as authors without their permission, and where it's difficult to get anyone to do anything about it. But here we have a particularly brazen publisher who says they'll remove it if you pay $500!
retractionwatch.com/2026/03/05/p...

Q-score as a reliability measure for atomic coordinate models

Q-scores are calculated for atomic models derived from 3D electron microscopy maps, measure how well the model fits the map and reflect the quality of the map itself.

🔗 Find out more:
https://ow.ly/4Vkx50Ynrxi

@ucsandiego @ActaCrystD @IUCr #CryoEM #QScores #Validation

FT comments section this morning - saying what everyone else is thinking, right?

Low resolution cryo-EM map that looks like Cuban's skull

When you still haven't solved the orientation bias of your protein sample #CryoEM

Made a short video as a response. 3 questions remain for me.

1) What is the definition of a "DEl activity," and how is it being communicated to NIH staff so they can determine whether a grant qualifies?

(Continued below)

Does he have to return the FIFA Peace Prize now?

Success in this business brings a certain freedom that comes with responsibility to support each other, to lift others up when we can, to keep the door open for the next kid, the next lost boy who's looking for a place to belong. I'm indeed a lucky guy. Lucky to have found my people, lucky to have work that challenges me, lucky to still be doing it. And I don't take that for granted.

My quote of the day

Harrison Ford
SAG-AFTRA awards, March 1, 2026

One of the core messages of the work at Stand Up for Science is we are fighting against science being used as a weapon against civilians.

The US bombed a school that was IN SESSION. What makes you think they won’t turn that tech on us, too.

Accurate Macromolecular Complex Modeling for Cryo-EM with CryoZeta pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41756897/ #cryoEM

Excited to share our new paper uncovering how FANCD2 recognises various DNA repair proteins www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @hw1o9.bsky.social

It's great work Martin. Congrats to you and the rest of the authors!

🔬 From Samples to Structures: Cryo-EM at #ASBMB26 2026, 7-10 March, nr Washington DC
Stop by the Thermo Fisher Scientific Booth (#412) to see how #CryoEM helps researchers reveal biological structures at unprecedented resolution.
Cryo-EM Tech Talk | Mar 8 | 4.25 PM
Cryo-EM starts here: ter.li/e5tr05

New preprint by @alok-bharadwaj.bsky.social explaining the workings of SURFER, a simple tool to segment membrane, micelle or nanodisc densities in cryoEM maps.

Try it via the @chimerax.ucsf.edu ToolShed:

cxtoolshed.rbvi.ucsf.edu/apps/chimera...

Despite LocScale in the name, it works on any map.

Research Fellow at University of St Andrews Searching for an academic job? Explore this Research Fellow opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.

🚨 We’re hiring – MRC-funded Postdoc (3 yrs)

Research Fellow to investigate how mobile genetic elements interact in Staphylococcus aureus and shape gene transfer and pathogenicity.

University of St Andrews
Closes 31 March 2026

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQR250/r...

Enquiries: afh22@st-andrews.ac.uk

We posted a biorxiv preprint on structural bioinformatics, AlphaFold modeling & machine learning on predicting specificity of E3 ligase ring domains for different E2 enzymes. 1/4

Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Models/data (UbiqCore website): dunbrack.fccc.edu/ubiqcore

Identification of a FANCD2-interacting protein motif (DIP-box) linking DNA Damage Response processes www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.24.707417v1 #cryoEM

I'm late to share this - deadline is February 27 - nominations are now open for the Instruct-ERIC Early Career Researcher Award 2026, recognizing outstanding independent early career researchers across integrated structural biology. #cryoEM #TeamTomo

✔️ Self-nominations are welcome

👉 ter.li/q0rxge

Senior Scientist, Protein Sciences in South San Francisco, California, United States of America | Research & Development at Genentech Apply for Senior Scientist, Protein Sciences job with Genentech in South San Francisco, California, United States of America. Research & Development at Genentech

Our department at Genentech is hiring. We're looking for a freshly-minted PhD (0-3 years) protein biochemist / structural biologist to join as a Sr Scientist. A rare opportunity to join our group leader job family at a more junior level than we usually hire.

Job opening for Research Group Leader in Structural Studies at MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, focusing on macromolecular structures.

Are you a structural biologist pushing the boundaries of molecular science with an ambitious research programme?
Join our Structural Studies Division as a tenure-track Group Leader, with core funding, world-leading facilities & enthusiastic colleagues.
Apply by 16 MAR
www.nature.com/naturecareer...

This is a fantastic example of how to begin as a newcomer to #cryoEM. Being proactive in getting advice from experienced scientists and going to any of the great workshops would likely lower the incidences of erroneous structures in the EMDB and PDB (There’s not a lot but there are a few).

Register today for the @astburycentre.bsky.social Cryo-EM in Structural Biology March 2026 course!

Find out more and apply here - astbury.leeds.ac.uk/facilities/w...

Find out more about the Astbury Centre at @universityofleeds.bsky.social and access tech here - instruct-eric.org/centre/astbu...

I LOVE when science is applied to "toddler questions" like "Why is the sky blue?" or "Why is ice slippery?"

Because the answers can be so SUPRISING.

Let's dig into recent revelations about how ice skates work & why tires skid across black ice.

First, we'll dismiss 3 VERY GOOD hypotheses as wrong.

Guest blogpost by @deadneanderthals.bsky.social and colleagues on the persistence of stealth corrections in the scientific literature: deevybee.blogspot.com/2026/02/gues...

#publishing #integrity

The vault particle is enclosed by a C13-symmetric cap with a positively charged exterior pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41706843/ #cryoEM

Another wonderful diagram of a bacterial cell with mitochondria, this one in Frontiers in Microbology (10.3389/fmicb.2023.1194292). Reminder: Bacteria are prokaryotes, they do not have mitochondria...

Wait what. Someone is being held responsible for their actions? What is happening

Did you want a nanoscopic burger with that? #CryoEM

Please spread the word: the Structural Studies Division @mrclmb.bsky.social is looking for a new tenure-track, independent group leader with an exciting plan in any area of Structural (Molecular & Cell) biology, in discovery biology and/or methods development. 🥳

mrc.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/...

One in five children infected in the recent London measles outbreak were reportedly hospitalised.
Don’t believe the anti-vaxxers when they say “it’s a mild disease” or “it’s better to get immunity naturally”.
It isn’t.

Postdoc Research Group Schur The Schur lab at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) has an open postdoc position for a highly motivated candidate to be part of our ERC-funded project ActinID. Our Group ...

Open Postdoc position in our lab!
#actin #Huntingtin #cryoET #cellbio
If you enjoy working at the interface of cell biology, structural biology, and quantitative imaging, this could be an excellent fit.

ista.ac.at/en/job/postd...

Please share and feel free to reach out if there are questions!