Monika Piwecka

All travelers from ESTA countries (yes the ones on visa waiver programs) will have to disclose 5 years of social media + huge amounts of personal data to enter the US now. All US academic associations should now meet outside the US if we want to meet our international colleagues.

Announcing the 2026 edition of the EMBO workshop on RNA localization and local translation! This meeting will be held June 30 - July 4 near Porto, Portugal. Come for exciting updates in the field from both established investigators and trainees. See the link below for details!

Join us in Porto for the forefront of RNA localization & local translation research! Registration is live!

A graphic including a QR code that describes the RNA Society's Infographic contest.

Hey everyone, the RNA Society is running an RNA Infographic Contest! Get your team together and create! There are prizes!

Figure 1. Mechanisms of biogenesis of circular RNA (circRNA) subclasses and the biomedical relevance of the RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) involved.

"Features and biomedical relevance of circular RNA biogenesis"
by Xiaolin Wang & Ge Shan

"Recently, modulation of circRNA biogenesis to generate tissue-specific expression patterns is coming into focus. We summarize various mechanisms involved..."

authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

Still a couple of weeks to apply for a fully funded PhD position in #AI and #RNA biology!!!

Wow

Join our upcoming course on cutting-edge evolutionary & genomic methods for Evo-Devo studies!
We'll cover: comparative & single-cell transcriptomics,ATAC-seq, phylogenomics, comparative genomics, gene regulation, and much more
Spots still available: sites.google.com/view/evodevo...

Flu vaccine providing important protection despite new subclade UKHSA’s early season data shows vaccination remains best defence alongside good respiratory hygiene as flu activity rises.

Some good news

New data published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows the 2025/26 vaccine is currently 70 to 75% effective at preventing hospital attendance in children aged 2 to 17 years and 30 to 40% effective in adults.
www.gov.uk/government/n...

🦣🧬🦣🤯💥We are pleased to share our new paper about ancient RNA expression profiles from the Woolly Mammoth, now published in Cell @cellpress.bsky.social

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

If you want to know more, read the 🧵 below:

Yuka The Woolly Mammoth Just Gave Us The Oldest RNA Ever Sequenced A woolly mammoth that lived and died nearly 40,000 years ago has given us a spectacular scientific first, millennia later.

Yuka The Woolly #Mammoth Just Gave Us The Oldest #RNA Ever Sequenced

www.sciencealert.com/yuka-the-woo...

A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below. 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year.

A figure detailing the drain on researcher time. 1. The four-fold drain 1.2 Time The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce, with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure 1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs, grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time. The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many review demands. Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in ‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier, local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision.

A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below: 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year.

The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.

We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...

How to tackle emerging questions in cellular organisation, adaptation, and robustness? Join #EESPhaseSeparation! 🧬🦠

Bringing together scientists from diverse fields to foster new discoveries in condensate biology.

Submit your abstract by 10 Feb: s.embl.org/ees26-08-bl

📅 19 – 22 May 2026

Ever wondered if analyzing your images by using intensity Z-projections impacts your data?

Happy to announce my guest article in Microscopy & Analysis on that topic. It's a very short read but worth for everyone dealing with image analysis!

buff.ly/KJ147tI

#Microscopy #ZProjection #ImageAnalysis

Legnini Group - Human Technopole Laboratory for Molecular and Systems Biology of RNA   The Legnini Group at Human Technopole combines molecular and systems biology approaches to study gene regulation. We use synthetic biology and opt...

1/6 We are hiring!!! 🐣🐣🐣
Fully funded postdoc position in my group!
humantechnopole.it/en/research-...

Our RNA condensate work is finally out! Using simulations, we uncover the origin of the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behaviour underlying thermo, iono-sensing functions in pure RNA condensates. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Unlocking the regulatory code of RNA: launching the Human RNome Project - Genome Biology The human RNome, the complete set of RNA molecules in human cells, arises through complex processing and includes diverse molecular species. While research traditionally focuses on four canonical nucl...

Exciting news for the RNA research community!

The Human RNome Project has been launched: a global effort to map all human RNAs and their chemical modifications. Proud to support it and contribute to the article in Genome Biology doi.org/10.1186/s130...
#RNA #bioinformatics #RNAstructure #modomics

Dad’s aggressive brain cancer vanishes after taking new drug The NHS is now looking for patients with glioblastoma to take part in a new drug trial

An extraordinary result for ipilimumab immunotherapy given as a first line therapy for glioblastoma

share.google/485XFZxmBm26...

The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins and their changing roles in different organisms across evolution Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Recent studies have shed further light on the evolutionary origins of chemical synapses, In this Review, Colgren and Burkhardt explore how ancient proteins were...

First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience

Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E

@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social

⏰ Last week to apply!
Don’t miss the chance to join our lab and explore the fascinating world of meiotic recombination 🌿
👉 Deadline: Nov 1, 2025

For obvious reasons, I've become fascinated with retrotransposons. So we ( @alexwhiteley.bsky.social and I) wrote an article now out in Neuron @cellpress.bsky.social on how we think retrotransposons influence brain function and health! kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...

🎉 RNAcentral Release 26 is here! This release introduces our biggest structural change yet: gene-level entries for ncRNAs across 204 organisms.
For the first time, you can explore RNA data at the gene level, not just individual sequences.
🧵👇

The Origin of the Research University Universities have existed for more than a thousand years — and for almost all of that time, they weren’t centers of research. What changed in 19th century Germany?

excellent essay: The Origin of the Research University open.substack.com/pub/asterisk...

Two group leader positions available in the broader areas of RNA science, RNA technologies, and RNA medicine. Attractive packages and a great environment. Come and join us at Helmholtz RNA Würzburg, Bavaria.

RNA-guided genome protection The genome carries information across generations, ensuring species survival. To preserve faithful transmission of genetic information, RNA-directed mechanisms safeguard the genome integrity in diver…

Want to connect with researchers in #GeneRegulation, small RNAs, #StructuralBiology and more? Sign up for EMBO Workshop "RNA-guided genome protection" in Caux, Switzerland, 16–20 June 2026!

Deadline: 15 March

meetings.embo.org/event/26-gen...
#DNAsky #RNAsky #EMBORNAGenomeProtection #EMBOevents 🧪

Staufen2 modulates the temporal dynamics of human neurogenesis in vitro RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play a central role in post-transcriptional regulation during brain development, yet their specific functions in coordinating human neural lineage decisions remain poorly u...

🚨New preprint from the lab! This work led by @akshayjg.bsky.social & @smfernandezmoya.bsky.social shows how the RNA binding protein STAU2 regulates the timing of neurogenesis in iPSC-derived human cells
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

List otwarty do Prezydenta RP, Marszałka Sejmu RP, Marszałka Senatu RP,  Prezesa Rady Ministrów oraz Wiceprezesów Rady Ministrów w sprawie finansowania nauki, w tym zwłaszcza Narodowego Centrum Nauki Szanowni Państwo, W niniejszej petycji prezentujemy List otwarty, który będzie wysłany do Kancelarii Prezydenta, Marszałków Sejmu i Senatu, Prezesa Rady Ministr&oacut...

Nauka i badania, w kraju, który jest 20-tą gospodarką świata, powinny być priorytetem ponad podziałami. Apelujemy do wszystkich, którzy rozumieją potrzebę prowadzenia badań naukowych w Polsce o zapoznanie się z treścią listu i poparcie Apelu.

www.petycjeonline.com/list_otwarty...

List otwarty do Prezydenta RP, Marszałka Sejmu RP, Marszałka Senatu RP,  Prezesa Rady Ministrów oraz Wiceprezesów Rady Ministrów w sprawie finansowania nauki, w tym zwłaszcza Narodowego Centrum Nauki Szanowni Państwo, W niniejszej petycji prezentujemy List otwarty, który będzie wysłany do Kancelarii Prezydenta, Marszałków Sejmu i Senatu, Prezesa Rady Ministr&oacut...

Please consider signing a petition to increase the spending on science in Poland / List otwarty w sprawie finansowania nauki, w tym @ncn.gov.pl www.petycjeonline.com/list_otwarty...

Submit an abstract for our 2nd @italianglianetwork.bsky.social
Symposium by Oct 10.
We want to see your cool #glial research!!!

The 2nd #IGN Symposium will be online on November 26 at 2 pm CET, and everybody can attend 😍 We will post the link to connect here: tinyurl.com/ye232mx9

The specific motif built up by these two RBPs cannot be identified by studying each of them in isolation, so one important question we would like to raise is: How many RBPs form heteromultimeric complexes with specificity other than the sum of the individual RBPs?