March 25, 2026 - You cannot get blood from a stone. At some point, you realize that no amount of centrifuging, optimizing, or rerunning assays can compensate for a sample that fundamentally lacks the analyte you are after.

March 20, 2026 - It seems the battle still rages on: "In summary, ELISA analysis of serum and plasma can report levels of resolvin D1 and resolvin D2 that are not verifiable using LC-MS/MS, especially with samples that are not handled carefully." Full story here.

March 19, 2026 - Reflections from the lab through a chess lens, part 5: The Queen. Some lab roles demand long range perspective and anticipation to move between experiments and timelines as priorities shift. The chess queen captures that reality well. She is the most powerful piece on the board, able to accelerate progress in many directions at once. Her real value lies not just in strength, but in judgment: knowing where her presence matters most. Lose her too early and the goal can still be attained, but with far fewer options and little margin for error.

March 13, 2026 - Reflections from the lab through a chess lens, part 4: The Pawn. Progress in the lab often starts with small, repetitive steps: setting up assays, preparing samples, running controls. None of it feels dramatic, but without it, nothing moves forward. That is where the chess pawn fits. It advances slowly, pushes through, and covers the path others can take. It rarely gets credit, but the entire game depends on whether those early, unglamorous moves were done well.

March 9, 2026 - The second meeting of the CSIC Network for Metabolic Diseases (COMETA) was held last Friday in Madrid. Another great opportunity to reaffirm the key role of plasmalogens in cell science.

March 2, 2026 - Reflections from the lab through a chess lens, part 3. The Rook. In a lab, progress depends on systems and people that keep things running: protocols followed, data managed, infrastructure maintained. This work is often visible but rarely celebrated, and when it is missing, progress slows down quickly. The chess rook is a fitting parallel. It is straightforward, moves in clean lines, and holds ground others rely on. Quietly, the rook reminds us that, when positioned correctly, it drives progress and holds everything together. Teams tend to feel its value most when it is missing.

February 27, 2026 - We have learned of the passing of Bob Wykle, one of the true giants in the field of phospholipid metabolism, especially ether lipids. His influence on us was so significant that it is no exaggeration to say that without his insight and groundbreaking contributions, we at the ERD would not be doing the things we do today. Rest in peace, gentle Bob.

February 26, 2026 - Ever heard the term boutique research unit? We had not until very recently. It's like the Rolling Stones song: It's only rock 'n' roll (but I like it). A boutique research unit is a highly specialized lab where intellectual depth matters more than glamour papers. They do not chase trends; they own a specific biochemical area. If anyone in the world wants to understand something within that area, they inevitably end up reading this lab's work. The PI is often still at the bench or deeply involved in the raw data, keeping a level of rigor that big labs sometimes lose along the way. Yeah, it's only boutique research... but I like it. Yes I do.

February 23, 2026 - Reflections from the lab through a chess lens, part 2. The Bishop. In a research lab, not every contribution is immediately visible. Some roles do not sit at the center of the discussions. The chess bishop is a good parallel: a minor piece with a long reach, quietly observing from a distant edge. Much like the behind-the-scenes work that preserves rigor and continuity, the bishop may go unnoticed at first, but when projects evolve and decisions need to be made, that steady contribution often proves decisive.

February 20, 2026 - Current Quotation #59: "The real bottleneck in biomedical science today is not technology or ideas, it is commitment" (Read somewhere on the net). We could not agree more, it becomes painfully evident every single day.

February 18, 2026 - Reflections from the lab through a chess lens, part 1. The Knight (Somehow inspired by the previous post). Strong work is not always recognized in the moment. But when the stakes rise and excellence actually matters, experience and reliability make the difference. Think of the chess knight; often underestimated, yet its unconventional moves are frequently what decide the toughest games.

February 16, 2026 - They do not admit you are better, so they pretend you are not part of the story. But they cannot deny you are better, so they come running when they need something done right. Same pattern every time, and it always comes from the same place: their insecurity.

January 28, 2026 - Yes, Money Heist fans, the building shown in this photograph is where the first seasons of the series were filmed. But in real life, it is the building that houses the headquarters of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). And there, in its impressive offices paneled in fine wood, the present and future of its many institutes and employees are decided every day. And why are we bringing this up here and now? Well, because, as the eternal Sam Cooke would say, a change is gonna come.

January 26, 2026 - In the April 9 issue of JACS, Ma and Clardy described a mechanism for cleavage of the plasmalogen's vinyl ether to generate an 1-lysophosphatidylethanolamine under conditions that mimic inflammatory environments. Migration of the fatty acid at sn-2 to sn-1 yields a 'classical' 2-lysophosphatidylethanoloamine which, if carrying oleic acid, could work as an endogenous activator of the nuclear hormone receptor RORγt (retinoic-related orphan receptor gamma). Although its relative contribution compared with phospholipase A2‑mediated hydrolysis remains unresolved, this plasmalo- gen‑triggered route reframes how these lipids may function as regulated reservoirs for immune signaling. Due to its implications for plasmalogen biology, we selected this study as our 2025 Paper of the Year.

January 22, 2026 - Continuing our quest for plasmalogen recognition, it was time for a short seminar on plasmalogens at the Rare Diseases Network we belong to. What they do and what they don't do in innate immunity.

January 20, 2026 - In a research group, intellectual diversity is a strength. It does not matter whether people think the same way as someone else. What matters is that they think at all, that they question, reason, and engage with ideas instead of waiting for answers. At this point, any genuine, active thinking is a victory.

January 16, 2026 - The protein kinase C family has been on the scientific stage for decades and many of its physiological and pathological roles are already well mapped. Yet there is still room for surprises. One isoform in particular, PKCϵ, turns out to play a remarkable part in shaping calcium signaling in macrophages. Curious about how this works and why it matters? Discover the story here.

January 11, 2026 - "What embitters the world is not excess of criticism, but an absence of self-criticism" (Gilbert K. Chesterton, English author and philosopher). Winter 2026 group meeting schedule here.

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