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.

December 23, 2005 - Someday, people may wake up and recognize that plasmalogens are among the most beautiful things Mother Nature has given us. As the New Year approaches, that remains our heartfelt wish for the times ahead.

December 18, 2025 - Asking individuals with openly strained relationships to pose together in a photograph "for the occasion" prioritizes the appearance of harmony over the actual reality of the institution. The result is a memory that everyone present recognizes as false. It may not be malicious, but it is profoundly tone-deaf.

December 15, 2025 - Most definitely, it feels as though our beloved institution is always one step behind where they should be. Appointments scheduled for next year sound reasonable, but they still seem to arrive a bit too late.

December 12, 2025 - The SPM (specialized pro‑resolving mediators) field is riddled with conflicting results. With so many interests at play, it is no surprise that, as someone once wrote, "no one expects an easy resolution to this highly inflamed dispute." Anyway, yesterday we were invited to present at an SPM meeting in Madrid, which we did, and the atmosphere was genuinely enjoyable. We presented on palmitoleic acid though, not really part of the SPM fray.  .

December 11, 2025 - Lipins once again featuring prominently, this time in the monthly webinar of the rare diseases network to which we belong. Pic here.

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