Whitehead Institute
@WhiteheadInst
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Whitehead Institute is a world-renowned, non-profit scientific institution dedicated to improving human health through basic biomedical research.
Cambridge, MA, USA
Joined September 2012
Whitehead Institute announced today that the globally respected cell biologist Jonathan Weissman has become the Institute’s newest Member and will be the inaugural Landon T. Clay Professor of Biology at Whitehead Institute:
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Internationally renowned developmental biologist Yukiko Yamashita will become the newest Member of Whitehead Institute in Sept. 2020. Yamashita will also be a Professor @MITBiology and the Susan Lindquist Chair for Women in Science at Whitehead Institute.
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The Whitehead Institute Board of Directors today announced the selection of Ruth Lehmann, a world renowned developmental and cell biology researcher, as the Institute’s fifth Director. Lehmann will succeed current Director David Page on July 1, 2020.
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Tobiloba Oni @CancerHacker, a cell biologist whose graduate research @CSHL helped open new paths for understanding, detecting, and potentially treating pancreatic cancer, has been appointed as a Whitehead Fellow. He will open his lab in Feb. 2021:
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We mourn the death of Angelika Amon, one of the world’s most respected biomedical researchers and a former Whitehead fellow. “Angelika was both an extraordinary scientist and a wonderful person,” says Whitehead Institute director Ruth Lehmann.
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Whitehead Institute Member Robert Weinberg has received the 2021 Japan Prize with Bert Vogelstein for contributions to the development of a multi-step carcinogenesis model, the model’s application & its impact on improving cancer treatment—congratulations!
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New study led by Whitehead Member Robert Weinberg suggests taking a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may prevent early metastatic relapse in post-surgical breast cancer patients. #breastcancer
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mTORC1 is a master regulator of cell growth. A study led by @kbrogala in @DMSabatini’s lab refines the model of how mTORC1 binds the Rag-Ragulator complex and docks with the lysosome, where it can become activated. .@MITBiology @ScienceMIT @HHMINEWS
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Congratulations to Whitehead Institute Director @REMLehmann for receiving the 2022 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science! The award recognizes women who have made important contributions to the science of medicine, while mentoring other women in science:
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Tuesday, Nov. 3rd will be a paid day off for Whitehead Institute to emphasize the importance of the day and give those choosing to vote in person additional flexibility. Those with the opportunity to do so are encouraged to also use the day to volunteer and give back.
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Whitehead Institute Member Sebastian Lourido has received a 2021 Odyssey Award from the Smith Family Foundation, to support his studies of metamorphosis in single-cell parasites, including those that cause malaria and toxoplasmosis. Congrats, Sebastian!
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Congratulations to Whitehead Institute Member Yukiko Yamashita, who has been elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences!.Learn more about this prestigious recognition and @yamashitaflylab's research:
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Congrats to Whitehead Institute Postdoc Deniz Atabay for receiving the 2021 John Hatch Memorial Prize! The prize recognizes @KutayDeniz as a veteran mentor in the @GenesinSpace program, which challenges students to design DNA experiments addressing obstacles in space exploration.
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Usually, cells quickly break down parts of genes that don’t encode proteins, called introns. A new @nature study by David Bartel's lab, led by Jeff Morgan with Gerald Fink, found introns that persist and regulate growth. @MITBiology @ScienceMIT @HHMINEWS
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Genes expressed from the X and Y chromosomes impact cells throughout the body—not just in the reproductive system—by dialing up or down the expression of thousands of genes found on other chromosomes. New findings from @PageLabXY:
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Congratulations to Whitehead Institute Member Sebastian Lourido on being chosen for the @ASMicrobiology Award for Early Career Basic Research!
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Introducing CRISPRoff: a new, reversible CRISPR method that can control gene expression while leaving the underlying DNA sequence unchanged. Designed by Jonathan Weissman @JSWlab, @jamesknunez, @LukeGilbertSF, and collaborators. Read more:
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Congratulations to now former Whitehead Fellows: Kristin Knouse who joined MIT faculty as an asst. prof of biology and member of the Koch Institute and Silvi Rouskin who joins Harvard Medical School as a faculty member in the department of microbiology:
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Welcome to the newest Whitehead Institute Member, Yukiko Yamashita @yamashitaflylab, who joins us this month! Yamashita is an internationally renowned developmental biologist who studies how stem cells are renewed in normal and diseased contexts:
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Shout out to Whitehead Institute Member Sebastian Lourido for being named a Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s 2021 Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease! The award allows researchers to study how pathogens interact with people to find treatments for infectious disease.
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Congratulations to David Sabatini @DMSabatini for receiving a translational research grant from @UMDF and the Cavan McGovern Family Research Fund! He will be studying ways to restore mitochondrial function for patients with the rare disease Kearns-Sayre Syndrome.
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Congratulations to Institute Member Mary Gehring on receiving tenure from @MIT this year! Read more about her and the seven other @ScienceMIT faculty newly granted tenure in 2019:
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The mTORC1 complex, a master regulator of cell growth, only activates when there’s enough glucose. A new study led by @JoseMOrozco in @DMSabatini’s lab shows that mTORC1 looks to a specific step in glucose breakdown to sense the presence of glucose:
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Recently, Whitehead Institute appointed Members Mary Gehring and @iaincheeseman to endowed professorships, which provide financial support for their research programs and serve as an endorsement of their scientific visions. Learn more:
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Izabella Pena, a Sabatini lab postdoc, studies the lysosome, which she explains is “basically the waste bin and recycling plant of the cell.” She is exploring whether that waste bin plays a role in neurodegenerative diseases. .#WhiteheadPostdocProfiles
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Introducing Sinisa Hrvatin, who joins Whitehead Institute as a Member this month. Hrvatin, who completed his postdoc at @harvardmed, studies how cells initiate, regulate, and survive states of stasis, including hibernation: Welcome, @hrvatin_sinisa!
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“I could never have imagined the implications of that first discovery,” says Institute Member @DMSabatini of his research on mTOR. Sabatini & two other MIT professors received Frontiers of Knowledge Awards from the BBVA Foundation: @MITBiology @ScienceMIT.
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Whitehead Institute Member Mary Gehring is among 26 scientists selected in 2024 as an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Congratulations, Mary!
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Whitehead Institute Member Sebastian Lourido has been selected for a three-year term as the Latham Family Career Development Professor. Congratulations, @LouridoLab!
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Congratulations to Whitehead Institute postdoc Izabella Pena @izabellapena1 for receiving a @DS_Dimensions ScientistA Award this year! The award recognizes Brazilian women conducting innovative research in the U.S.
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Congratulations to Whitehead Institute Member Pulin Li, who has received a New Innovator Award from the @NIH. This prestigious award will fund her investigations into how epithelial and mesenchymal cells interact to form organs. Learn more: . #NIHHighRisk
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We are excited to have Tobiloba Oni @CancerHacker join us as a Whitehead Fellow starting early next year!. @CSHL @MITBiology @ScienceMIT.
#BlackinCancerWeek #BlackinCancer Inspiring to see black scientists from all levels. And a great week to announce that my lab will launch in Feb 2021 @WhiteheadInst. We will develop new tools to understand and induce anti-tumor immunity in pancreatic cancer.
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Much of what we know about cells depends on the methods we use to study them. New work from David Sabatini @DMSabatini and .@JasonRCantor shows how the composition of cell culture media can affect which genes are essential for survival.
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“Perched at the interface between organisms and their environments” — Grace Liu and Institute Member @DMSabatini review mTOR’s role at the nexus of nutrition, growth, aging and disease: @NatRevMCB @MITBiology @ScienceMIT @HHMINEWS
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Whitehead and HHMI scientists have put a structural "face" to the protein named GATOR1, which acts as an on/off switch for cell growth. The vital protein is altered in some cancers and neurological conditions, such as epilepsy.
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.@ColumbiaMed will award Institute Member @DMSabatini with the 2019 Horwitz Prize, along with Lewis Cantley and Peter Vogt, for seminal contributions to the role of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway in physiology and oncogenesis. Read more:
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Congratulations to Kat Kajderowicz (@KKajderowicz), who has been named a recipient of a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans! . The fellowship provides merit-based support to a select number of highly promising graduate students. Learn more:
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Introducing Allison Hamilos and Aditya Raguram, the newest members of the Whitehead Fellows Program. Welcome Allison and Aditya! . Learn more about their research, and the Whitehead Fellows Program, on our website:
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“There are many biologists that study germ cells, but not many are acutely interested in their immortality. @REMLehmann and I want to know, where does it come from?” - Yukiko Yamashita, @yamashitaflylab . Read about our research on these "immortal" cells:
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Whitehead Fellows Program provides dedicated lab space, lab funding, & additional support to recently graduated PhDs and MDs with proven potential for independent research — an alternative to traditional postdoc positions. Apps open now until Feb. 1, 2021:
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Learn how regenerating flatworms called planarians give Peter Reddien’s lab a way to probe the mysteries of how animals are able to replace missing body parts in this new short film: @MITBiology @ScienceMIT @HHMINEWS
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.@izabellapena1, a postdoc in @DMSabatini’s lab, has been selected as one of this year’s ten Pew Latin American Fellows. Pena, who hails from Brazil, studies how cells calibrate their growth, metabolism, and proliferation based on nutrient availability.
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Institute Member Sebastian Lourido has a Shiba Inu named Kafka. “Shibas are very stubborn, very independent, very lupine,” he says. He has a secret weapon, though: “Her weakness is cheese.” #PetsOfWhitehead #PetsOfMIT.@LouridoLab @MITBiology @ScienceMIT
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Researchers at Whitehead Institute have uncovered a framework for regeneration that may explain and predict how stem cells in adult, regenerating tissue determine where to form replacement structures. @KutayDeniz .
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Congratulations to Whitehead Institute Member Yukiko Yamashita for receiving a @Templeton_Fdn grant to study the importance of maintaining ribosomal DNA in germ cells! The research may have important implications for our understanding of cellular aging.
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A new study led by @kbrogala and @shenk0128 of @DMSabatini’s lab describes the structure of a key protein complex that helps master growth regulator mTORC1 rapidly respond to changing nutrient levels: . @MITBiology @ScienceMIT @HHMINEWS @CellPressNews
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Developmental and synthetic biologist @Pulin_Li joins @WhiteheadInst in May as its newest member. “Pulin’s insightful work has demonstrated that she is just the kind of pathbreaking scientist we prize at Whitehead Institute,” says Director David Page.
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Latest Herculean feat accomplished by Whitehead’s Peter Reddien: analyzing 65,000+ cells from the regenerative planarian flatworm to reveal the active genes for practically every cell type!
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Small molecules greatly outnumber larger ones in cells. Caroline Lewis is enabling @WhiteheadInst scientists to explore untargeted metabolomics with a new device made to search for unknown compounds. Read more in our latest #ThankYouCoreFacilities post:
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Starfish are great model organisms for studying polarity, which helps cells achieve an axis of symmetry in development. Today in @CurrentBiology, Zak Swartz in @IainCheeseman's lab reveals how one protein helps create polarity by dissolving & reassembling:
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Sangeeta Bhatia @kochinstitute is collaborating with Institute Member Harvey Lodish to lead a boot camp for women interested in starting companies or serving on biotech boards: @MITBiology @ScienceMIT.
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Jessica Spinelli studies how mitochondria adapt to low oxygen environments, particularly in the context of cancer. Spinelli conducts her research alongside a highly unusual companion: an axolotl named after a gene. Read her full postdoc profile here:
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Today in space biology: astronauts on the @Space_Station worked on the experiment designed by a @genesinspace team mentored by @WhiteheadInst scientists that explores DNA repair in space. Read more from @NASA:
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“Metastatic cancer cells need both properties of stem cells—such as the ability to self-renew & differentiate into different cell types—and the ability to multiply their numbers to grow new tumors," says Arthur Lambert, former postdoc in the Weinberg lab.
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Work from @DMSabatini at Whitehead Institute to uncover ways of improving methotrexate chemotherapy, reveals potential role for histidine supplementation in increasing sensitivity of cancer cells to drug. @MITBiology @MITScience @kochinstitute @HHMINews
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Congratulations to Whitehead Institute Member Pulin Li, who has been selected by The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group to be an Allen Distinguished Investigator. This award supports Li’s work to reconstruct cell populations that guide organ function:
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To produce cellular energy, electrons pass through multiple reactions in the mitochondria & are ultimately paired w/oxygen. In @ScienceMagazine, Whitehead postdoc Jessica Spinelli reveals how the molecule fumarate accepts electrons in the absence of oxygen
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Congratulations to Jarrett Smith, postdoc in David Bartel's lab, and other winners of the 2018 HHMI Hannah Gray Fellowship. Read more at @MITBiology @HHMINEWS
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Congrats to @nora_kory, a @DMSabatini lab postdoc, who received a #PathwaytoIndependence K99/R00 award from the @NIH! Read more about her research here: .@theNCI @MITBiology @ScienceMIT @DamonRunyon
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Cells make variants of thousands of proteins. These variants are not produced indiscriminately, but rather through precise regulatory mechanisms that can meet rapidly changing needs of the cell. New work from @iaincheeseman's lab in @Nature: @MITBiology
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A new @Dev_Cell study led by @ZakSwartz in @iaincheeseman’s lab sheds light on the molecular mechanisms that help control cells in a non-dividing state, revealing how those cells can choose to retain the capacity to divide for several years:
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Introducing Lindsey Backman (@lbackman21), a Valhalla Fellow and the newest member of the Whitehead Fellows Program. Her lab at @WhiteheadInst will study the human microbiome & ways that its resident bacteria protect the enzymes they rely on for survival.
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Regulating the regulators: a new study led by @CharlieYShi in Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel’s lab reveals how some messenger RNAs can regulate microRNAs — reversing the usual logic of microRNA/mRNA regulation. Learn more:
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Susan Lindquist honored with Women in Science Chair established by @JNJNews @JNJInnovation #womeninscience .
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MicroRNAs, important regulators of gene expression levels, can accelerate the decay of short-tailed target mRNAs, finds a new study by researchers in David Bartel’s lab: @HHMINEWS @MITBiology @ScienceMIT @MolecularCell.
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How starfish are helping postdoc @ZakSwartz & Institute Member @iaincheeseman reveal how cells spring back into action & divide after decades of dormancy—explore the latest in our #UnusualLabmates multimedia series: @MITBiology @ScienceMIT @AmericanCancer
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This microscopy image captured by Weinberg lab postdoc Anushka Dongre, titled “Diversity of Cells in a Tumor,” shows the variety that can be found in a single tumor—here, a model of breast cancer in a mouse. The image was a runner-up for a @kochinstitute Image Award this year.
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Congrats to Institute Member @DMSabatini, who received the @AICF_nyc’s 2019 Prize for Scientific Excellence in Medicine along with Elizabeth Jaffee of @hopkinskimmel! @MITBiology @ScienceMIT @HHMINEWS
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Whitehead mourns the lost of Susan Lindquist, a beloved member of our community.
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Congratulations to David Baltimore, a Former Director and Founding Member at Whitehead Institute, for receiving the Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science recognizing his discoveries in virology, immunology, and cancer.
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How proteins form droplets to activate key genes: a new model for gene regulation explored in our new short film, “Like Pearls on a String,” feat. @youngricka, @BoijaAnn, @bsabari, Alessandra Dall’Agnese & @IsaacAKlein. @MITBiology @ScienceMIT @DamonRunyon
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.@JswLab and @broadinstitute collaborators have developed a gene-silencing tool that shows promise as a therapy against fatal prion diseases. The tool, called CHARM, paves the way for a new class of genetic approaches to treat certain diseases:
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Many cancers go undetected for years as they evolve to become metastatic, capable of spreading to new sites in the body. Now, @JswLab tracks lung cancer cells from the very first activation of cancer-causing mutations, creating a high-res tumor history:
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A new @LouridoLab study led by Ben Waldman reveals the master regulator for Toxoplasma differentiation, a protein that controls the switch between the parasite’s acute and chronic forms. The findings provide new ways to approach treating toxoplasmosis:
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By studying Toxoplasma gondii, @saimamaysidik & @diego_huet also shed light on the biology of the apicomplexan parasite that causes malaria. Read our multimedia feature, "A 'model' parasite," on @LouridoLab’s T. gondii research:..@MITBiology @ScienceMIT
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Maiko Kitaoka, who is a postdoc in the @yamashitaflylab, is one of 25 scientists this year to receive the prestigious Hanna H. Gray Fellowship. Congratulations, Maiko!. Learn more:
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Institute Member Richard Young has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine. “More than just a personal honor, it is an affirmation of the importance of basic biomedical research to understanding, preventing, and treating disease,” he says.
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Congratulations to Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman, who is one of 28 GCRLE Grant recipients this year!
We’re incredibly proud to announce the 2023 GCRLE Grant recipients! These 28 exceptional researchers from across the globe will advance our understanding of ovarian aging #GCRLEGrants #ReproductiveAging @jenngarrison @buckinstitute.
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Whitehead Institute has established the David Baltimore Chair in Biomedical Research, to honor the Institute's founding director & advance his vision of basic biomedical research. Congrats to the Chair's first incumbent, @WhiteheadInst Member Mary Gehring!
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When a researcher approaches the Metabolite Profiling Core about a project, step one is talking through the best approach, says Caroline Lewis: “They come to us & we have a discussion about what question they really want to answer.” #ThankYouCoreFacilities
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A new study led by @IsaacAKlein & @BoijaAnn in Richard Young’s lab shows how cancer drugs become concentrated in organelles without membranes called condensates. The findings could help boost delivery of drugs to their targets & make them more effective:
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Of highways, engines, and chromosomes. @iaincheeseman lab unravel fundamental molecular machinery that propels chromosome movement
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Planarians are able to rewire their eyes to their brain after injury with help from specialized muscle cells called guidepost cells, reveals a new study from Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien’s lab led by Lucila Scimone and @KutayDeniz:
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Congrats to Whitehead Institute Members David Bartel, Rudolf Jaenisch, David Sabatini, Robert Weinberg, and Richard Young, who have been recognized in @webofscience’s list of 2019 Highly Cited Researchers! .@MITBiology @ScienceMIT @HHMINEWS.
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Director Ruth Lehmann has been awarded the 2020 Francis Amory Prize in Reproductive Medicine and Reproductive Physiology by the @americanacad. Lehmann shares the prize with geneticist Gertrud M. Schüpbach @Princeton, a longtime friend and colleague:
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A marine nudibranch, sometimes called a sea slug, is stained with an antibody to illuminate its cells' microtubules. Postdoc Luiza de Oliveira Saad studies this species' impressive ability to regenerate tissue. Credit to Luiza de Oliveira Saad. #WhiteheadWonders
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In the first issue of the new @NatMetabolism, scientists including Whitehead member @DMSabatini share their visions of what the next decade holds for metabolic research. @MITBiology @ScienceMIT @HHMINEWS.
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We are excited to announce the appointment of two new Whitehead Institute faculty members, Olivia Corradin @SorryChips and Sinisa Hrvatin @hrvatin_sinisa! Read more:
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Medium matters. Great piece from @edyong209 in The Atlantic highlighting importance of factoring cell culture growth medium into results including work from @DMSabatini and others. @MITBiology @ScienceMIT .
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Research on microRNA has focused on seed regions. Bartel lab postdoc Namita Bisaria’s work looks beyond those first 8 nucleotides. “There's all this other real estate of nucleotides that are conserved,” she says. The latest #WhiteheadPostdocProfiles Q&A:
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Researchers led by @thejordanray, @WalterWChen1, and @DMSabatini have expanded the toolset for studying individual organelles, providing greater accuracy and detail. Their new study focuses on peroxisomes, which play essential roles in human physiology:
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Introducing BioNook: a resource center from Whitehead Institute that curates free, online ways for kids (and parents) stuck at home to continue learning about science!.
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Whitehead Institute & @MITBiology seek outstanding scientists for two tenure track faculty positions at the Assistant Professor level to pursue innovative approaches to infectious disease and fundamental biology. Learn how to apply here: @ScienceMIT
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“We scientists need to learn how to use WhatsApp, YouTube, & Twitter to communicate,” says Sabatini lab postdoc @izabellapena1. “Because that’s how people are getting their information.” Read the @MIT News story on her COVID-19 outreach efforts to Brazil:
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In the Functional Genomics Platform @WhiteheadInst, Heather Keys helps researchers adapt CRISPR screens to new types of research questions. “It opens up a lot of doors for different types of science,” she says. #ThankYouCoreFacilities
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For all but a few mRNAs, the dynamics of metabolism are unknown. A new study led by researchers in David Bartel’s lab provides a framework for examining mRNA metabolic dynamics from thousands of genes: @HHMINEWS @MITBiology @ScienceMIT @MolecularCell.
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A few key molecular players rewire cells from undergoing mitosis, to undergoing meiosis. Nolan Maier, in @IainCheeseman's lab, in collaboration with researchers @Penn, helps uncover the role of Meikin, a protein split in half to perform multiple functions.
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.@LouridoLab modified CRISPR/Cas9 to work in T. gondii in order to screen all of the parasite’s 8,000 genes. The first screen, led by @saimamaysidik & @diego_huet, found a set of genes indispensable to survival & reproduction. @MITBiology @ScienceMIT.
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HIV-1 has a tiny genome. But its RNA molecules are flexible. They twist into different shapes so that different genes can be expressed from the same RNA sequence, indicates a new study by Whitehead Institute Fellow Silvi Rouskin and colleagues:
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