Whitehead Member David Sabatini awarded Dickson Prize in Medicine
July 20, 2017
The prize recognizes “an American biomedical researcher who has made significant, progressive contributions to medicine”.
Elegant switch controls translation in transition from egg to embryo
June 14, 2017
The transition from an egg to a developing embryo is one of life’s most remarkable transformations. Now Whitehead Institute researchers have used fruit flies to decipher how one aspect—control of the translation of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) into proteins—shifts as the egg becomes an the embryo. This type of switch could tell scientists more about how human cells work and embryos develop.
Video of 2017 Whitehead Symposium: Plant Chemodiversity and New Nature-Inspired Medicine
June 13, 2017
In this video, Whitehead Member Jing-Ke Weng's graduate student, Olesya Levsh, outlines her journey to Whitehead, which personified a commitment that is at the very heart of our mission: guiding and nurturing the next generation of scientists. Weng also described how he uses a muliple "-omics" platforms -- genomics, metabolomics, proteomics, and more -- to learn about the medicinal components found in some plants.
Video of 2017 Whitehead Symposium: Beyond the Gene: Epigenetic Control of Plant Development
June 13, 2017
Whitehead Institute Symposium, "Harnessing the Untapped Power of Plants for Human Health", allowed two leaders in plant biology, Whitehead Members Mary Gehring and Jing-Ke Weng, to provide a window into their research and to describe how plants are a major gateway to the future of biomedicine and biotechnology. In this video, Gehring discusses "Beyond the Gene: Epigenetic Control of Plant Development", which describes mechanisms that control gene expression without altering the DNA's sequence.
Video of 2017 Whitehead Symposium: Welcome and State of the Institute
June 13, 2017
Welcome and State of the Institute by David C. Page, Director, Whitehead Institute, at the 2017 Whitehead Symposium
Whitehead Member Jing-Ke Weng receives research grant from the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation to examine herbs thought to boost mothers’ milk supply
June 8, 2017
Project will investigate the effectiveness and toxicity of four herbs widely used by breastfeeding women worldwide to promote human milk production
Undergraduate in Lodish lab doubly awarded for “outstanding” research
May 25, 2017
Rhogerry “Gerry” Deshycka, a graduating senior working in the lab of Whitehead Institute Founding Member Harvey Lodish, has received one of MIT’s two Randolph G. Wei Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) awards for 2017 and MIT’s 2017 John L. Asinari Award.
Growth medium based on human plasma rewires cell metabolism
April 6, 2017
Cultured human cells are the foundation for disease and drug research. Now Whitehead Institute researchers have designed a growth medium that more closely resembles the cells’ environment in the body—and demonstrated that, relative to decades-old recipes that have remained the workhorses of cell culture studies, it significantly alters the cells’ inner workings.
Whitehead Member David Sabatini awarded Foundation for the NIH Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences
April 4, 2017
Prize bestowed for discovery of the mTOR pathway’s impact on age-related diseases
Biomarker identified for likely aggressive, early stage breast cancer
April 3, 2017
Whitehead Institute scientists have identified a gene that could help clinicians discern which patients have aggressive forms of early stage breast cancer, which could prevent hundreds of thousands of women from undergoing unnecessary treatment and save millions of dollars.
Whitehead Fellow Sebastian Lourido speaks about proposed budget cuts
March 17, 2017
The budget proposed on March 15, 2017 would cut National Institutes of Health funding by an estimated 20 percent.
Cargo-carrying red blood cells alleviate autoimmune diseases in mice
March 6, 2017
Using red blood cells modified to carry disease-specific antigens, a team of scientists from Whitehead Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital have prevented and alleviated two autoimmune diseases—multiple sclerosis (MS) and type 1 diabetes—in early stage mouse models. This research is an exciting step toward therapeutics for autoimmune diseases, which affect an estimated 23 million Americans.