2004 News Stories

December 22, 2004

Visa denied Tighter visa restrictions are making it harder for foreign researchers to work in the United States. What's the effect on science—and scientists?

December 15, 2004

Fellows hit the fast track It began as an experiment. Take a young scientist, unproven as an independent researcher, and give her the space, resources and support needed to launch a lab. Challenge her to take a risky project from idea to reality under her own steam. Then, as with any good experiment, examine the results.

December 10, 2004

David Page selected as interim director of Whitehead Institute The Whitehead Institute Board of Directors has announced that David Page will be the interim director of the Institute, effective this month, December 2004.

December 9, 2004

Researchers develop prototype for whole genome analysis One of the best ways to discover a gene’s function is to disable it and then see how that affects the cell. But doing this for an entire genome is a complicated process requiring a great deal of time and machinery. Researchers at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, however, have developed a prototype for testing every gene in a whole genome using only four glass slides.

December 8, 2004

Alex d'Arbeloff named Chair of Whitehead Board of Directors Alex d’Arbeloff has been named Chair of the Board of Directors for Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. d’Arbeloff, former Chair of the MIT Corporation, founder of Teradyne, Inc. and current Professor of the Practice at MIT Sloan School of Management, succeeds Maxine Singer, President Emerita of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

December 1, 2004

Battle over biodefense As the U.S. pumps billions into research on everything from anthrax and plague to military biohazard suits, what's the effect on our science—and our security?

November 17, 2004

Faster drug screening Finding molecules that can potentially be developed into therapies is a time-consuming, cumbersome process. Now, Whitehead scientists have developed a way to simplify the process so that a library of 5,000 molecular drug candidates can potentially be screened on a single slide.

November 10, 2004

Life, death and stem cells Both sides of the debate on therapeutic cloning are fighting for life and against death. It's probably the only thing they have in common.

November 3, 2004

Whitehead Institute receives "History Makers Award" Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research will receive the 2004 History Makers Award, presented by the Boston History Collaborative “for pioneering discoveries in biomedical research, including spearheading the Human Genome Project.”

October 27, 2004

Joon-Ho Sheen receives grant from U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense has awarded a $296,568 grant to Joon-Ho Sheen, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Whitehead Institute Associate Member David Sabatini.

October 27, 2004

Whitehead launches enhanced website Whitehead Institute is pleased to announce the launch of its new public website. A major goal of the redesign was to create an attractive, user-friendly site while adhering to web standards to increase accessibility and to streamline site maintenance.

October 20, 2004

Konrad Hochedlinger awarded Genzyme Fellowship Konrad Hochedlinger, a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Whitehead Member Rudolf Jaenisch, has been selected by a Whitehead committee to receive the Genzyme Postdoctoral Fellowship at Whitehead Institute.

October 6, 2004

Role models When genes work, they stick around. And so do many of the biological processes they create. As Whitehead Member Hazel Sive put it, kicking off Whitehead Symposium XXII—Disease, Development and Darwin—the process of evolution “conserves circuitry.”

September 29, 2004

The changing face of biology A fruit fly lab hooked Kim Dej on genetics. A professor hooked her on a career. Dej was a senior at the University of Toronto when she signed up for her first genetics course. Fascinated by the science behind breeding flies to study genetic abnormalities, Dej embarked on a path that eventually led her to Whitehead Institute.

September 22, 2004

Drug hunters Ask Microbia CEO Peter Hecht if drug discovery is an art or science, and he’ll likely tell you that it’s both. Reflecting on the company’s short—yet remarkably productive—history, the former Whitehead postdoc is quick to attribute Microbia’s success to a convergence of science, people, and passion.

September 16, 2004

Statement of the Whitehead Institute Board of Directors Dr. Susan Lindquist announced today that her service as President of the Whitehead Institute will end on or about November 1, 2004. Her announcement has been accepted with extreme regret by the Board of Directors.

September 15, 2004

Emerald City: How a jellyfish helped advance science Salmon fishermen trolling along the waters off Puget Sound in Washington are often witness to an awesome sight when they haul in their catch: salmon captured in nets that glow brilliantly against the nighttime sky.

September 8, 2004

Sperm cells “spring” into action Scientists have identified a surprising mechanical means by which cells store and release energy, a tightly wound jack-in-the-box mechanism rather than the chemical storehouse cells are known to use.

September 1, 2004

Researchers identify the genome’s controlling elements Using yeast as a testing ground, Whitehead researchers have for the first time revealed all the “controlling elements” of an entire genome—findings that may soon contribute to a new way of understanding human health and disease.

August 25, 2004

Rett Syndrome Research Foundation commits funding to support Matthew Tudor Matthew Tudor, postdoc in the lab of Whitehead Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch, is among 15 awardees of research and education suport from The Rett Syndrome Research Foundation (RSRF) for 2004.

August 18, 2004

Prions act as stepping stones in evolution When a protein misfolds, the results can be disastrous. An incorrect change in the molecule’s shape can lead to diseases including Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s. But scientists have discovered that misfolded proteins can have a positive side in yeast.

August 11, 2004

Protein targeted by drug developers not open and shut case Discovery of the mTOR protein and the role it plays in cell growth, a process often linked to diseases such as cancer, was part serendipity and part good detective work. And like any good whodunit, the mTOR story wouldn’t be complete without an unexpected twist.

August 4, 2004

Malignant cancer cells generate mice through cloning Nature can reset the clock in certain types of cancer and reverse many of the elements responsible for causing malignancy, reports a research team led by Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch, in collaboration with Lynda Chin from Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The team demonstrated this by successfully cloning mice from an advanced melanoma cell.

July 28, 2004

Susan Lindquist elected to Germany’s top scientific academy Whitehead Institute Director Susan Lindquist has been elected a member of Deutsche Akademie Der Naturforscher Leopoldina, the oldest scientific academy in Germany.

July 21, 2004

Picture perfect A new microscope at the Whitehead/MIT Bioimaging Center will show the smallest molecules at near-atomic scale. Placing the microscope in a climate-controlled room helps stabilize easily perturbed electrons, thus improving image quality.

July 14, 2004

The big picture For years, scientists have studied the human genome one gene at a time. Today, their view is more global, a vantage point that offers a new look at how genes and proteins work together to produce living cells and organisms.

July 7, 2004

Will the UN beat the ban? For stem cell research, this was a “Who’s Who?” gathering. Those taking the stage at United Nations headquarters in New York included Whitehead Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch; Douglas Melton of Harvard University; Roslin Institute’s Ian Wilmut, the Scottish embryologist who cloned Dolly; and Seoul National University’s Shin Yong Moon, who culled embryonic stem cells from the cloned human blastocyst earlier this year.

June 30, 2004

Researchers discover receptor molecule for key diabetes protein Obesity researchers made an intriguing discovery in 2001 when they found that large doses of a particular fat-cell protein, adiponectin, caused obese mice to lose weight.

June 24, 2004

New insight into cancer metastasis Scientists know a great deal about how tumors originate and develop, but relatively little about how cancer manages to metastasize and invade distant tissues and organs.

June 23, 2004

Robert Weinberg honored with 2004 Prince of Asturias Award Whitehead Member Robert Weinberg is one of five researchers honored with the 2004 Prince of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research, the Prince of Asturias Foundation announced this week in Oviedo, Spain.

June 16, 2004

MIT World features Richard Young In the fifth videotaped lecture from the Whitehead Institute on MIT World, Richard Young looks at the world of disease from a global perspective, while focusing on the place where genetic regulators succeed or fail.

June 16, 2004

The price of publication Pier Paolo Pandolfi, a molecular biologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, is no stranger to the benefits of publishing in the “best" scientific journals; greater impact, wider readership — and career-boosting citations for his junior colleagues’ CVs.

June 9, 2004

The biology of behavior The human body is assaulted by hundreds of thousands of stimuli every day. Sights: A car is coming down the street, so you step out of the way. Sounds: Someone calls your name and you answer. Touch: A glossy magazine arrives in your mailbox and you thumb through its pages.

June 2, 2004

Biography of a tumor It starts out just like every other cell. There's nothing strange about it, no mutations, no odd behaviors—nothing that would distinguish it in any way from the countless cells with which it cohabits inside human tissue. Like all its neighbors, this cell multiplies only when it receives strict orders from its host tissue.

May 26, 2004

Hook, line and model: Scientists use fruit flies and worms to fish for biological treasure Hamlet provided one of the zippiest summations of the connections among life forms: “A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.” Of course, fishing with flies hath also been popular. The flies and worms in this story differ from those preferred by fisherfolk.

May 20, 2004

Researchers discover protein that dissolves amyloid fibers Amyloid fibers, those clumps of plaque-like proteins that clog up the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, have perplexed scientists with their robust structures. In laboratory experiments, they are able to withstand extreme heat and cold and powerful detergents that cripple most other proteins.

May 19, 2004

New study examines microRNA’s in plants and animals As genes and proteins continue to take center stage in molecular biology, molecules called microRNAs are starting to make inroads. These microRNAs, which are unusually small when compared to other RNAs in the cell, have captured the attention of biologists with their capacity to regulate genes, an ability that one day may have therapeutic value.

May 19, 2004

MIT World features Susan Lindquist When proteins in our body work properly, we can see, smell, consume and digest food, grow muscle and brain cells. But when these infinitely useful biological building blocks fail, the most pernicious diseases arise. Susan Lindquist has scrutinized the complex origami-like shapes of proteins and come to understand how structural mistakes can lead to a frightening class of neurodegenerative disorders, including “Mad Cow Disease.”

May 12, 2004

Latest issue of Paradigm Magazine now online The debate over the rising price of scientific journals, new studies to use MRI technology to study the mind-brain connection and the story of how a tumor develops are just a few of the topics covered in the latest issue of Paradigm, a magazine that explores issues in life sciences research.

May 5, 2004

Model behavior Last month, 152 high school students ceded much of their cherished week-long school vacation, putting their X-Boxes and PlayStations, trips to the mall, and skateboard activities on hold, in order to spend some quality time with Whitehead scientists during the Spring Lecture Series for High School Students.

May 5, 2004

Eric Lander featured in TIME magazine For his distinguished career at Whitehead Institute, Eric Lander has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine.

April 28, 2004

Study examines link between science literacy and public opinion Many scientists claim public opposition to biotechnology is primarily a product of ignorance. But a report published by researchers at the University of Trento in Italy may contradict that belief. The researchers found that access to scientific information does not necessarily promote postive attitudes about biotechnology.

April 21, 2004

Communications Office wins award for science writing The Office of Communications and Public Affairs has received a Gold Medal for Excellence in Science News Writing for a package of articles about Whitehead research on prions, microRNAs, the Y chromosome and efforts to create a biological library of molecules with drug-development potential.

April 21, 2004

Study confirms Rett syndrome begins in neurons Scientists have known for some time that mutations in a gene named MeCP2 lead to Rett syndrome, a major cause of mental retardation in girls. Now, a Whitehead Institute research team has provided evidence for the long accepted, but previously unproven theory that Rett syndrome is caused by loss of MeCP2 exclusively in neurons.

April 14, 2004

Branching out Whitehead biologist Steve Rozen has explored the family tree of the male-determing Y chromosome, looking for information about a genetic mutation that raises interesting questions about the evolution of the Y.

April 7, 2004

Tools of the trade In the film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” an angel shows a suicidal George Bailey how his small town would have fared had he never been born. For years, scientists have conducted countless George Bailey experiments on genes, identifying their function by knocking them out with specially designed complex molecules, then observing what happens to the cell.

March 31, 2004

Developmental science When Kathleen Collins joined the lab of Whitehead Institute Member Paul Matsudaira as a graduate student in the late 1980s, she felt anything was possible. “The enthusiasm there was contagious,” says Collins, now an associate professor at the University of California at Berkeley. “You were always aware of a driving motivation to do good science. And life’s too short not to do good science.”

March 24, 2004

Study examines how cells tell each other apart The idea of self vs. nonself may sound more like an existential identity crisis than a question in cellular biology. But to Whitehead Institute Associate Member Andrew Chess, the concept could offer information about how cells tell each other apart, a cellular self-awareness that ensures the correct wiring of neurons in the brain.

March 24, 2004

Fungi have systems to sense and respond to plant signals, study suggests Yeast and other fungi normally live on the outside of a plant, a nutrient-poor environment. Microorganisms can utilize wounds as opportunity for infection, thereby gaining access to the nutrient rich environment inside of the plant. Just how fungi identifies a wound on a plant, though, is a mystery.

March 22, 2004

Study offers new model for breast cancer The last few years have witnessed critical advances in breast cancer therapies. Still, the disease afflicts one in eight American women, and scientists have yet to develop a living model with which they can study the intricacies of human breast-tumor behavior. Now, a team in the lab of scientist Robert Weinberg at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research has successfully grafted human breast tissue into the mammary glands of mice.

March 17, 2004

Alex d’Arbeloff named to Whitehead Institute Board of Directors Teradyne, Inc. founder and former Chairman of the MIT Corporation Alex d’Arbeloff has been named to the Board of Directors for Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. d’Arbeloff is presently a professor of practice at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and honorary chairman of the MIT Corporation.

March 8, 2004

Study answers questions on ancestry of yeast genome In work that may lead to a better understanding of genetic diseases, researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT, Harvard University and Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research show that baker’s yeast was created hundreds of millions of years ago when its ancestor temporarily became a kind of super-organism with twice the usual number of chromosomes and increased potential to evolve.

March 3, 2004

By the book. In the late 1970s, Harvey Lodish co-taught the very first cell biology class at Massachusetts Institute of Technology – a course that existed in very few universities. As a result, he was in the bothersome position of having to teach without a text. But eventually, Lodish’s frustration led to action, and the result was one of the more successful textbooks in the $100-million industry of life sciences texts.

February 26, 2004

New genomics tool boosts diabetes research Researchers have developed a method for scanning the entire human genome to successfully map the location of key gene regulators, mutated forms of which are known to cause type 2 diabetes. The research marks the first time that human organshave been analyzed in this way and opens the door to similar studies.

February 25, 2004

MIT World features David Page on the evolution of sex: Rethinking the rotting Y chromosome According to David Page, “the Y chromosome is the Rodney Dangerfield of the human genome.” Regarded for 50 years as a genetic wasteland, the Y chromosome just doesn’t get any respect…until now. In this video, Page provides new insights into the future of the Y.

February 15, 2004

Scientists clone mice from olfactory cells Many scientists believe that the further a cell is from the embryonic stem cell stage, the harder it is to make a successful clone using that cell’s genetic material. Now, researchers at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have cloned mice using olfactory neurons – cells far removed from the embryonic state.

February 11, 2004

Yeast’s variety show New research into a family of cell wall proteins shows how yeast can present a variety of “faces” to its environment. In pathogens like yeast, these cell surface proteins regulate how the cell sticks to other cells, interacts with surrounding tissue and evades detection by the immune system.

February 11, 2004

Studies Examine Development in Drosophila Two studies by scientists in the lab of Whitehead Member Terry Orr-Weaver that shed light on developmental strategies of Drosophila were published in recent issues of the journals Developmental Cell and Current Biology.

February 5, 2004

Whitehead Director elected to Johnson & Johnson Board of Directors Susan Lindquist, director of Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and a professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been elected to the Board of Directors of Johnson & Johnson.

February 2, 2004

Gene that produces 38,000 different proteins involved in cellular identification A single gene that codes for more than 38,000 different proteins may allow individual cells in the brain to distinguish themselves from other cells, says Andrew Chess, a scientist at Whitehead Institute and lead author of the study, which appears online this week in the journal Nature Genetics.

January 28, 2004

New method identifies human microRNA targets Research into the mechanics of microRNAs, tiny molecules that can selectively silence genes, has revealed a new mode of gene regulation that scientists believe has a broad impact on both plant and animal cells.

January 28, 2004

Whitehead scientist named president of Genetics Society of America Whitehead Member Terry Orr-Weaver has been elected president of the Genetics Society of America, a nonprofit scientific organization whose members specialize in genetic studies.

January 21, 2004

Whitehead offers bioinformatics courses Whitehead Institute’s Bioinformatics and Research Computing Department is offering a series of mini-courses that introduce a broad scope of bioinformatics tools, providing both theory and practical applications.

January 14, 2004

Robert Weinberg awarded 2004 Wolf Prize in Medicine Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, Limor Livnat, chairperson of the Wolf Foundation Council, announced that the 2004 Wolf Prize in Medicine, in the amount of $100,000, was jointly awarded to Whitehead founding Member Robert Weinberg.

January 8, 2004

Mad cow clues Could the same sort of thing that causes mad cow disease actually do something useful? Whitehead Director Susan Lindquist recently spoke with ScienCentral News about how this is the kind of impossible dream that nanotechnology can make come true.

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Last updated December 22, 2004.