News

Sonia Boor is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Mary Gehring’s lab studying how to make the crop plant pigeon pea more resilient against climate change. We sat down with Sonia to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel and colleagues uncovered how small changes in the molecular machines that carry out RNA interference can lead to big differences in the efficacy of gene silencing. Their findings have implications for the design of gene-silencing therapeutics.

From how genes are regulated, to how cells transport important cargo — there are many biological processes that work similarly across organisms, and are versatile in their function. Click here to watch a video on how Whitehead Institute researchers are finding ways to tailor existing biological processes to expand the potential to address complex problems.

The Whitehead Institute Board of Directors has elected two experienced leaders to its ranks: biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry executive Dr. Deborah Dunsire; and Micho Spring, a strategic communications expert who led a major global consulting practice.

Whitehead Institute Member Sebastian Lourido and colleagues performed the first genome-wide screen of Toxoplasma gondii in live hosts, uncovering genes that are important for infection but had been undetected in cell culture experiments. Their results demonstrate the importance of studying parasites in live hosts and point to a possible new drug target.

Whitehead Institute Director and Member Ruth Lehmann and colleagues have found that membrane-less compartments, called condensates, within germ cells not only store but also play an active role in the translation of specific mRNAs. This finding uncovers the possibility that other RNA-protein condensates can actively regulate protein production.

Whitehead Institute Member Jonathan Weissman and collaborators have developed a gene-silencing tool that shows promise as a therapy against fatal prion diseases. The tool, a streamlined epigenetic editor, paves the way for a new class of genetic approaches to treat certain diseases.

Neha Bokil is studying mechanisms that regulate expression of genes located on the X and Y chromosomes in order to better understand sex-biased conditions that predominantly affect one sex. Experience a typical day in her life as a graduate student — in video and text — and discover the driving force behind her passion for genetics.

The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience has selected Whitehead Institute Member Siniša Hrvatin to receive a 2024 McKnight Scholar Award, which is given to exceptional young scientists who demonstrate the potential for having important impact through their basic science studies of the brain and their discoveries’ translation to clinical practice.

The International Society for Transgenic Technologies (ISTT) has awarded Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch the ISTT Prize, recognizing his exceptional contribution to the field of animal transgenesis over the past five decades.