Evolution + Development

A Blueprint for Regeneration
Stem Cells

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.

Video of 2017 Whitehead Symposium: Beyond the Gene: Epigenetic Control of Plant Development
Evolution + Development

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.

Pairing mismatch helps impaired fish RNA cleavage proceed swimmingly
RNA

Researchers at Whitehead Institute have uncovered how small changes in the fish Argonaute (Ago) protein, an RNA slicing protein, that happened in its lineage an estimated 300 million years ago greatly diminished the efficiency of RNAi in these animals, while another ancestral feature, in a critical pre-microRNA, was retained that enabled the microRNA to still be produced despite the fish’s impaired Ago protein.

Jaw-dropping research explains mouth formation during embryonic development
Evolution + Development

Whitehead Institute researchers have identified an area in the developing face of embryonic frogs that unzips to form the mouth. The scientists, who named this region the “pre-mouth array”, have also discovered the cellular signaling that triggers its formation. Elucidating this critical aspect of craniofacial development in a model organism enhances understanding of and potential treatment for human facial birth defects.