Whitehead Institute Research Summaries

The Research Summaries are written by the Whitehead Members and reflect recent research conducted in their laboratories. The research interests of the Members are listed as key words in each research summary and also compiled in the index. Individual reports in this volume should not be considered as publications or sources of priority, nor quoted without permission of the author.

David Bartel

We study RNA catalysts and RNA-modulated gene expression. With regard to the ability of RNA to catalyze reactions, we want to know the types of reactions that RNA can catalyze and how easy it is for new RNA enzymes (ribozymes) to emerge. [read more]

Iain Cheeseman

Our lab is interested in understanding the molecular basis of kinetochore function in human cells. We use parallel biochemical and cell biological approaches to examine kinetochore composition, structure, organization, regulation, and how kinetochore proteins function to achieve proper chromosome segregation. [read more]

Gerald R. Fink

Our work focuses on the interaction of fungi and the plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, with the external environment. We use mutants coupled with genome transcription arrays to identify the ensemble of genes responsible for adaptation to both the external environment and to the mammalian immune system. [read more]

Mary Gehring

We study gene methylation in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, especially how the methylation state changes during plant reproduction, from reproductive cells through seed maturation. By studying multiple generations of plants, we will also see if epigenetic responses to environmental factors can ultimately lead to evolutionary changes. [read more]

Piyush Gupta

Our lab investigates the mechanisms that regulate the self-renewal and differentiation of stem and progenitor cells in adult tissues, and how perturbations in these mechanisms promote cancer progression and therapy resistance. [read more]

Rudolf Jaenisch

Our long-range goals are to understand epigenetic regulation of gene expression in mammalian development and disease. Faulty epigenetic reprogramming is the main problem in the development of cloned mammals produced by nuclear transfer, and understanding its molecular basis is a major focus of our work. [read more]

Susan Lindquist

The central theme of our research is to explore the impact of protein-conformational changes on diverse processes in cellular and organismal biology. We are studying fundamental mechanisms of protein folding in a wide range of organisms. [read more]

Harvey F. Lodish

Research in my lab focuses on four important areas at the interface between molecular cell biology and medicine: red cell development; hematopoietic stem cells; Acrp30; the role of Tumor Necrosis Factor a (TNF-α) in inducing insulin resistance. [read more]

Terry L. Orr-Weaver

Our research goal is to delineate the control of DNA replication and chromosome segregation, fundamental aspects of cell proliferation. We want to understand how cell proliferation is coordinated with development in multicellular organisms. [read more]

David C. Page

We study mammalian germ cells and their mitotic development, with particular attention to the roles of sex-chromosomal genes. Some of our work focuses on men who are infertile because of genetic defects disrupting germ cell development. [read more]

Peter Reddien

We use RNA interference (RNAi) for high-throughput studies of gene function in the planarian S. mediterranea. Our aim is to understand how planarian neoblasts control regeneration. [read more]

David Sabatini

We are studying how biological systems regulate size. Our work has focused in part on a cellular network called the mTOR pathway, a critical regulator of growth in many species. [read more]

Hazel L. Sive

The question of how an embryo decides where to place it’s organs (“positional information”) and how these organs are correctly shaped (“morphogenesis”) are of fundamental importance. We study positional information along the anteroposterior (A/P) or head-to-tail axis in the frog, Xenopus, and in the zebrafish, Danio. [read more]

Robert A. Weinberg

Research in my laboratory is focused on the molecular mechanisms that control cell proliferation and the formation of tumors. Our research is focused in three areas: We have invested much effort in understanding the collaborative interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal cells that results in the formation of carcinomas. We are also interested in how human cancer cells acquire the ability to invade and metastasize. Finally, we are studying the molecular mechanisms of cellular senescence and its effects on cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. [read more]

Richard A. Young

Our laboratory is charting the regulatory networks that control gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in Homo sapiens. We use a wide range of experimental and computational technologies to determine how transcriptional regulators and chromatin modifying enzymes control genome expression programs in cells and tissues. [read more]

Last updated July 25, 2011.