Bartel Lab

Network of diverse noncoding RNAs acts in the brain

RNA

Evolution + Development

Neurobiology

June 01, 2018

First known network consisting of three types of regulatory RNAs is identified

Pairing mismatch helps impaired fish RNA cleavage proceed swimmingly

RNA

January 18, 2018

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.

Diagram of high-throughput sequencing-based method that measures the poly(A) tails of individual messenger RNA molecules

A protein-production tale of the tape: separating poly(A)-tail length from translational efficiency

RNA

January 29, 2014

Whitehead Institute researchers have determined that poly(A) tails on messenger RNAs (mRNAs) shift their role in the regulation of protein production during early embryogenesis. This finding about the regulation of mRNA translation also provides insight into how microRNAs control protein production.

Structure of RNAi complex now crystal clear

RNA

June 20, 2012

Researchers at Whitehead Institute and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have defined and analyzed the crystal structure of a yeast Argonaute protein bound to RNA.

Photos of zebrafish heads, one with reduced lincRNA megamind production and an enlarged head, and the other normal megamind production and head size

Long intervening non-coding RNAs play pivotal roles in brain development

RNA

December 22, 2011

Whitehead Institute scientists have identified conserved, long intervening non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) that play key roles during brain development in zebrafish, and went on to show that the human versions of these RNAs can substitute for the zebrafish lincRNAs.

A man in a blue sweater leans on a lab bench, a scientist at work behind him.

Whitehead Member David Bartel elected to National Academy of Sciences

Awards + Announcements

May 03, 2011

The National Academy of Sciences has announced that Whitehead Institute's David Bartel is among 72 new Academy members elected today in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

When RNA rules

RNA

Plant Biology

May 05, 2006

A newly discovered class of molecules plays an astonishingly powerful role in biology.

Knockout punch: the promise of RNAi

RNA

June 25, 2005

Deep in your DNA, a gene has gone haywire and is driving up the production of a protein that is messing with your body. Wouldn’t it be great to sift through all your 20,000-something genes, find the offender, and swat it like a fly? Fortunately, a new technique eventually could do just that.

A man in a blue sweater stands in a hallway.

David Bartel honored by French academy

Awards + Announcements

June 15, 2005

Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel is one of two scientists to receive the annual Louis-D. Prize from the Institut de France, an organization similar in many respects to the National Academy of Sciences in the United States.

David Bartel wins HHMI appointment

Awards + Announcements

March 22, 2005

2005 is off to a good start for Whitehead Member David Bartel. In January, he and his colleagues published a landmark paper in the journal Cell. A week later he was honored with the National Academy of Science's prestigious Award in Molecular Biology. And in March, Bartel was appointed Investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).