Building from the bottom up: New members of Whitehead Institute explore the fundamentals of biology

Once considered genomic “junk,” repetitive sequences in DNA are being discovered to have important roles in our biology. Whitehead Institute researchers are investigating different types of these repeated sequences, from repetitive DNA regions to excessive repeats within genes, in order to understand what roles they play in cells and how they contribute to health and disease.

Whitehead-Broad team harnesses new pooled, image-based screening method to probe the functions of over 5,000 essential genes in human cells.

Scientists turned cutting-edge CRISPR and single-cell sequencing tools on human cytomegalovirus, which affects around half of all adults, illuminating interactions between viral and host genes and adding to the list of possible drug targets.