Whitehead Institute researchers have uncovered a molecular mechanism underlying type 2 diabetes. The new finding reveals that insulin receptors, the signaling molecules that sense insulin, normally function by clustering together in cells and that this clustering is defective in insulin resistance, the basis of type 2 diabetes. The researchers hope that this work will bring about a better understanding of diabetes at a molecular level and lead to the development of new therapies.
Stay up-to-date with recent research from Whitehead Institute, a world-renowned, non-profit scientific institution dedicated to improving human health through basic biomedical research. Learn how competition between mother and father plants can influence gene expression; how a newly-identified gene facilitates regeneration in planarians; and more.
Marine Krzisch is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch’s lab who works on making better models with which to study neurological diseases. We sat down with Marine to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.
Whitehead Institute research projects continue to provide important insights into human biology, and they are paving the way for future treatments to address developmental disorders and diseases.
Researchers in the lab of Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch designed a way to turn human pluripotent stem cells into insulin-resistant fat cells, providing a useful model for studying type 2 diabetes, a complex and slow-to-onset disease.
Researchers in Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch’s lab tackled the problem of how to make mature liver from stem cells in the lab, and found that thyroid hormone signaling plays a key role.
Max Friesen is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch’s lab studying cell metabolism and diabetes. We sat down with Max to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.
A paper from the lab of Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch suggests that the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 can integrate into the host cell genome and be expressed in some patient-derived tissues.
Whitehead Institute attracts people that are driven — and often that means people that bring an impressive level of intensity to their hobbies and side projects, too. Some have leaned on their outside interests to find balance and respite during the COVID-19 pandemic — and often as not, they parlay their interests to contribute to the community at the same time.
