Cell Biology

Questions about biology, human health, and disease from area students answered by Whitehead Institute scientists in our Ask a Scientist series. Watch the latest Ask a Scientist video or learn more at BioNook.

Valhalla Fellow Lindsey Backman explains what the microbiome is and the roles that different members of our microbiomes play in health and disease. She also discusses how her lab studies adaptations that some microbes have evolved to tolerate oxygen-containing environments, and how researchers may be able to use what she learns to create better antibiotics and probiotics.

Whitehead Institute Member Jonathan Weissman and colleagues used large-scale systematic genetic screens to identify the molecules and pathways that populate the mitochondrial surface with important and diverse signaling proteins. They deciphered the logic by which the cell ensures the proper delivery of these proteins. These findings may have important implications for understanding the impact on health and disease when these processes go awry.

The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) has elected Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman as a Fellow of the Society.

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

Much of biology is defined by activity: the rapid growth of an embryo, or the adventurous life cycle of a parasite, or the frenzied evolution of cancer cells. But for two Whitehead Institute researchers, there is much to learn by studying periods of rest.

A new study reveals that the protein MTCH2, which is essential in a variety of cellular processes, is responsible for shuttling various other proteins into the membrane of mitochondria. The finding could have implications for cancer treatments and provides insight into a variety of MTCH2-linked conditions.

Whitehead Institute researchers find a role for condensates, droplets involved in corralling proteins inside of cells, in disease. They provide a catalog of disease-causing mutations that likely affect condensates as a resource for future research.

Whitehead Institute scientists taking on a research challenge outside of their area of expertise use an open science approach to get outside input.