Development and regeneration

In order for researchers to understand the biology of living organisms, they must consider what is happening across the size scale. Interactions between molecules drive interactions between cells that affect traits and behaviors. Experiences and decisions made by the organism can lead to changes at the cellular and molecular level. In order to understand the full picture, Whitehead Institute researchers study everything from molecules to cells to whole organisms.

Whitehead Institute Director and Member Ruth Lehmann and colleagues have found that membrane-less compartments, called condensates, within germ cells not only store but also play an active role in the translation of specific mRNAs. This finding uncovers the possibility that other RNA-protein condensates can actively regulate protein production.

The Li lab recreates early developmental events in the Petri dish to study the building blocks of life. But this unique approach to biology carries implications that stretch past embryonic development.

Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) are a critically endangered species of salamander. They are also highly regenerative. The latest story in our Unusual Labmates series explores these fascinating creatures, what Whitehead Institute researchers are hoping to discover by studying them, and why they are worth preserving in the wild. Click here to view the full multimedia story.

Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel and colleagues uncover how RNA translation into protein is regulated during early development, when genes are turned off and not making new RNA.

First-of-its-kind study uses MERFISH to map the spatial pattern of how stem cells choose their fates during adult regeneration in flatworms.

Whitehead Institute Member Yukiko Yamashita and colleagues show that stem cells play a special role in maintaining ribosomal DNA, which they do by dividing asymmetrically.

Sperm use tiny proteins to pack their DNA correctly. New research explains how and why sperm cells balance the different versions of these proteins.