Reproductive biology

Researchers propose a new framework for how satellite DNA, sometimes called “genomic junk,” is essential in the organization of chromosomes in cells. They suggest this quickly-evolving DNA is one reason different species are unable to successfully interbreed.

Researchers in Whitehead Institute Director Ruth Lehmann’s lab have discovered that swarm cells, a previously enigmatic cell type, help primordial germ cells time their transformation during development so that the ovary can successfully assemble for egg production. 

Rebecca Harris, a physician-scientist at Whitehead Institute’s Brit J. d’Arbeloff Center for Women’s Health, has received a prestigious funding award from the NIH’s Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) program.

Whitehead Institute scientists investigate germ cells — the cells that never cease to exist

Graduate student Zak Swartz in Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman's lab uses bat stars to study how cells divide. Click to experience a multimedia story about bat stars, from their arrival at Whitehead Institute in a chilly cardboard box to the role of their tiny eggs in Swartz' research.

Amelie Raz is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Yukiko Yamashita’s lab investigating germline immortality. We sat down with Raz to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Genes that remain on these volatile chromosomes are essential for the animal to live, suggests a new paper from the Page Lab at Whitehead Institute

Whitehead Institute Director Ruth Lehmann is the co-recipient of the 2020 Francis Amory Prize, awarded by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in recognition of outstanding achievements in medicine and reproductive physiology.