RNA

Michelle Frank is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel’s lab studying how brain cells regulate RNA to flexibly adapt to different inputs. We sat down with Michelle to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel and colleagues uncovered how small changes in the molecular machines that carry out RNA interference can lead to big differences in the efficacy of gene silencing. Their findings have implications for the design of gene-silencing therapeutics.

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.

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.

Transcription factors bind DNA and protein. Now, researchers in Whitehead Institute Member Richard Young’s lab find that many transcription factors can also bind RNA, which fine tunes their regulation of gene expression, suggesting new therapeutic opportunities.

Clumps of abnormal RNA are known to build up in some neurological disorders including Huntington’s disease and ALS. New research from Whitehead Institute Member Ankur Jain shows that these clumps can form outside of the cell’s nucleus, becoming more toxic to cells.

Researchers frequently turn to C. elegans to learn about not only their biology, but our own. C. elegans is one of the most intimately understood species in biology—the first animal to have its complete genome sequenced or its neural circuitry completely mapped. How did this simple worm become so well studied and a fixture in laboratories around the world?

Researchers in the lab of Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel have identified new genetic sequences that can lead to the degradation of cellular regulators called microRNAs. The finding will allow scientists to learn more about the microRNA degradation pathway, which is critical for some species to survive.

The Whitehead Fellows program is renowned for preparing emerging leaders in biomedical research and education. Two recent Fellows who made significant accomplishments while at the Institute are continuing that track record.