Researchers have developed a method for scanning the entire human genome to successfully map the location of key gene regulators, mutated forms of which are known to cause type 2 diabetes. The research marks the first time that human organshave been analyzed in this way and opens the door to similar studies.
Many scientists believe that the further a cell is from the embryonic stem cell stage, the harder it is to make a successful clone using that cell’s genetic material. Now, researchers at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have cloned mice using olfactory neurons – cells far removed from the embryonic state.
New research into a family of cell wall proteins shows how yeast can present a variety of “faces” to its environment. In pathogens like yeast, these cell surface proteins regulate how the cell sticks to other cells, interacts with surrounding tissue and evades detection by the immune system.
Two studies by scientists in the lab of Whitehead Member Terry Orr-Weaver that shed light on developmental strategies of Drosophila were published in recent issues of the journals Developmental Cell and Current Biology.
Susan Lindquist, director of Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and a professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been elected to the Board of Directors of Johnson & Johnson.
A single gene that codes for more than 38,000 different proteins may allow individual cells in the brain to distinguish themselves from other cells, says Andrew Chess, a scientist at Whitehead Institute and lead author of the study, which appears online this week in the journal Nature Genetics.
Research into the mechanics of microRNAs, tiny molecules that can selectively silence genes, has revealed a new mode of gene regulation that scientists believe has a broad impact on both plant and animal cells.
Whitehead Member Terry Orr-Weaver has been elected president of the Genetics Society of America, a nonprofit scientific organization whose members specialize in genetic studies.
Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, Limor Livnat, chairperson of the Wolf Foundation Council, announced that the 2004 Wolf Prize in Medicine, in the amount of $100,000, was jointly awarded to Whitehead founding Member Robert Weinberg.
Scientists have discovered a new process for how memories might be stored, a finding that could help explain one of the least-understood activities of the brain.