News

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.

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.

This edition of Unusual Labmates, our series on the species used for research at Whitehead Institute, focuses on fruit flies. Fruit flies may seem like pests when they are encountered in the wild. However, they have been used in research for more than a century, and in that time, they have been engineered to become powerful, malleable models capable of answering questions in many areas of research.

Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman and collaborators have discovered how one critical protein is regulated to play multiple roles that help rewire cell division to create eggs and sperm.

Max Friesen is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch’s lab studying cell metabolism and diabetes. We sat down with Max to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

At its June 9, 2021 meeting, the Whitehead Institute Board of Directors elected Kevin B. Churchwell, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Boston Children’s Hospital, to a six-year term.

The American Society of Hematology will honor Whitehead Institute Founding Member Harvey Lodish with its Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology. 

Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel’s lab has uncovered how a key shift in RNA regulation happens early in embryonic development, providing new insight into when and how genes are regulated differently during development.

The new system streamlines the process of fermenting plant sugar to fuel by helping yeast survive industrial toxins.