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Manipulating time with torpor
Development and regeneration

Whitehead Institute Member Siniša Hrvatin and colleagues  show that inducing a prolonged state of dormancy in mice slows down progressive molecular changes associated with aging. The work also identifies decreased body temperature as a central regulator of this anti-aging effect.

Meet a Whitehead Postdoc: Henry Kilgore
Postdoc Profile

Henry Kilgore is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Richard Young’s lab working on understanding how protein chemistry influences where in the cell proteins localize. We sat down with Henry to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

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New ways of thinking about brain research

Whitehead Institute researchers are making discoveries that are helping us rethink what we know about the brain and paving the way for therapies to treat some of the most challenging brain disorders and diseases.

Rejuvenation

Researchers at Whitehead Institute are breathing new life into the study of rejuvenation, the ability of cells to repair and replenish tissues — and potentially learning how to slow or reverse the changes our cells experience over time. 

Postdoc Profiles

Whitehead Institute is dedicated to training the next generation of scientists, especially postdocs. Get to know a few of these remarkable scientists through these profiles. 

Jaw-dropping research explains mouth formation during embryonic development
Evolution + Development

Whitehead Institute researchers have identified an area in the developing face of embryonic frogs that unzips to form the mouth. The scientists, who named this region the “pre-mouth array”, have also discovered the cellular signaling that triggers its formation. Elucidating this critical aspect of craniofacial development in a model organism enhances understanding of and potential treatment for human facial birth defects.

Engineers design programmable RNA vaccines against Ebola, influenza

MIT and Whitehead Institute scientists have developed a new type of easily customizable vaccine that can be manufactured in one week, allowing it to be rapidly deployed in response to disease outbreaks. So far, they have designed vaccines against Ebola, H1N1 influenza, and Toxoplasma gondii (a relative of the parasite that causes malaria), which were 100 percent effective in tests in mice.

Tiny alpaca-derived antibodies point to targets preventing viral infection
Protein form and function

Using tiny, alpaca-derived, single-domain antibody fragments, Whitehead Institute scientists have developed a method to perturb cellular processes in mammalian cells, allowing them to tease apart the roles that individual proteins play in these pathways. With improved knowledge of protein activity, scientists can better understand not only basic biology but also how disease corrupts cellular function and identify potential therapeutics to rectify these aberrations.

Identifying a genetic mutation behind sporadic Parkinson’s disease
Genetics + Genomics
Neurobiology

Using a novel method, Whitehead Institute researchers have determined how mutations that are not located within genes are identified through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and can contribute to sporadic Parkinson’s disease, the most common form of the condition. The approach could be used to analyze GWAS results for other sporadic diseases with genetic causes, such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and cancer.