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Whitehead Institute scientists have identified the first microRNAs (miRs) that regulate the development of brown fat. Brown fat, which is found in small deposits in the neck, along the shoulders, and down the spine in adult humans, generates heat by burning the lipids. These miRs provide an opportunity to understand better how brown fat develops and may lead to methods for stimulating brown fat production to counter obesity.

Whitehead Institute researchers have created a complete catalog of genes active in the planarian eye. Several identified genes are known to have versions that play a role in the vertebrate eye, including genes involved in eye development and others associated with age-related macular degeneration and Usher syndrome, a disorder that causes progressive retinal degradation.

Your immune system is an army on full alert. How does it recognize the enemy when it's under attack?