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Whitehead Institute researchers have reliably produced mice and mouse cell lines with identical configurations of the specific factors needed to reprogram adult cells to an embryonic-stem-cell-like state. These cell lines may be used to screen for potential drug substitutions for the virally-inserted reprogramming genes and as a tool to enhance understanding of how reprogramming works.

The MLL-AF4 fusion protein, which causes the blood cancer called mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL), binds to several genes responsible for early blood cell development. MLL-AF4 also alters the chromatin proteins associated with these genes, a state that is associated with cancer and leukemia progression.

Scientists have long struggled for details on how the immune system responds to complex pathogens such as the parasite Toxoplasma gondii and herpes viruses. Adapting an existing technology, researchers have pinpointed precise molecular targets that these pathogens present to signal T cells.