News

Certain human cells can be made to manufacture virus-like particles that deliver gene editing tools – including potential therapies – into target cells. By modifying these producer cells, Valhalla Fellow at Whitehead Institute Aditya Raguram and colleagues engineered particles that are up to nine times more potent.

Stem cells can both renew themselves and give rise to cells that begin differentiating into specialized types. A new study led by Whitehead Institute researchers shows how some of those descendant cells retain the ability to become stem cells again and identifies the mechanisms that help determine whether a cell self-renews, differentiates, or reverts to a stem cell state.

Research from the lab of Whitehead Institute Member David Page suggests genetic factors may be protecting females from developing autism at the same rate as males. This mechanism could also shed light on other pediatric conditions with a sex bias.

 

MicroRNAs help cells regulate which genes are active, but they must also be regulated—through destruction. In a new study, researchers at Whitehead and Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry have uncovered how cells selectively destroy certain microRNAs through a mechanism that requires two RNA signals working together.

Leading researchers came together to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping the questions, collaborations, and experimental processes that drive biological discovery. 

Whitehead Institute researchers have identified a defect in how certain genes are processed that contributes to sterility in male fruit flies that are hybrid offspring of two species. The study shows that several unusually large genes on the Y chromosome fail during RNA processing in hybrids, preventing cells from producing proteins required for sperm development. The findings offer new insight into how genetic differences between species can disrupt reproduction.

Whitehead Institute Member Jonathan Weissman has been named to a newly funded Cancer Grand Challenges team that will tackle one of the most elusive frontiers in cancer biology: the “dark proteome.” The interdisciplinary team will receive up to $25 million over approximately five years to investigate proteins expressed by cancer cells that don’t correspond exactly to known genes.

A new study from Whitehead Institute Member Jonathan Weissman reveals how cells may activate a compensation system that can, in some cases, reduce the effects of potentially harmful genetic mutations. The findings could inform the development of new gene therapies.

The memorial honored the Nobel Prize–winning scientist and reflected on his profound impact on modern biology, the institutions he shaped, and the generations of scientists he mentored.

Crops increasingly need to thrive in a broader range of conditions, including drought, salinity, and heat. Traditional plant breeding can select for desirable traits, but is limited by the genetic variation that already exists in plants. Now, Whitehead Institute Member Mary Gehring and colleagues have developed a new chemical method for generating large-scale genetic changes in plants.