The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded grants to four MIT faculty members as part of its High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. The program supports unconventional approaches to challenges in biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences. Each year, NIH Director’s Awards are granted to program applicants who propose high-risk, high-impact research in areas relevant to the NIH’s mission. In doing so, the NIH…
The development of a durable and effective HIV vaccine is still elusive after almost forty years of research, but a new study testing a germline-targeting vaccination strategy provides insights that may bring scientists one step closer. In the past decade, broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) have revolutionized the field of HIV vaccine development. These antibodies can neutralize a broad range of…
Bayer recently welcomed its partners and media to its new Bayer Research and Innovation Center (BRIC) in Cambridge, MA. The state-of-the-art innovation facility is home to the company’s precision molecular oncology laboratory and reflects the investment Bayer is making to advance the future of oncology and science and generate breakthrough solutions to the world’s most complex challenges.
Claes Dohlman, HMS professor of ophthalmology, emeritus, at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, has received the 2022 Antonio Champalimaud Vision Award in recognition of his contributions to vision research. The Champalimaud Vision Award, presented by the Portugal-based Champalimaud Foundation, is the highest distinction bestowed in ophthalmology and vision science.
Plant biochemist Ryan Nett has joined MCB as an Assistant Professor. His lab will investigate how plants build small molecules, including compounds with medicinal potential. He is also interested in how these molecules shape plant biology and how they may affect other organisms that eat, infect, or coexist alongside plants.
Entomopathogenic nematodes are widely used as biopesticides1,2. Their insecticidal activity depends on symbiotic bacteria such as Photorhabdus luminescens, which produces toxin complex (Tc) toxins as major virulence factors3,4,5,6. No protein receptors are known for any Tc toxins, which limits our understanding of their specificity and pathogenesis. Here we use genome-wide CRISPR–Cas9-mediated knockout screening in Drosophila melanogaster S2R+ cells and identify Visgun (Vsg) as…
Arlene Sharpe, the George Fabyan Professor of Comparative Pathology and head of the Department of Immunology in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). FASEB’s Excellence in Science Awards recognize female scientists who have demonstrated excellence and innovation in their research fields, exemplary leadership,…
Today, Unravel Biosciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced that Unravel has licensed a drug discovery platform technology from Harvard and Tufts University. The company will use the technology, invented at the Wyss Institute, to decode and model complex diseases to accelerate the development of new and more effective therapies. Harvard’s Office of Technology Development is providing…
The precise regulation of gene expression is fundamental to neurodevelopment, plasticity and cognitive function. Although several studies have profiled transcription in the developing human brain, there is a gap in understanding of accompanying translational regulation. In this study, we performed ribosome profiling on 73 human prenatal and adult cortex samples. We characterized the translational regulation of annotated open reading frames…
In the past, scientists had it relatively easy, according to biomedical engineer Christopher Chen. They could spend their days diligently working alone in a private lab, inventing the commercial light bulb (Thomas Edison) or developing the polio vaccine (Jonas Salk). While the concept of the scientist as a solitary genius has always been problematic—after all, science is best as a team…
