Kymera Therapeutics, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, entered a strategic collaboration deal with Paris-based Sanofi. They will focus on developing and commercializing protein degrader therapies that target IRAK4 in immune-inflammatory diseases, such and rheumatoid arthritis. Under the terms of the deal, Sanofi is paying Kymera $150 million up front for global rights to develop the company’s IRAK4 protein degraders in indications for inflammation and…
The Imaging Platform at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, together with industry and non-profit partners, has launched a new collaboration to create a massive cell-imaging dataset, displaying more than 1 billion cells responding to over 140,000 small molecules and genetic perturbations. This microscopy image dataset, which would represent the largest collection of cell images generated by Cell Painting, will act…
Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, killing more per year than breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined. Over the years, studies of the lung cancer genome have fueled the development of drug therapies that target mutations in specific genes and pathways. But despite these advances, survival among lung cancer patients…
A new study by MIT neuroscientists into how seemingly similar neuronal subtypes drive locomotion in the fruit fly revealed an unexpected diversity as the brain’s commands were relayed to muscle fibers. A sequence of experiments revealed a dramatic difference between the two nerve cells – one neuron scrambled to adjust to different changes by the other, but received no requital…
The genome in mitochondria — the cell’s energy-producing organelles — is involved in disease and key biological functions, and the ability to precisely alter this DNA would allow scientists to learn more about the effects of these genes and mutations. But the precision editing technologies that have revolutionized DNA editing in the cell nucleus have been unable to reach the…
Two years after it first emerged from stealth mode, Flagship’s Foghorn Therapeutics has nabbed its first Big Pharma partner as Merck signs on to the biotech’s vision of drugging the very shape of DNA. The deal, worth up to $425 million but with the upfront cash undisclosed, comes as Foghorn nears a pivot to a clinical stage biotech. The Cambridge-based…
To the Fairbairns, the symptoms—debilitating fatigue, joint pain, cognitive problems—were as worrisome as they were mystifying. All four members of the family had them. Eventually, all four tested positive for the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. After months of hitting diagnostic brick walls, the family had a unifying explanation for their symptoms, yet getting them under control took a year.…
The premiere of the movie Scent of Mystery in 1960 marked a singular event in the annals of cinema: the first, and last, motion picture debut “in glorious Smell-O-Vision.” Hoping to wow moviegoers with a dynamic olfactory experience alongside the familiar spectacles of sight and sound, select theaters were outfitted with a Rube Goldberg-esque device that piped different scents directly to seats.…
The stages in which ribosomes synthesize life-sustaining proteins have been revealed in unprecedented real-time detail by UMass Medical School structural biologists Andrei Korostelev, PhD, and Anna Loveland, PhD. Their new study of this fundamental molecular mechanism, captured using state-of-the-art, time-resolved, cryo-electron microscopy was published by the journal Nature on July 1. Ribosomes are the molecular machines that read genetic instructions carried by messenger RNA…
Whitehead Institute is delighted to welcome world-renowned developmental and cell biologist Ruth Lehmann to Whitehead Institute as its new director. Below is a version of the letter she shared with the Institute earlier today. To read more about her research and leadership prior to coming to Whitehead Institute, please visit her page here. This letter was sent to the Whitehead Institute community from incoming…