Researchers have uncovered the mechanism through which a single DNA base change dramatically raises the risk of a subform of type 2 diabetes (T2D) called metabolically obese normal weight (MONW). This genetic variant, which affects a gene called COBLL1, impinges a pathway that reduces the ability of subcutaneous adipocytes — fat cells under the skin — to accumulate and store lipids…
A little-known bacterium — a distant cousin of the microbes that cause tuberculosis and leprosy — is emerging as a public health threat capable of causing severe lung infections among vulnerable populations, those with compromised immunity or reduced lung function. Recent research found that various strains of the bacterium Mycobacterium abscessus were genetically similar, stoking fears that it was spreading from person to person
One of the critical elements guiding the evolutionary advancement of brains, especially as brains have become super capable in mammals, is how they have acquired increasingly precise function-specific circuitry. As mammalian brains have evolved, so too have the neurons and circuitry responsible for sophisticated motor functions, like grasping a stick, rock, or pen, or playing the piano. In new research…
A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham has linked certain types of gut bacteria to the development of precancerous colon polyps. Their results are published in Cell Host & Microbe. “Researchers have done a lot of work to understand the relationship between the gut microbiome and cancer. But this new study is about understanding the microbiome’s influence on precancerous polyps,” said…
Tomo Kumon is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Yukiko Yamashita’s lab studying the function of repetitive DNA. We sat down with Tomo to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab. What do you investigate? I study satellite DNA, which is a type of repetitive DNA or DNA that contains many repeated copies of…
Every three to five days, all of the cells lining the human intestine are replaced. That constant replenishment of cells helps the intestinal lining withstand the damage caused by food passing through the digestive tract. This rapid turnover of cells relies on intestinal stem cells, which give rise to all of the other types of cells found in the…
New research from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has identified 116 genes as key molecular vulnerabilities for multiple myeloma. Most of these genes are potential leads for the discovery of new therapies for this disease. The study was published in Nature Cancer. Multiple myeloma is an incurable blood cancer that affects plasma cells, the antibody-producing cells of the body. To identify the leads,…
In what may turn out to be a long-missing piece in the puzzle of breast cancer, Harvard Medical School researchers have identified the molecular sparkplug that ignites cases of the disease currently unexplained by the classical model of breast-cancer development. A report on the team’s work is published May 17 in Nature. “We have identified what we believe is the original…
Because serotonin is one of the primary chemicals the brain uses to influence mood and behavior, it is also the most common target of psychiatric drugs. To improve those drugs and to invent better ones, scientists need to know much more about how the molecule affects brain cells and circuits both in health and amid disease. In a new study, researchers…
How does animal behavior emerge from networks of connected neurons? How are these incredible nervous systems and behaviors actually generated by evolution? Are there principles shared by all nervous systems or is evolution constantly innovating? What did the first nervous system look like that gave rise to the incredible diversity of life that we see around us? Combining the study…