SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, seems to have become a permanent presence in our lives. Research from Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch’s lab reveals that this may be true on multiple levels. Jaenisch, postdoc Liguo Zhang, and colleagues have shown that when the virus infects people, it is capable of integrating parts of its genetic code into the…
A new study led by researchers at Harvard Medical School details the step-by-step cascade that allows bacteria to break through the brain’s protective layers — the meninges — and cause brain infection, or meningitis, a highly fatal disease. The research, conducted in mice and published March 1 in Nature, shows that bacteria exploit nerve cells in the meninges to suppress the immune…
One of the most expensive steps in manufacturing protein drugs such as antibodies or insulin is the purification step: isolating the protein from the bioreactor used to produce it. This step can account for up to half of the total cost of manufacturing a protein. In an effort to help reduce those costs, MIT engineers have devised a new…
The next pandemic could already be lurking somewhere, and scientists want to make sure the world is ready when it springs. As we slowly exit the current COVID-19 pandemic, Boston University researchers are joining a $100 million effort to advance our understanding of dangerous pathogens—and help spur new ways to defeat or at least contain them. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI) Emerging…
In people with type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing β cells that control blood glucose levels and are part of a group of cells in the pancreas called pancreatic islets. In research published in Cell Reports Medicine, a team led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of Mass General Brigham, recently developed an…
When Associate Professor Myriam Heiman began studying neuroscience as a postdoc, scientists interested in neurodegenerative diseases had long reported evidence of inflammation, or the activation of immune responses, but few were claiming it was an early driver of disease. “It was initially thought it might be perhaps more of a secondary response to neural damage,” Heiman said. Similarly, in the late 1990s…
Late last year, thousands of children across the United States were hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), but unlike previous RSV surges, this one affected a larger number of people and a broader range of age groups, including older children. As cases climbed faster and earlier in the season than in previous years, researchers wondered whether a fast-spreading RSV variant…
Allergic asthma—which is characterized by wheezing and breathing difficulties triggered by inhaled allergens such as pollen, mold, and pet dander—is the most common chronic disease among children, and it can persist into adulthood. New research led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of Mass General Brigham (MGB), reveals how the relationship between nerves and immune cells in…
As Tal Gilboa watched the condition of her mentor and family friend diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease rapidly decline early in her biomedical engineering studies, she longed to apply her skills to develop a technology that would help similar patients. At the Wyss, she found that opportunity. Tal is now creating tools for Parkinson’s diagnosis and monitoring, which could accelerate drug…