The joy of life (sciences)
Mary Gallagher’s deeply rooted MIT experience and love of all life supports growth at the MIT Department of Biology.
Department
Biology
Five with MIT ties elected to National Academy of Medicine for 2025
Professors Facundo Batista and Dina Katabi, along with three additional MIT alumni, are honored for their outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.
Neural activity helps circuit connections mature into optimal signal transmitters
Scientists identified how circuit connections in fruit flies tune to the right size and degree of signal transmission capability. Understanding this could lead to a way to tweak abnormal signal transmission in certain disorders.
MIT Schwarzman College of Computing welcomes 11 new faculty for 2025
The faculty members occupy core computing and shared positions, bringing varied backgrounds and expertise to the MIT community.
Gene-Wei Li named associate head of the Department of Biology
The associate professor aims to help the department continue to be a worldwide leader in education, biological sciences, and fundamental research.
Immune-informed brain aging research offers new treatment possibilities, speakers say
Speakers at MIT’s Aging Brain Initiative symposium described how immune system factors during aging contribute to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other conditions. The field is leveraging that knowledge to develop new therapies.
Engineered “natural killer” cells could help fight cancer
A new study identifies genetic modifications that make these immune cells, known as CAR-NK cells, more effective at destroying cancer cells.
By attracting the world’s sharpest talent, MIT helps keep the US a step ahead
MIT is a global community whose international engagement bestows benefits well beyond the Cambridge campus.
Inflammation jolts “sleeping” cancer cells awake, enabling them to multiply again
Chemotherapy-induced injury of organ tissue causes inflammation that awakens dormant cancer cells, which may cause new tumors to form.
A more precise way to edit the genome
MIT researchers have dramatically lowered the error rate of prime editing, a technique that holds potential for treating many genetic disorders.
Remembering David Baltimore, influential biologist and founding director of the Whitehead Institute
The longtime MIT professor and Nobel laureate was a globally respected researcher, academic leader, and science policy visionary who guided the careers of generations of scientists.
Locally produced proteins help mitochondria function
Researchers developed an approach to study where proteins get made, and characterized proteins produced near mitochondria, gaining potential insights into mitochondrial function and disease.
Mapping cells in time and space: New tool reveals a detailed history of tumor growth
Researchers developed a tool to recreate cells’ family trees. Comparing cells’ lineages and locations within a tumor provided insights into factors shaping tumor growth.
Staff members honored with 2025 Excellence Awards, Collier Medal, and Staff Award for Distinction in Service
The MIT community celebrates their fellow staff members’ talent and dedication to the Institute.
Five MIT faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2025
Rodney Brooks, Parag Pathak, Scott Sheffield, Benjamin Weiss, Yukiko Yamashita, and 13 MIT alumni are recognized by their peers for their outstanding contributions to research.