MIT researchers have found that plants may use prions, the proteins responsible for mad cow disease, to form memories, reports Anil Ananthaswamy for New Scientist. “Prions, we think, are responsible for some really broad, really interesting biology,” says Prof. Susan Lindquist. “We have only seen the tip of the iceberg so far.”
Huffington Post reporter Carolyn Gregoire writes that MIT spinoff Synlogic is working on reprogramming gut bacteria to act as a living therapeutic. “It’s become really clear that the bacteria living in us and on us affect our bodies in a variety of different ways — in ways that we never imagined,” explains Prof. Timothy Lu.
STAT reporter Eric Boodman spotlights Prof. Jing-Ke Weng’s work searching for medical treatments in plants. Boodman writes that Weng is “determined to harness peanut skins, and twisted roots, and an herb known as horny goat weed...to treat human disease."
Washington Post reporter Laurie McGinley writes that Prof. Tyler Jacks, director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, was named to a panel of experts that will advise the Obama administration on the cancer “moonshot” initiative and how to best “tackle some of the most promising but challenging areas in research today.”
MIT researchers have found evidence that there may be windows of opportunity during which drugs are more effective at treating cancer, reports Ariana Eunjung Cha for The Washington Post. "If we know the route to resistance," explains Prof. Michael Hemann, "we can ambush tumor cells."
MIT researchers have uncovered a potential link between a high-fat diet and increased risk of many types of cancer, reports Chukwuma Muanya for The Guardian. Muanya explains that the study “reveals the effect that a high-fat diet has on the biology of stem cells… and how this might make cancer more likely.”
A new study by MIT researchers suggests that sea sponges may have been the first animal on Earth, CBS Boston reports. “Based on new genetic tests, researchers can say with confidence that molecules produced by sea sponges have been found in 640 million-year-old rocks.”
Prof. Michael Yaffe speaks with Scott Kirsner of WBUR’s Radio Boston about Vice President Joe Biden’s new cancer initiative. Prof. Yaffe says that the announcement comes at a “golden era for cancer research. We’ve laid the groundwork and we’re poised with incredible technologies, knowledge and understanding of the disease.”
In an article for Stat, Andrew Joseph writes that the Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research is committing $20 million to the Bridge Project, which funds research at the Koch Institute and Dana-Farber. “We’re looking for the best people, regardless of where they are, to tackle these very important problems,” explains Tyler Jacks, director of the Koch Institute.
In a testimonial for U.S. News & World Report, MIT graduate Yiping Xing shares why MIT was the right school for her. “MIT doesn't simply teach you science or knowledge; it trains you to be a scientist and problem-solver, giving you many opportunities to apply what you learn,” says Xing.
Prof. Robert Horvitz speaks with Bloomberg TV’s Caroline Hyde about new developments in creating more effective treatments for cancer. Horvitz explains that “biologists have figured out what it is that keeps the immune system from, in general, attacking cancer cells and have learned to unleash that innate ability and attack a cancer in a patient.”
Huffington Post contributor Derrick Crowe writes about a new MIT study that examines how increasing ocean acidification is impacting phytoplankton populations. The study showed how ocean acidification, “can throw off the balance of the plankton population, causing significant changes with profound implications for other species that depend on them.”
Prof. Kenneth Oye speaks with NPR’s Michaeleen Doucleff about the need for government regulation for bioengineered microbes that could be used to produce drugs like heroin. "Once a robust, easy-to-grow, heroin-producing yeast strain is out there, its control would be, in my view, virtually possible," Oye says.
MIT researchers have found that increasing ocean acidification will impact phytoplankton species worldwide, reports Michelle Toh for The Christian Science Monitor. Toh explains that the researchers found, “the balance of various plankton species will radically change as the world’s oceans increase in acidity over the next 85 years.”
MIT biologists have developed a genetically modified version of a common gut bacteria that could be used to treat disease, reports Catherine Woods for the PBS NewsHour. “You could engineer a Bacteroides to live in the gut and detect when inflammation is just starting…so that you can seek treatment right away,” explains Prof. Timothy Lu.