Biology

A better way to target tumors

In spite of slow progress toward targeting cancer drugs to individual patients, hope remains.

November 15, 2010

Tuning in to a new hearing mechanism

Findings from MIT scientists could lead to hearing aids that mimic the ear’s ability to focus on particular frequencies.

November 10, 2010

When DNA is damaged, enzymes repair it. MIT researchers have shown that overactivity of a certain DNA repair enzyme can help cancer cells survive chemotherapy.

A new target for cancer drugs

Shutting down an enzyme that responds to DNA damage could boost the effects of traditional chemotherapy.

November 9, 2010

7 win presidential early career honors

MIT has greatest number of recipients from a single institution.

November 8, 2010

Cancer’s hiding spots revealed

Discovery that tumor cells can escape from chemotherapy could lead to new treatments that prevent relapse.

October 29, 2010

Force of habit

New study shows that costs and rewards of behavior help the brain form optimal habits.

October 26, 2010

An image of a species of diatom, <em>Cymbela cistula</em>. Markus Buehler says diatoms are a good example of the way weak building blocks — in this case, fragile and brittle silica — can be used in biology to build strong and durable materials, by assembling them in structures organized differently at different scales.

Going nature one better

MIT researchers aim to learn biology’s secrets for making tough, resilient materials out of simple components, and then improve on them.

October 22, 2010

Benjamin Rapoport, an MD/PhD student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, runs in the 2009 Chicago marathon.

Fueling up for 26.2 miles

HST student develops model that can help marathon runners pace themselves to a strong finish.

October 21, 2010

Some regions of the visual cortex, highlighted here, can be rewired to process sound in the brains of people born blind.

Younger brains are easier to rewire

Study of blind patients supports the idea that there is a period early in a person’s development when brain regions can switch functions.

October 21, 2010

Jacquin Niles, MIT assistant professor of biological engineering

Teasing out malaria’s genetic secrets

Biological engineer’s new approach to studying gene control could lead to new drug targets.

October 18, 2010

Susan Lindquist, a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and an MIT biology professor, has been named a recipient of the National Medal of Science.

Susan Lindquist wins National Medal of Science

The Whitehead Institute member and MIT biology professor is one of 10 chosen to receive the top U.S. science honor.

October 15, 2010

MIT engineers have developed a way to rapidly perform surgery on single nerve cells in the worm C. elegans. The white lines represent axons — long extensions of nerve cells that carry messages to other cells.

Nerve-cell regeneration quest is fast tracked

Microchip technology rapidly identifies compounds for regrowing nerves, in live animals.

October 12, 2010

Biology Professor Nancy Hopkins, a member of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research

Surprising similarities between human and zebrafish tumors

New finding that tumor cells in both species have too many chromosomes could help pinpoint genes that drive cancer development.

October 7, 2010

5 from MIT win NIH awards

The grants are designed to promote risky, innovative research with the potential to transform a field of study.

September 30, 2010

Rudolf Jaenisch delivers the James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award Lecture on Sept. 29.

Making stem-cell therapy a reality

In Killian Award lecture, Rudolf Jaenisch outlines progress and possibilities for treating human disease with stem cells.