Writing for STAT, Eric Boodman highlights how Prof. Jing-Ke Weng’s lab at the Whitehead Institute has mapped the genome of a firefly in an effort to understand how fireflies acquired the ability to glow. The researchers hope their findings will eventually be used to develop “better laboratory tools for studying disease and developing treatments.”
A new paper co-authored by Prof. Omer Yilmaz and Prof. David Sabatini found that fasting substantially “improves stem cells' ability to regenerate,” reports Xinhua. The researchers hope this finding could lead to new drug treatments that “stimulate regeneration without requiring patients to fast, which is difficult for most people.”
Writing for Nature, James Shorter and Aaron Gitler memorialize Prof. Susan Lindquist’s research on protein folding and its role in human disease. They write that Lindquist was “a visionary who connected concepts across disparate disciplines,” adding that her insights, “paved the way for innovative strategies to treat diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and cancer.”
Prof. Susan Lindquist, who conducted research on yeast in an effort to better understand human disease, died on Oct. 27, writes James Hagerty of The Wall Street Journal. “Her studies of deformed proteins have spurred research that may lead to treatments for certain types of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis."
Bryan Marquard writes for The Boston Globe about Prof. Susan Lindquist, one of the most honored scientists in the nation, who died on Oct. 27. “She did not want to do an experiment unless she thought it would deliver deep biological impact and make a difference to the world,” said Dr. Vikram Khurana of Yumanity Therapeutics.
Prof. Susan Lindquist, a former director of the Whitehead Institute known for her “conceptually daring work with yeast proteins,” died on Oct. 27, writes William Grimes for The New York Times. Her research “demonstrated that protein-folding errors occurred in all species and that biological changes could be passed from one generation to the next through proteins alone.”
Prof. Susan Lindquist has been named a recipient of the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, according to the AP. Lindquist’s research has raised hopes that “treatments could prevent protein ‘misfolding’ that drives degenerative conditions like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's disease.”
MIT researchers have developed a programmable vaccine that could be used to respond to disease outbreaks, reports Ben Gruber for Reuters. The vaccine harnesses “messenger RNA, a genetic material that can be programmed to fight any viral, bacterial or parasitic disease by provoking an amplified immune response.”
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."
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.”
Juan Enriquez writes for Wired that the intersection of Vassar and Main Streets is one of the most innovative areas in the world, highlighting how MIT plays a leading role in sparking innovation. Enriquez writes that this area “may generate one per cent to two per cent of the future global economy.”
In an article for Science, Jocelyn Kaiser writes about how Prof. Robert Weinberg’s company, Verastem Inc., is starting a new round of clinical trials to test the theory that by targeting cancer stem cells, the disease can be controlled.
Niina Heikkinen reports for Scientific American that MIT researchers have identified a new way to make yeast more ethanol-tolerant. The researchers were able to improve “alcohol tolerance and extend the amount of time that individual cells could produce ethanol.”
Boston Globe reporter Kelly Gifford writes about CampBio, a science camp co-hosted by the Whitehead Institute, aimed at sparking middle schoolers’ interest in science. “Kids are natural explorers,” says MIT Professor Susan Lindquist. “But it’s been surprising to me to see how many of them lose their excitement about science as they pass from middle school to high school.”
Rob Stein of NPR reports on Professor David Page’s research on the Y chromosome. Page’s analysis shows that contrary to popular belief the Y chromosome is not heading towards oblivion. "The idea that the Y chromosome might disappear altogether, possibly taking men with it — I think that idea has now been firmly dismissed," Page says.