Multimedia Series: Rejuvenation

The lab of Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien describes how planarians use the Delta-Notch signaling pathway to adjust the spatial pattern and relative numbers of neurons and glia at a given location. This allows the organisms to restore large portions of their nervous system following injury.

Whitehead Institute Director and Member Ruth Lehmann and colleagues have found that membrane-less compartments, called condensates, within germ cells not only store but also play an active role in the translation of specific mRNAs. This finding uncovers the possibility that other RNA-protein condensates can actively regulate protein production.

The Li lab recreates early developmental events in the Petri dish to study the building blocks of life. But this unique approach to biology carries implications that stretch past embryonic development.