News

For years scientists have suspected that both longevity and low cholesterol are closely linked to genetics. This suspicion proves accurate in a new study to be published this week online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which shows genetic variation in a gene known for playing a key role in lipoprotein production also appears to be significantly overrepresented in centenarians.

Despite the rich knowledge scientists now have of the genes that constitute the human genome, researchers have yet to unravel the precise choreography by which they work – or malfunction – together in the cell in response to triggers from the outside world.

A new photography exhibit recognizing leaders in science, the arts, politics and society includes images of Whitehead scientists Rudolf Jaenisch and Eric Lander. “Something Better Change,” an exhibit by Cambridge-based photographer John Nikolai, opens Nov. 4 at the Zeitgeist Gallery.

Rett Syndrome is a major cause of mental retardation in girls. Although researchers have identified the protein involved in the disease, its exact role remains a mystery. Now, a group of researchers from Children’s Hospital Boston and Whitehead Institute have identified the protein’s function, a discovery the scientists say could be the first significant advance in Rett Syndrome research in years.

In the heated debate over human embryo stem cell research, voices become muddled and motivations misunderstood. Scientist Willy Lensch is among those speaking out in support of this research. His reasons are complex, he says, but his cause is clear.

Whitehead Institute’s Vice President for Research and Chief Operating Officer Lydia Villa-Komaroff has been named one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in America by Hispanic Business Magazine.

Although cases of adult-onset diabetes have skyrocketed in the United States, researchers still don’t know much about the biological processes that predispose so many people to the disease. But in research that will be published in the Oct. 16 issue of the journal Nature, scientists say they’ve found a protein that plays an essential role in regulating a cell’s ability to absorb glucose.

A team of researchers from Whitehead Institute and MIT have developed a new computational method that will give a boost to the field of systems biology.

Research in the life sciences has fueled advances that have fostered gains inpublic health and in the development of detection methods to improve America’s defenses against biological threats. But some of the technologies that lead to medical benefits also could be used to create biological weapons.

The world of life sciences research has changed a great deal in recent decades. Advances in technology and biology have enabled scientists to pose questions they never before dreamed they might be able to ask — or answer.