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The magic-bullet approach to drug discovery has fallen short in treating the majority of human ailments. Doctors often rely instead on combination therapies that harness the power of multiple drugs. Researchers recently reported the development of the first systematic approach to screen for novel combination drugs, identifying several new pairings with significant therapeutic promise.

In an unprecedented alliance, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and Whitehead Institute announced today they have joined forces with Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe L. Broad to create a new type of biomedical research institute, aimed at realizing the promise of the human genome to revolutionize clinical medicine and to make knowledge freely available to scientists around the world.

In the biological battle between the sexes, the Y chromosome has suffered defeat after defeat. The male-determining chromosome has seen its gene supply shrink from more than 1,000 genes when sex chromosomes first evolved, to what scientists once thought was only a handful of genes, a downward trend predicted to continue until the Y disappeared altogether.

Scientist David Sabatini was studying a group of proteins that control cell growth, when he hit a roadblock. So, Sabatini did what many creative scientists do when faced with such a dilemma: He invented a new technique to solve his problem.

When a few weeds appear on your front lawn, you can easily pick them off one by one. But if they start taking over the yard, the picking becomes laborious, and you may need to turn to a chemical weed-killer to hold the invaders in check. After several applications of the herbicide, however, the weeds could become resistant, forcing you to use an even more powerful solution. Meanwhile, the survival of your lawn hangs in the balance.

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research Director Susan Lindquist and Whitehead Founding Member and former director Gerald Fink have been elected to the American Philosophical Society, the oldest learned society in the United States devoted to the advancement of scientific and scholarly inquiry.

Researchers at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research testified on Beacon Hill last week in support of a bill that would promote stem cell research in the Commonwealth. The bill, which mirrors a similar measure passed in California last year, would give a government seal of approval to embryonic stem (ES) cell research.

Founding Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch is one of 72 new members of the National Academy of Sciences elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Spurred by the discover of a cellular pathway that helps switch cell growth on and off, new research links growth to a cell's ability to sense nutrients in its environments.

Lydia Villa-Komaroff, vice president and chief operating officer for Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, has been selected as one of this country’s most powerful Hispanic executives in technology and business by “Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology” magazine.