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A planarian’s guide to growing a new head
Development and regeneration

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.

Trending series

New ways of thinking about brain research

Whitehead Institute researchers are making discoveries that are helping us rethink what we know about the brain and paving the way for therapies to treat some of the most challenging brain disorders and diseases.

Rejuvenation

Researchers at Whitehead Institute are breathing new life into the study of rejuvenation, the ability of cells to repair and replenish tissues — and potentially learning how to slow or reverse the changes our cells experience over time. 

Postdoc Profiles

Whitehead Institute is dedicated to training the next generation of scientists, especially postdocs. Get to know a few of these remarkable scientists through these profiles. 

Novel method enables absolute quantification of mitochondrial metabolites
Technology and methods
Protein form and function

Whitehead Institute scientists have developed a method to quickly isolate mitochondria from mammalian cells and systematically measure the concentrations of mitochondrial metabolites. Mitochondrial dysfunction is found in several disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, cardiovascular disease, and mitochondrial diseases. Until now, peering into the inner metabolic workings of these vital organelles has been very challenging.

Disrupting mitochondrial function could improve treatment of fungal infections
Infectious disease

By identifying new compounds that selectively block mitochondrial respiration in pathogenic fungi, Whitehead Institute scientists have identified a potential antifungal mechanism that could enable combination therapy with fluconazole, one of today’s most commonly prescribed fungal infection treatments. Severe, invasive fungal infections have a mortality rate of 30-50% and cause an estimated 1.5 million deaths worldwide annually. Current antifungal therapies are hampered by the increasingly frequent emergence of drug resistance and negative interactions that often preclude combination use.

Jaw-dropping research explains mouth formation during embryonic development
Evolution + Development

Whitehead Institute researchers have identified an area in the developing face of embryonic frogs that unzips to form the mouth. The scientists, who named this region the “pre-mouth array”, have also discovered the cellular signaling that triggers its formation. Elucidating this critical aspect of craniofacial development in a model organism enhances understanding of and potential treatment for human facial birth defects.

Engineers design programmable RNA vaccines against Ebola, influenza

MIT and Whitehead Institute scientists have developed a new type of easily customizable vaccine that can be manufactured in one week, allowing it to be rapidly deployed in response to disease outbreaks. So far, they have designed vaccines against Ebola, H1N1 influenza, and Toxoplasma gondii (a relative of the parasite that causes malaria), which were 100 percent effective in tests in mice.

Tiny alpaca-derived antibodies point to targets preventing viral infection
Protein form and function

Using tiny, alpaca-derived, single-domain antibody fragments, Whitehead Institute scientists have developed a method to perturb cellular processes in mammalian cells, allowing them to tease apart the roles that individual proteins play in these pathways. With improved knowledge of protein activity, scientists can better understand not only basic biology but also how disease corrupts cellular function and identify potential therapeutics to rectify these aberrations.