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Genetic 911: Cells’ emergency systems revealed
Toxic chemicals wreak havoc on cells, damaging DNA and other critical molecules. A new study from researchers at MIT and the University at Albany reveals how a molecular emergency-response system...
View ArticleSearching genomic data faster
In 2001, the Human Genome Project and Celera Genomics announced that after 10 years of work at a cost of some $400 million, they had completed a draft sequence of the human genome. Today, sequencing a...
View ArticleResearchers build a toolbox for synthetic biology
For about a dozen years, synthetic biologists have been working on ways to design genetic circuits to perform novel functions such as manufacturing new drugs, producing fuel or even programming the...
View ArticleNew nanoparticles shrink tumors in mice
By sequencing cancer-cell genomes, scientists have discovered vast numbers of genes that are mutated, deleted or copied in cancer cells. This treasure trove is a boon for researchers seeking new drug...
View ArticleDeciphering the language of transcription factors
Transcription factors are proteins that bind to DNA to promote or suppress protein production. Since almost all diseases involve disruption of the protein-production process, transcription factors are...
View ArticleMIT team builds most complex synthetic biology circuit yet
Using genes as interchangeable parts, synthetic biologists design cellular circuits that can perform new functions, such as sensing environmental conditions. However, the complexity that can be...
View ArticleEvolution: It’s all in how you splice it
When genes were first discovered, the canonical view was that each gene encodes a unique protein. However, biologists later found that segments of genes can be combined in different ways, giving rise...
View ArticleCardiac development needs more than protein-coding genes
When the human genome was sequenced, biologists were surprised to find that very little of the genome — less than 3 percent — corresponds to protein-coding genes. What, they wondered, was all the rest...
View ArticleResearch update: Imaging fish in 3-D
Zebrafish larvae — tiny, transparent and fast-growing vertebrates — are widely used to study development and disease. However, visually examining the larvae for variations caused by drugs or genetic...
View ArticleWhat lies ahead for science and science writing?
The MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing turns 10 this year, and this Saturday saw many of the program’s 61 alumni back on campus to catch up and reminisce with fellow graduates, professors and...
View ArticleStudy shows unified process of evolution in bacteria and sexual eukaryotes
Bacteria are the most populous organisms on the planet: They thrive in almost every known environment, adapting to different habitats by means of genetic variations that provide the capabilities...
View ArticleGetting to the root of genetics
For Manolis Kellis, a deep interest in biology arose partly from an immersion in multiple languages. Kellis ’99, MEng ’99, PhD ’03, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer...
View ArticlePinpointing how antibiotics work
Penicillin and other antibiotics have revolutionized medicine, turning once-deadly diseases into easily treatable ailments. However, while antibiotics have been in use for more than 70 years, the exact...
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A new look at prolonged radiation exposure
A new study from MIT scientists suggests that the guidelines governments use to determine when to evacuate people following a nuclear accident may be too conservative. The study, led by Bevin Engelward...
View ArticleResearchers achieve RNA interference, in a lighter package
Using a technique known as “nucleic acid origami,” chemical engineers have built tiny particles made out of DNA and RNA that can deliver snippets of RNA directly to tumors, turning off genes expressed...
View ArticleCheaters lessen colony survival under stress in yeast experiment
While a cooperative yeast colony that thrives by breaking down sucrose can survive with a high proportion of "cheaters" — or non-producers — such a mixed colony is less able to withstand sudden shock...
View ArticleA worm’s-eye view of immunity
In 1998, scientists published the first complete genome of a multicellular organism — the worm Caenorhabditis elegans. At the same time, new technologies were emerging to help researchers manipulate...
View ArticleSolving chromosomes’ structure
Scientists first discovered chromosomes in the late 1800s, after the light microscope was invented. Using these microscopes, biologist Walter Flemming observed many tightly wound, elongated structures...
View ArticleBiologists ID new cancer weakness
About half of all cancer patients have a mutation in a gene called p53, which allows tumors to survive and continue growing even after chemotherapy severely damages their DNA. A new study from MIT...
View ArticleSpeeding up gene discovery
Since the completion of the Human Genome Project, which identified nearly 20,000 protein-coding genes, scientists have been trying to decipher the roles of those genes. A new approach developed at MIT,...
View ArticleResearch reveals structure of key CRISPR complex
Researchers from MIT and the Broad Institute have teamed up with colleagues from the University of Tokyo to form the first high-definition picture of the Cas9 complex — a key part of the CRISPR-Cas...
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Precision attack on cancer
Most cancer patients receive one or more of the frontline chemotherapy drugs that have been discovered over the past 50 years. These drugs are often effective but have major drawbacks, including severe...
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