Technology and methods

Whitehead Institute Member Sebastian Lourido and colleagues performed the first genome-wide screen of Toxoplasma gondii in live hosts, uncovering genes that are important for infection but had been undetected in cell culture experiments. Their results demonstrate the importance of studying parasites in live hosts and point to a possible new drug target.

Whitehead Institute Member Jonathan Weissman and collaborators have developed a gene-silencing tool that shows promise as a therapy against fatal prion diseases. The tool, a streamlined epigenetic editor, paves the way for a new class of genetic approaches to treat certain diseases.

The International Society for Transgenic Technologies (ISTT) has awarded Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch the ISTT Prize, recognizing his exceptional contribution to the field of animal transgenesis over the past five decades.

Whitehead Institute Member Jonathan Weissman and collaborators developed a tool to reconstruct the family trees and individual states of cells in humans, revealing how blood cell production changes in old age.

The Institute's newest Whitehead Fellows are Valhalla Fellow Allison Hamilos and Aditya Raguram. Watch these videos to meet them and learn more about their work.

Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman and colleagues found that the key factor in determining the assembly location of the kinetochore—a cellular machine that helps distribute chromosomes during cell division—is the local concentration of kinetochore proteins.

First-of-its-kind study uses MERFISH to map the spatial pattern of how stem cells choose their fates during adult regeneration in flatworms.

Whitehead Institute Member Olivia Corradin and colleagues have developed a system to find patterns in seemingly random differences between the genomes of people affected and unaffected by a disease. They can use these patterns to identify genes that contribute to complex diseases and disorders, such as opioid use disorder.

Research from Whitehead Institute Member Jonathan Weissman and colleagues sheds light on human evolution, and demonstrates an approach for identifying significant differences in how genes are used between closely-related species.