The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing welcomes 11 new faculty members in core computing and shared positions to the MIT community. They bring varied backgrounds and expertise spanning sustainable design, satellite remote sensing, decision theory, and the development of new algorithms for declarative artificial intelligence programming, among others. “I warmly welcome this talented group of […] The post Department of Biology welcomes new faculty Yunha Hwang in shared position with EECS, ...| MIT Department of Biology
Nervous system functions, from motion to perception to cognition, depend on the active zones of neural circuit connections, or “synapses,” sending out the right amount of their chemical signals at the right times. By tracking how synaptic active zones form and mature in fruit flies, researchers at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at […] The post Neural activity helps circuit connections mature into optimal signal transmitters appeared first on MIT Department of Biology.| MIT Department of Biology
A prestigious grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to Assistant Professor of Biology Alison Ringel will support groundbreaking healthy aging research at MIT. Ringel, also a Core Member of the Ragon Institute, will draw on her background in cancer immunology to create a more comprehensive biomedical understanding of the cause and possible treatments for aging-related […] The post W.M. Keck Foundation to support research on healthy aging at MIT appeared first on MIT Department of Biology.| MIT Department of Biology
It’s no question that graduate school in fundamental research was never for the faint of heart, but academia’s nationwide funding disruptions threaten not just research happening now, but the critical pipeline for the next generation of scientists. “What’s keeping me up at night is the uncertainty,” says Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Institute Professor and […] The post Alnylam Pharmaceuticals establishes named fund in honor of co-founder appeared first on MIT Department of Bio...| MIT Department of Biology
Susan Fuhrman ’75 became a pathologist because she likes providing clear answers to diagnostic questions. “As opposed to guessing what people have, you’ve got the lab results, you have reviewed the pathology slides,” she says. “It’s pretty analytical. Your answer is the answer.” That clarity of focus was never more valuable than in 2020, when […] The post Pathology and the Allure of Analytical Thinking appeared first on MIT Department of Biology.| MIT Department of Biology
Associate Professor of Biology Gene-Wei Li has accepted the position of Associate Department Head starting in the 2025-2026 academic year. Li, who has been a member of the department since 2015, brings a history of departmental leadership, service, and research and teaching excellence to his new role. He has received many awards, including a Sloan […] The post Gene-Wei Li joins MIT Department of Biology leadership team as Associate Department Head appeared first on MIT Department of Biology.| MIT Department of Biology
A diet rich in the amino acid cysteine may have rejuvenating effects in the small intestine, according to a new study from MIT. This amino acid, the researchers discovered, can turn on an immune signaling pathway that helps stem cells to regrow new intestinal tissue. This enhanced regeneration may help to heal injuries from radiation, […]| MIT Department of Biology
Research| MIT Department of Biology
A genome-editing technique known as prime editing holds potential for treating many diseases by transforming faulty genes into functional ones. However, the process carries a small chance of inserting errors that could be harmful. MIT researchers have now found a way to dramatically lower the error rate of prime editing, using modified versions of the […]| MIT Department of Biology
For Adryanne Gonzalez, studying yeast using microscopy at MIT this summer has been a dream come true. “Whatever world we’re living in, there’s an even smaller one,” Gonzalez says. “Knowing and understanding the smaller one can help us learn about the bigger stuff, and I think that’s so fascinating.” Gonzalez was part of the Bernard […] The post Little picture, large revelations appeared first on MIT Department of Biology.| MIT Department of Biology
Cancer cells have one relentless goal: to grow and divide. While most stick together within the original tumor, some rogue cells break away to traverse to distant organs. There, they can lie dormant—undetectable and not dividing—for years, like landmines waiting to go off. This migration of cancer cells, called metastasis, is especially common in breast […]| MIT Department of Biology
Established in 2021, the Angelika Amon Young Scientist Award recognizes graduate students in the life sciences or biomedical research from institutions outside the United States who embody Dr. Amon’s infectious enthusiasm for discovery science. Sourav Ghosh, a PhD student in Biotechnology at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay under the supervision of Anirban Banerjee, investigates cell-autonomous […]| MIT Department of Biology
Carmel Mercado ’09 describes herself as “existing at the intersection of health and art.” A Seattle-based pediatric ophthalmologist, Mercado is also a visual artist whose whimsical illustrations and colorful animal characters can be found in places as varied as a children’s hospital and a microbrewery. Looking back, Mercado says that even as a premed biology […]| MIT Department of Biology
