Category Archives: Science

AudioHelicase Special: How researchers at Whitehead Institute are building a more sustainable future

December 2, 2020Sciencebioengineering, biology, biology podcast, carbon capture, environment, natural products, plant biology, plant science, science podcast, sustainability, sustainability research, Whitehead Instituteaudiohelicase

Making our world more sustainable to preserve it for future generations will take not just one but many solutions. Researchers at Whitehead Institute are exploring how the natural world could teach us how to improve the sustainability of how we produce food, how we make medicines, how we make products more durable, and potentially how we remove carbon from the atmosphere. In this special episode of AudioHelicase, we’ll hear from researchers at the Institute that are pursuing creative solutions to sustainability that combine a passion for making a difference with boundless curiosity for the living world.

Interviews by Greta Friar and Eva Frederick. Music by Pierce Murphy (CC BY 4.0) and Chris Zabriskie (CC BY 3.0). Produced and hosted by Conor Gearin.

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Whitehead Institute’s Pulin Li on creating multicellular patterns in a Petri dish

February 10, 2020Sciencebiology, cell biology, research, science, stem, tissue engineering, Whitehead Instituteaudiohelicase

In this episode of AudioHelicase, Whitehead Institute Member Pulin Li talks about how her lab engineers cells in Petri dishes to communicate with each other and form patterns, recreating processes seen in embryo development—and how this work could eventually inform efforts to grow tissues in the lab.

Produced by Conor Gearin

Music: Pierce Murphy, “Versailles” (CC-BY 4.0)

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Whitehead Institute’s Ankur Jain on RNA clumps and the neurodegenerative diseases they are associated with

February 19, 2019ScienceALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Ankur Jain, biology, biomedical research, epeat expansion disorders, Huntington's disease, neurodegenerative disease, RNA, science, Whitehead Instituteaudiohelicase

In this episode of AudioHelicase, Whitehead Institute Member Ankur Jain discusses how RNA can clump in cells and the diseases, such as Huntington’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), that are associated with these aggregations.

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Whitehead’s Iain Cheeseman discusses cell division and what can happen when it goes wrong

May 21, 2018Scienceaudiohelicase

In this episode of AudioHelicase, Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman discusses how his work on the kinetochore provides a window into cell division and what happens when this vital cellular function goes awry.

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Whitehead’s Robert Weinberg on cancer research’s past, present, and future

January 22, 2018Scienceaudiohelicase

From his discovery of the first oncogene and tumor suppressor, to his work revealing critical aspects of the mutational basis of cancer, and more recently its metastatic behavior, Whitehead Founding Member Robert Weinberg’s work has been foundational in our understanding of cancer biology.

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Whitehead’s Sebastian Lourido on Toxoplasma, malaria parasites, and global health

November 21, 2017Scienceaudiohelicase

Whitehead Member Sebastian Lourido studies a group of parasites called the Apicomplexa. These single-celled organisms are among the most common pathogens and are capable of causing devastating diseases in humans and animals, including toxoplasmosis, malaria, and infant diarrhea. Lourido’s laboratory is investigating in particular how the Apicomplexan Toxoplasma gondii invades host cells and establishes its site of replication. The work holds great promise for exposing treatable vulnerabilities in the parasite—and in the closely related Plasmodium parasites, which cause malaria and contribute to more than half a million deaths each year.

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Whitehead’s David Sabatini discusses mTOR, a protein connecting metabolism, nutrition, and disease

September 12, 2017Scienceaudiohelicase

As a graduate student, Whitehead Member David Sabatini identified mTOR, the keystone molecule in a cellular pathway connecting nutrition, metabolism, and aging. In this episode, he discusses how the molecule was first discovered and what his lab is currently working on, including mTOR’s role in cancer, growth, and metabolism.

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