Whitehead researchers named among
Scientific American’s top 50
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Nov. 6, 2006) — Whitehead Members
and MIT professors Susan
Lindquist and Richard
Young, along with postdoctoral scientist Laurie
Boyer, have been named in Scientific American magazine’s
annual list of the world’s 50 top leaders in research,
business or policy. The Scientific American 50 will
appear in the magazine’s December issue.
According to the magazine’s editor in chief, John
Rennie, “The Scientific American 50 recognizes
contributions from individuals and organizations, researchers,
business and policy-makers—scientists and non-scientists
alike. Not only are their achievements facilitating
advances in science and technology, they also have broader
significance for us as a society.”
Young and Boyer were both cited for recent work in
which they analyzed the genomes of human embryonic stem
cells and identified key molecules responsible for the
cells’ unique attributes. The editors state that
these findings lay the groundwork that may one day enable
scientists to reprogram a differentiated cell back into
an embryonic stem-cell state. These findings were published
September 8 in the online edition of the journal Cell.
Susan Lindquist was cited for work she conducted in
collaboration with Whitehead Member Harvey
Lodish. Here, the team identified how prions, which
are typically associated with neurodegenerative conditions
such as mad cow disease, play a critical role in maintaining
a class of adult stem cells that produce mature blood
cells. These results were published February 14 in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Also named in the group of 50 is Harvard University
stem cell biologist Kevin Eggan, an alumni of Whitehead
Member Rudolf Jaenisch’s lab.
Past Scientific American 50 honorees have included stem
cell researcher Douglas A. Melton, Professor of the
Natural Sciences at Harvard (2004 Policy Leader of the
Year); Nobel prize-winning neurobiologist Roderick MacKinnon,
Professor of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at
Rockefeller University (2003 Research Leader of the
Year); and global public health leader Gro Harlem Brundtland,
former World Health Organization Secretary General (2003
Policy Leader of the Year).
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