Whitehead News

March 5, 2009

Breakthrough method produces Parkinson’s disease patient-specific stem cells free of harmful reprogramming genes
Deploying a method that removes potentially cancer-causing genes, Whitehead Institute researchers have “reprogrammed” human skin cells from Parkinson’s disease patients into an embryonic-stem-cell-like state. Whitehead scientists then used these so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to create dopamine-producing neurons, the cell type that degenerates in Parkinson’s disease patients.

February 23, 2009

Rudolf Jaenisch awarded 2008 Cozzarelli Prize from PNAS
Whitehead Member Rudolf Jaenisch has been awarded the 2008 Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

January 20, 2009

Novel cell lines propel the search for safer stem cell induction
Whitehead Institute researchers have reliably produced mice and mouse cell lines with identical configurations of the specific factors needed to reprogram adult cells to an embryonic-stem-cell-like state. These cell lines may be used to screen for potential drug substitutions for the virally-inserted reprogramming genes and as a tool to enhance understanding of how reprogramming works.

December 22, 2008

Rudolf Jaenisch honored for research in cellular reprogramming
Jaenisch has been named a recipient of the 2008 Meira and Shaul G. Massry Prize in recognition of his work in creating so-called induced pluripotent stem cells, or IPS cells.

December 15, 2008

Single virus used to convert adult cells to embryonic stem cell-like cells
Adult cells, from both humans and mice, can be converted into embryonic stem cell-like cells (induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells) using a single virus to insert four reprogramming genes into the cells’ genomes.

August 7, 2008

Putting microRNAs on the stem cell map
Short snippets of RNA called microRNAs help to keep embryonic stem cells in their stem cell state. Researchers now have discovered the gene circuitry that controls microRNAs in embryonic stem cells.

August 6, 2008

Recipe for cell reprogramming adds protein
Embryonic-like stem cells can be efficiently generated using a natural signaling molecule instead of the virally delivered cancer-causing gene c-Myc.

July 1, 2008

New technique produces genetically identical stem cells
Cells from mice created using genetically reprogrammed cells can be triggered via drug to enter an embryonic stem-cell-like state.

May 15, 2008
Embryonic pathway delivers stem cell traits
Understanding the role of EMT in adult stem cell creation may lead toward the development of healthy stem cells for regenerative medicine and provide drug targets for cancer.

April 17, 2008

Mature B cells reprogrammed to stem-cell-like state
Fully differentiated cells can be reprogrammed to induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells.

April 7, 2008

Reprogrammed cells reduce Parkinson's symptoms in rats
Dopamine-producing neurons transplanted into adult rat brains treat behavioral symptoms related to low dopamine levels.

December 6, 2007

October 10, 2007

Adult stem cells lack key pluripotency regulator
The protein Oct4, which helps to maintain embryonic stem cells, has been shown to be virtually absent in adult stem cells.

October 3, 2007

Cancer cells enlist adult stem cells to promote metastasis
The conscripts secrete a protein that fosters cell movement and invasion.

August 27, 2007

Scientists identify embryonic stem cells by appearance alone
Scientist can now identify pluripotent stem cells based solely on their physical appearance.

August 13, 2007
Newly created cancer stem cells could aid breast cancer research
After being injected with just 100 cells, mice develop tumors that metastasize.

July 12, 2007
Cells take risks with their identities
Contrary to textbook models, many genes that should be “off” in embryonic stem cells and specialized adult cells remain primed to produce master regulatory proteins, leaving those cells vulnerable to identity changes.

June 6, 2007
Reprogrammed fibroblasts identical to embryonic stem cells
Researchers have manipulated mouse fibroblasts and turned them into cells with such developmental elasticity that they appear identical to embryonic stem cells.

September 25, 2006
The care and feeding of stem cells
What do embryonic stem cell facilities and intensive-care units have in common?

September 25, 2006
How we’re wired
To uncover the genetic machinery that guides human development, Richard Young is mapping the intricate world of embryonic stem cells.

April 20, 2006
Mapping the foundation of human development
Researchers have determined how a key developmental ingredient controls the genome.

April 3, 2006
Power in the blood
How can we build up the adult stem cells that build your blood?

February 13, 2006
Mad-cow protein aids creation of brain cells
The protein ultimately responsible for mad cow disease might be necessary for healthy brain function.

January 30, 2006
Mad-cow culprit maintains stem cells
The same protein that causes neurodegenerative conditions such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) is also important for helping certain adult stem cells maintain themselves.

January 23, 2006
Technique for multiplying stem cells may aid therapies
Researchers have discovered a way to multiply an adult stem cell 30-fold, an expansion that offers tremendous promise for treatments such as bone marrow transplants and perhaps even gene therapy.

January 17, 2006
Cloned stem cells prove identical to fertilized stem cells
Researchers analyzed the complete gene-expression profiles of both cloned and fertilization-derived stem cells in mice and concluded that the two are indistinguishable.

January 13, 2006
Rudolf Jaenisch featured on NOVA scienceNOW
NOVA scienceNOW focuses on an alternative way to generate embryonic stem cells, pioneered by Rudolf Jaenisch and graduate student Alexander Meissner.

November 21, 2005
Flatworms yield insights into the mystery of regeneration
Scientists at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and University of Utah School of Medicine have begun to understand the biological processes of how the planarian flatworm achieves complete regeneration of damaged tissue.

October 17, 2005
Researchers offer proof-of-concept for Altered Nuclear Transfer
Scientists at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have successfully demonstrated that a theoretical-and controversial-technique for generating embryonic stem cells is indeed possible, at least in mice.

September 8, 2005
Researchers discover key to embryonic stem-cell potential
Researchers working with human embryonic stem cells have uncovered the process responsible for the single-most tantalizing characteristic of these cells: their ability to become just about any type of cell in the body, a trait known as pluripotency.

May 5, 2005
Researchers discover mechanism for multiplying adult stem cells
Researchers in the lab of Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch have discovered a mechanism that might enable scientists to multiply adult stem cells quickly and efficiently.

August 4, 2004
Malignant cancer cells generate mice through cloning
Nature can reset the clock in certain types of cancer and reverse many of the elements responsible for causing malignancy, reports a research team led by Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch, in collaboration with Lynda Chin from Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The team demonstrated this by successfully cloning mice from an advanced melanoma cell.

November 13, 2003
Study identifies potential new source for adult stem cells
In research reported in the online version of the journal Blood, Whitehead scientists report the discovery of a new blood stem cell growth factor. This discovery provides a new tool that allows researchers to multiply blood stem cells in culture for potential therapeutic use.

July 16, 2003
Faulty reprogramming likely culprit behind cloning failures, review finds
Faulty reprogramming of the genome is most likely the culprit behind abnormalities common in cloned animals, according to a review article in the July 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

May 7, 2003
Massachusetts legislators consider bill on stem cell research
Researchers at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research testified on Beacon Hill last week in support of a bill that would promote stem cell research in the Commonwealth. The bill, which mirrors a similar measure passed in California last year, would give a government seal of approval to embryonic stem (ES) cell research.

March 7, 2002
Scientists combine therapeutic cloning, embryonic stem cells, and gene therapy to correct a genetic defect in mice
While the promise of nuclear transplantation therapy, commonly referred to as “therapeutic cloning,” has given hope to patients, like Christopher Reeve, and excited the research community and the public, it has never been successfully demonstrated.