Biology

7 win presidential early career honorsMIT has greatest number of recipients from a single institution.

Cancer’s hiding spots revealedDiscovery that tumor cells can escape from chemotherapy could lead to new treatments that prevent relapse.

Force of habitNew study shows that costs and rewards of behavior help the brain form optimal habits.

Going nature one betterMIT researchers aim to learn biology’s secrets for making tough, resilient materials out of simple components, and then improve on them.

Fueling up for 26.2 milesHST student develops model that can help marathon runners pace themselves to a strong finish.

Younger brains are easier to rewireStudy of blind patients supports the idea that there is a period early in a person’s development when brain regions can switch functions.

Teasing out malaria’s genetic secretsBiological engineer’s new approach to studying gene control could lead to new drug targets.

Susan Lindquist wins National Medal of ScienceThe Whitehead Institute member and MIT biology professor is one of 10 chosen to receive the top U.S. science honor.

Nerve-cell regeneration quest is fast trackedMicrochip technology rapidly identifies compounds for regrowing nerves, in live animals.

Surprising similarities between human and zebrafish tumorsNew finding that tumor cells in both species have too many chromosomes could help pinpoint genes that drive cancer development.

5 from MIT win NIH awardsThe grants are designed to promote risky, innovative research with the potential to transform a field of study.

Making stem-cell therapy a realityIn Killian Award lecture, Rudolf Jaenisch outlines progress and possibilities for treating human disease with stem cells.

An unexpected twist in cancer metabolismA cancer-cell quirk could be exploited to develop new drugs that starve tumors.

Solar cell, heal thyselfNew self-assembling photovoltaic technology can keep repairing itself to avoid any loss in performance.

A better way to grow stem cellsNew synthetic surfaces overcome challenges posed by existing methods for cultivating stem cells.

Lunch with a Laureate: Robert HorvitzPresented by the MIT Museum and the Cambridge Science Festival

Super-sizing a cancer drug minimizes side effectsResearchers design a new version of cisplatin that spares the kidneys, letting doctors use higher doses.

Proteins linked to longevity also linked to Alzheimer’sSirtuins appear to control production of the devastating protein fragments that form plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

RNA offers a safer way to reprogram cellsNew technique holds promise to revert cells to an immature state that can develop into any cell type.

Lunch with a Laureate: Jack SzostakPresented by the MIT Museum and the Cambridge Science Festival

Imaging fish on the flyNew MIT technology allows high-speed study of zebrafish larvae, often used to model human diseases.

Gerald Fink awarded 2010 Gruber Genetics PrizeWill receive $500,000 prize in November

Chemical biologist and entrepreneur Carolyn Bertozzi awarded $500,000 Lemelson-MIT PrizeLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley scientist honored for biotechnology innovations

Giving proteins a new glowMIT chemists have designed a way to fluorescently label proteins that could shed light on protein functions never before seen.

More precise food-allergy diagnosesIt turns out that many people mistakenly think they have food allergies. A new technology aims to erase all doubt.

MIT awarded 3 HHMI grants to promote excellence in science educationDrennan, Walker named HHMI Professors

Exposing collagen's double lifeDiscovery that the rigid structural protein can switch to a floppy shape could lead to new treatments for heart disease.

Stubbe wins prestigious Welch AwardProfessor of chemistry and biology honored for her work on enzymes involved in DNA and RNA synthesis