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Luc7, the blue group of proteins, against a background of human cells.

Splice of life

MIT News

February 20, 2025

The Burge lab has discovered a new type of control over RNA splicing, a process critical for gene expression. Appearing in a new Nature Communications paper, their study sheds light on how this control mechanism can go wrong—and serve as a potential therapeutic target—in acute myelogenous leukemias and other diseases.

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Showing 341–350 of 613 stories

Strand and Deliver

Endpoints News

June 23, 2021

Strand Therapeutics, co-founded by KI members Darrell Irvine, Ron Weiss, and Weiss Lab alum Jacob Becraft (recently named among Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35), has emerged from stealth with $52 million Series A capital. Strand is developing a platform for creating programmable, self-amplifying mRNA vaccines, and aims to bring its first drug, an immunotherapy for solid tumors, to the clinic in 2022.

On the Surface of Silicone

MIT News

June 21, 2021

Langer Lab researchers analyzed the relationship between the surface architecture of silicone breast implants and adverse effects that include scarring, inflammation and, in rare cases, lymphoma. The team hopes their data, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, will help scientist and engineers design safer, more effective implants of any type.

A Foot in Both Worlds

MIT Koch Institute

June 18, 2021

The Koch Institute Clinical Investigator program offers physician-scientists a unique opportunity to participate in cutting-edge cancer research while continuing their medical practice, and provides Koch Institute researchers with a frontline view of challenges in cancer treatment. Past and present Clinical Investigators joined program director Michael Yaffe for a roundtable discussion about the relationship between laboratory benchwork and clinical translation and practice, and the influence of the Koch Institute community and research model on their careers. 

Branching Out from STEM

MIT News

June 10, 2021

Before launching into a career in medical research, Jacks Lab alum Natasha Joglekar ’21 shares how combining a major in computer science and biology with a minor in women’s and gender studies has helped her build new frameworks for understanding the world, patient needs, and the social determinants of health.

Ribon is Right on Target

Business Wire

June 4, 2021

Ribon Therapeutics, founded by former member Paul Chang based on his work at the KI, has reported positive data from the dose-escalation portion of its Phase 1 trial of a small molecule PARP7 inhibitor.  PARPs (poly ADP ribose polymerases) are enzymes that regulate essential cellular processes, including stress responses that enable cancer cells to survive and evade immune detection. In a trial of patients with various advanced solid tumors, Ribon’s candidate was well-tolerated, demonstrated target inhibition, and showed preliminary signs of antitumor activity, promising signs as the trial progresses to the next phase. Chang’s foundational research was supported in part by the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program via the Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund.

Celebrating Unsung Research Heroes

MIT Koch Institute

May 21, 2021

The Robert A. Swanson (1969) Biotechology Center lies at the heart of Koch Institute research. Supported in large part by philanthropy, these core facilities provide state-of-the-art technical resources and trusted scientific expertise to researchers at all levels, accelerating MIT’s robust cancer science and engineering projects to have the greatest possible impact on patients and cancer research. Over the course of this series of lightning talks and culminating panel discussion, experts in bioinformatics, high throughput sciences, and microscopy joined researchers from the Bhatia, Hammond, Koehler, and Yilmaz laboratories to profile their teamwork. The three highlighted projects—tracking the effect of circadian rhythms on drug metabolism, hijacking cellular recycling systems to break down challenging cancer targets, and longitudinal monitoring of organoids—exemplify the SBC’s collaborative nature and reflect on the unique environment of the Koch Institute. 

State of the Vaccination

American Association for the Advancement of Science

May 20, 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic has interrupted delivery of health services for adolescents, including HPV vaccination for cancer prevention. The Koch Institute and other NCI-designated cancer centers and organizations have issued a joint statement urging the nation’s health care systems, physicians, and families to get HPV vaccination back on track.

Congratulations and Welcome

MIT Koch Institute

May 12, 2021

Over the next year, the Koch Institute will welcome three new faculty members, all of whom will be appointed as assistant professors in the Department of Biology. Kristin Knouse, who will join the KI on July 1, uses novel genetic, molecular, and cellular tools to understand how tissues sense and respond to damage. Francisco J. Sánchez-Rivera arrives in early 2022 and will study genetic variation in the context of cancer using functional genomics, genome editing, single cell genomics, and mouse models. Yadira Soto-Feliciano will also join the KI in early 2022 and will study how protein complexes assemble on chromatin and how disruption of these molecular mechanisms lead to human diseases including cancer.

Hammond Named Institute Professor

MIT News

May 12, 2021

Paula Hammond has been named an Institute Professor—the highest distinction bestowed upon MIT faculty members—in honor of her pioneering work in nanotechnology, her excellence as a teacher and mentor, and her leadership on issues of equity and inclusion. When the appointment takes effect on July 1, she will be the third Institute Professor in residence in Building 76, along with Bob Langer and Phil Sharp.

Elimination Round

MIT News

May 12, 2021

Horvitz Lab researchers discovered a trigger for cell extrusion—a mechanism for eliminating unneeded cells—and suggest that the process might provide a natural defense against cancer. In a study appearing in Nature, researchers found that in the worm C. elegans many of the genes necessary for extrusion are involved in the cell division cycle. However, as extruded cells enter the cell division cycle, they are unable to replicate their DNA and consequently experience replication stress. Collaborators’ studies of mammalian cells revealed that replication stress similarly drives the extrusion of mammalian cells and that the well-known tumor suppressor protein p53 plays a role in the extrusion of cells undergoing DNA replication stress. Because cancerous and precancerous cells commonly experience replication stress, the findings indicate that extrusion may be a tumor suppression mechanism.