News

A tardigrade on colorful background.

Tardi-grade A science

MIT News

February 26, 2025

About 60 percent of cancer patients in the U.S. receive radiation therapy, which can have severe side effects. In a study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, a team led by Giovanni Traverso discovered that a protein from tardigrades (microscopic "water bears") can protect human cells from radiation damage, minimizing treatment side effects.

Filter by

Filter by Title/Description

Filter by Topic

Filter by Year

Showing 371–380 of 605 stories

Hungry for Answers

MIT News

January 20, 2021

Nearly 100 years ago, Otto Warburg discovered that cancer cells metabolize sugar differently than healthy cells, increasing fermentation to fuel their rapid proliferation despite being a less efficient way to extract energy from food. Today, as new cancer drugs targeting cell metabolism move into the clinic, understanding the mechanism behind this paradox remains as pressing as ever.

Research by the Vander Heiden Lab, published in Molecular Cell, shows how fermentation drives increased regeneration of a molecule known as NAD+, required to synthesize DNA and other cellular building blocks. Their findings offer a possible explanation for the metabolic mystery behind the Warburg Effect and could also explain why other fast-dividing cells turn to fermentation despite its relative inefficiency.

This work was funded in part by the Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology, the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine and the Lustgarten Foundation.

Disarming Cancer

Whitehead Institute

January 13, 2021

Weinberg and Spranger Lab researchers are studying the biology behind two of cancer's most deadly evolutions—metastasis and resistance to treatment. Previous work showed that quasi-mesenchymal cells cross-protect their epithelial neighbors in the same tumor and shield it from immune attack, keeping out cancer-destroying immune cells. In new work supported by the Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology at MIT and appearing in Cancer Discovery, researchers identified six quasi-mesenchymal molecules that help carry out this defense. Of the six, the enzyme CD73 proved most effective in making breast carcinoma cells more vulnerable to immunotherapy and reducing the severity of metastasis.

New Year, New Faces

MIT Koch Institute

January 11, 2021

A trio of new Koch Institute extramural faculty members hails from MIT’s Departments of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. Katie Galloway connects basic research questions—in gene circuits, genome architecture, and cell-fate transitions—to tool development for biomedical applications. Laura Kiessling uses chemical biology to elucidate the biological roles of carbohydrates, with a focus on learning new mechanistic concepts. Ron Raines studies the chemical basis and biological purpose for protein structure and function. A hearty welcome to all!

NCI, MIT Cancer Research Turn 50

MIT Koch Institute

January 4, 2021

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the National Cancer Institute, the history of which is intimately linked with that of cancer research at MIT. Following passage of the National Cancer Act of 1971, Professor Salvador Luria, the Nobel prize-winning head of MIT’s Department of Biology, applied for and won funding to open one of the first NCI-designated cancer centers. The MIT Center for Cancer Research, predecessor to the Koch Institute, set the standard for investigating the fundamental nature of cancer, making key biological discoveries that helped shape the field and advance new treatments. Efforts are underway to name the KI Auditorium in Luria’s honor.

Read about Luria’s science and mentorship here.

Green Lights for KI Faculty Startups

MIT Koch Institute

December 23, 2020

The end of year brings new beginnings for KI faculty startups. Lumicell’s signature imaging system has been granted fast track designation approval for breast cancer treatment. Fate Therapeutics reports positive Phase 1 data for its combination immunotherapy as well as a promising case study for its targeted NK cell therapy, both in lymphoma patients. Verastem announces Phase 2 initiation for trials in recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer. Syros presents positive results from Phase 2 trials in acute myeloid leukemia and an initiation plan for future trials. Finally, Dragonfly Therapeutics has licensed its first NK cell based immunotherapy candidate to Merck.

Blazing Trails in Biopharma

Endpoints News

December 23, 2020

Dragonfly Therapeutics Head of Biology Ann Cheung is featured among Endpoints News’ top trailblazers in biopharmaceutical research & development. The profile chronicles her career transitions from her early years as the lone immuno-oncology researcher in the Jacks Lab to her current role moving NK cell therapies from bench to bedside. Longtime Koch Institute member Aviv Regev is also recognized for her groundbreaking work in single cell sequencing, computational biology, and genetics.

Division of Liver

Nature Communications

December 16, 2020

The Shalek Lab codiscovered a mechanism that helps damaged livers function while they regenerate. A study appearing in Nature Communications showed that liver cells increase transcription of important genes ahead of proliferation, and may even divide labor between cells that proliferate and those that maintain core functions. This contributes to a larger effort to identify stem cells in normal and cancerous liver tissue, and is funded in part by the MIT Stem Cell Initiative.

Bringing Computers Into the Protein Fold

MIT School of Science

December 14, 2020

The Keating Lab mixes lab work, modeling and, most recently, machine learning to understand how protein sequences determine their interactions. While the COVID-19 crisis disrupts lab research, Keating’s team is focusing on computational projects, including exploring interactions between “short linear motifs” and a family of proteins implicated in metastasis. 

The Long History of Rapid Vaccine Development

MIT Koch Institute

December 11, 2020

In the 1970s, Phillip Sharp and his colleagues on the fifth floor of the MIT Center for Cancer Research set out to unravel the mysteries of tumor virology, cancer genetics, and cell biology. Looking at parts of the adenovirus genome responsible for tumor development, Sharp had long wondered why RNA in the nucleus was longer than RNA found outside the nucleus in the cytoplasm. While this curiosity led to the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of split genes and spliced RNA, neither Sharp nor his colleagues were thinking about the possibility of mRNA vaccines at the time. Nevertheless, that discovery, together with many years of mRNA research and key technology advances like nanoparticle delivery of RNA, set the stage for companies such as Pfizer and Moderna to develop mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines with record speed.

The discoveries that enabled RNA vaccines | RNA vaccines explained

Live and Let Liver

MIT News

December 8, 2020

The Cima Lab has developed a non-invasive diagnostic tool to assess liver damage. The technology, described in Nature Biomedical Engineering, uses nuclear magnetic resonance to measure fat content and detect scarring that can be indicative of fatty liver disease and a precursor to fibrosis, both known risk factors for cancer.