molecular and cellular biology
‘Brainbow,’ version 2.0
Led by Joshua Sanes and Jeff Lichtman, a group of Harvard researchers has made a host of technical improvements in the “Brainbow” imaging technique.
Tags: Brain, brain imaging, Brainbow, Center for Brain Science, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Fluorescent protein, Harvard, HarvardScience, Imaging, Jeff Lichtman, Joshua Sanes, Life Sciences, molecular and cellular biology, Nature Methods, nervous system, Neural imaging, Neuron, Peter Reuell
Posted in Brain, brain imaging, Brainbow, Center for Brain Science, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Fluorescent protein, Harvard, HarvardScience, Imaging, Jeff Lichtman, Joshua Sanes, Life Sciences, molecular and cellular biology, Nature Methods, nervous system, Neural imaging, Neuron, Peter Reuell | Comments Off
One gene, many mutations
In a new paper, Harvard researchers show that changes in coat color in mice are the result not of a single mutation, but of many mutations, all in a single gene. The results start to answer one of the fundamental questions about evolution: Does it proceed by huge leaps — single mutations that result in dramatic changes in an organism — or is it the result of many smaller changes over time?
Tags: Agouti, Camouflage, Catherine Linnen, Deer Mice, DNA, Evolution, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Gene, Harvard, HarvardScience, Hopi Hoekstra, Life Sciences, Mice, molecular and cellular biology, Mutation, natural selection, Nebraska Sandhills, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Peter Reuell, Pigmentation, Sandhills, Science
Posted in Agouti, Camouflage, Catherine Linnen, Deer Mice, DNA, Evolution, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Gene, Harvard, HarvardScience, Hopi Hoekstra, Life Sciences, Mice, molecular and cellular biology, Mutation, natural selection, Nebraska Sandhills, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Peter Reuell, Pigmentation, Sandhills, Science | Comments Off
First Santiago Ramón y Cajal Professor is named
Jeff Lichtman, the Jeremy R. Knowles Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, has been appointed as the first Ramón y Cajal Professor of Arts and Sciences.
Tags: Brain, brain imaging, Brain Wiring, Campus & Community, Ezpeleta, Faculty, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Harvard, Imaging, Jeff Lichtman, Kewsong Lee, Lee, Lichtman, Michael D. Smith, molecular and cellular biology, nervous system, Neurons, new professorship, Peter Reuell, Professorship, Reuell, Santiago Ramón y Cajal Professor of Arts and Sciences, Smith, wiring diagram, Zita J. Ezpeleta
Posted in Brain, brain imaging, Brain Wiring, Campus & Community, Ezpeleta, Faculty, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Harvard, Imaging, Jeff Lichtman, Kewsong Lee, Lee, Lichtman, Michael D. Smith, molecular and cellular biology, nervous system, Neurons, new professorship, Peter Reuell, Professorship, Reuell, Santiago Ramón y Cajal Professor of Arts and Sciences, Smith, wiring diagram, Zita J. Ezpeleta | Comments Off
Digging yields clues
As described in a Jan. 16 paper in Nature, a team of researchers led by Hopi Hoekstra, professor of organismic and evolutionary biology and molecular and cellular biology, studied two species of mice – oldfield mice and deer mice – and identified four regions in their genome that appear to influence the way they dig their burrows.
Tags: Behavior, burrow, burrowing, complex, complex behavior, deer mouse, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Genes, Genetic, Genetics, Harvard, HarvardScience, Hoekstra, Hopi Hoekstra, Life Sciences, Mice, molecular and cellular biology, oldfield mouse, Peter Reuell, Reuell
Posted in Behavior, burrow, burrowing, complex, complex behavior, deer mouse, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Genes, Genetic, Genetics, Harvard, HarvardScience, Hoekstra, Hopi Hoekstra, Life Sciences, Mice, molecular and cellular biology, oldfield mouse, Peter Reuell, Reuell | Comments Off
HHMI taps Erin O’Shea
Erin K. O’Shea, the director of the FAS Center for Systems Biology, has accepted the position of vice president and chief scientific officer of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She will also maintain her lab and involvement at Harvard.
Tags: Campus & Community, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Erin K. O’Shea, Faculty, FAS Center for Systems Biology, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Center for Systems Biology, HHMI, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, molecular and cellular biology
Posted in Campus & Community, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Erin K. O’Shea, Faculty, FAS Center for Systems Biology, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Center for Systems Biology, HHMI, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, molecular and cellular biology | Comments Off
Where sand and sun meet science
The annual Rhino Cup volleyball league stokes the competitive fires of Harvard’s biological community, drawing researchers out of the lab and onto the sandy volleyball court in the courtyard of the Biological Laboratories.
Tags: Alvin Powell, Athletics, Biological Laboratories, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, David Kelley, Events, games, Games/Events, John Rinn, Lance Schumacher, molecular and cellular biology, Rhino Cup, Richard Losick, Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Volleyball
Posted in Alvin Powell, Athletics, Biological Laboratories, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, David Kelley, Events, games, Games/Events, John Rinn, Lance Schumacher, molecular and cellular biology, Rhino Cup, Richard Losick, Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Volleyball | Comments Off
Simplifying multidrug therapies
As described in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a research team found that by studying how drugs interact in pairs, researchers can predict how larger combinations of drugs will interact.
Tags: Bacteria, drug cocktail, Drug interaction, Drugs, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Harvard, HarvardScience, Health & Medicine, Kevin Wood, molecular and cellular biology, Multidrug therapy, Peter Reuell, Philippe Cluzel
Posted in Bacteria, drug cocktail, Drug interaction, Drugs, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Harvard, HarvardScience, Health & Medicine, Kevin Wood, molecular and cellular biology, Multidrug therapy, Peter Reuell, Philippe Cluzel | Comments Off
The growing brain
As reported on June 7 in the journal Neuron, a team of researchers led by Professor Jeff Lichtman has found that just days before birth mice undergo an explosion of neuromuscular branching. At birth, the research showed, some muscle fibers are contacted by as many as 10 nerve cells. Within days, however, all but one of those connections had been pruned away.
Tags: axon, Brain, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Harvard, HarvardScience, Jeff Lichtman, Lichtman, Life Sciences, MCB, molecular and cellular biology, muscle, muscle fiber, nerve, nerve cells, nerves, neuromuscular, Neuron, Neurons, Peter Reuell, Reuell
Posted in axon, Brain, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Harvard, HarvardScience, Jeff Lichtman, Lichtman, Life Sciences, MCB, molecular and cellular biology, muscle, muscle fiber, nerve, nerve cells, nerves, neuromuscular, Neuron, Neurons, Peter Reuell, Reuell | Comments Off
Tracing the brain’s connections
A team of researchers is using a genetically modified version of the rabies virus to create the first comprehensive list of inputs that connect directly to dopamine neurons in two regions of the brain.
Tags: Addiction, Dopamine neuron, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Harvard, HarvardScience, Life Sciences, MCB, molecular and cellular biology, Naoshige Uchida, Neuron, Parkinson's disease, Peter Reuell, Rabies, SNc, VTA
Posted in Addiction, Dopamine neuron, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, FAS, Harvard, HarvardScience, Life Sciences, MCB, molecular and cellular biology, Naoshige Uchida, Neuron, Parkinson's disease, Peter Reuell, Rabies, SNc, VTA | Comments Off