Monthly Archives: December 2015

The School of Science appoints six faculty to named professorships [Source: Bendta Schroeder | School of Science, December 28, 2015] The School of Science announced that six of its faculty members have been appointed to named professorships this fall semester. The new appointments are: B. Gloria Choi, Samuel A. Goldblith […]

Simons Investigator Gloria Choi appointed to named professorship

[Source: Anne Trafton | MIT News Office, December 17, 2015] Neuroscientists link autism to reduced activity of key neurotransmitter in human brain. MIT and Harvard University neuroscientists have found a link between a behavioral symptom of autism and reduced activity of a neurotransmitter whose job is to dampen neuron excitation. The […]

Study finds altered brain chemistry in people with autism

[Source: Anne Trafton | MIT News, December 10, 2015] Neuroscientists unravel Shank3 gene’s role in autism and schizophrenia. Although it is known that psychiatric disorders have a strong genetic component, untangling the web of genes contributing to each disease is a daunting task. Scientists have found hundreds of genes that are […]

How one gene contributes to two diseases

[Source: MIT News, December 1, 2015]   Team re-engineers system to dramatically cut down on editing errors; improvements advance future human applications. The following is adapted from a press release issued today by the Broad Institute. Researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the McGovern Institute for […]

MIT, Broad scientists overcome key CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing hurdle

[Source: BBC News, December 1, 2015]   Scientists say they have fine tuned a gene editing method to make it safer and more accurate – vital if it is to be used in humans to cure inherited diseases or inborn errors. The advance, outlined in Science Magazine, comes as world […]

Safer way to do gene editing