HHMI - Howard Hughes Medical Institute

HHMI scientists have joined their colleagues around the world in working to understand and slow the spread of COVID-19. They’re developing diagnostic testing, understanding the virus’s basic biology, modeling the epidemiology, and developing potential therapies or vaccines.

The female mosquito has an amazing ability to detect blood using her syringe-like “tongue.” Now scientists have identified the neurons that give her blood-seeking powers.

The new Open Access to Publications policy, which will take effect on January 1, 2022, will require all HHMI laboratory heads to publish in a manner that makes their research articles freely available on the publication date under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).

Researchers know how to make precise genetic changes within the genomes of crops, but the transformed cells often refuse to grow into plants. One team has devised a new solution.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced today that HHMI Investigator Jennifer Doudna of University of California, Berkeley, and Emmanuelle Charpentier of the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens are the recipients of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of a method for genome editing.

Two new studies offer an explanation for why COVID-19 cases can be so variable. Some patients have mutations in key immunity genes; other patients have auto-antibodies that target the same components of the immune system.

Scientists have mapped and described the function of cells in six regions of the adult heart, providing a new foundation for studying heart disease.

Scientists have identified mouse neurons that make food and drink palatable, feeding a cycle of consumption.

Scientists have long wondered why many unrelated animals can regrow limbs and other body parts. New research identifies common genetic factors that promote regeneration.

Researchers have designed a molecule that sticks tightly to the coronavirus spike protein, preventing the virus from infecting cells. The molecule might someday be used in an aerosolized drug to treat or prevent COVID-19.

Armed with the first detailed structure of a key enzyme involved in the neurological disorder, researchers begin hunting for drugs that reduce its activity.

The novel coronavirus uses structures within its RNA to infect cells. Scientists have now identified these configurations, generating the most comprehensive atlas to date of SARS-CoV-2’s genome.

Scientists have analyzed every possible mutation to one key part of the coronavirus. The data could help guide vaccine and drug development and hint at how the virus might spread.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has selected 45 doctoral students and their advisers to advance diversity and inclusion in the sciences.

Scientists have identified a new type of cell that appears in the bloodstream of rheumatoid arthritis patients shortly before joint inflammation flares.

A gene editing tool based on a bacterial toxin can make precise changes to mitochondrial DNA inside cells.

Scientists have found a new way to identify genetic modifications to transfer RNAs that could be important in a wide variety of diseases.

Data from COVID-19 cases around the world suggest that the new coronavirus hits men harder than women. Differences in men and women’s immune responses to the virus may help explain why.

Research labs are racing to develop innovative testing methods and overcome the bottlenecks to more widespread testing, which is crucial to controlling the spread of the disease.

A new analysis of difficult-to-access genetic variation is the most comprehensive ever conducted in plants. It could guide the improvement of tomatoes and other crops.

CRISPR has sparked a renaissance in genome editing. Now, next-generation CRISPR technologies let scientists modify the genome more efficiently and more precisely than before. Such tools could one day serve as therapeutics, but many challenges remain.

A clinical trial in people with the new coronavirus is testing a drug that may halt an overactive immune response before it ramps up.

The parasite that causes malaria has its own internal clock, explaining the disease’s rhythmic fevers and opening new pathways for therapeutics.

The new coronavirus invades cells that sport certain molecules on their surfaces. A network of researchers realized they already had the data to identify these cells.

Edwin Chapman has long studied how one protein triggers the release of neurotransmitters, allowing neurons to communicate. A mother’s email prompted him to investigate what happens when this protein malfunctions.

Clayton S. Rose, President of Bowdoin College and a longtime Howard Hughes Medical Institute Trustee, will succeed Kurt L. Schmoke as Chair of the Trustees.

Researchers and a volunteer team from Pinterest developed How We Feel, an app that lets users report symptoms of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The sensation of sweetness starts on the tongue, but sugar molecules also trip sensors in the gut that directly signal the brain. This could explain why artificial sweeteners fail to satisfy the insatiable craving for sugar.

A map of interactions between the novel coronavirus and human proteins is helping scientists identify drugs that might work as therapeutics.

Using a research assay called VirScan, scientists plan to study how antibodies from people who have had COVID-19 attack the virus that causes it.

Using a free computer game called Foldit, researchers are enlisting the help of citizen scientists to design drugs that could stop the novel coronavirus from infecting human cells.

A new international project aims to enroll 500 COVID-19 patients to search for genetic mutations that make some people more vulnerable to severe infection.

After reconstructing the ancient forms of two cellular proteins, scientists discovered the earliest known instance of a complex form of protein regulation.

Cellular structures once thought to be inactive fat storage centers may actually help regulate metabolism.

As a rat approaches a maze juncture, neural activity rapidly cycles between two sets of cells. The discovery suggests the rodents are envisioning turning left or right. A similar phenomenon may underlie how humans make decisions.

Janelia and Google scientists have constructed the most complete map of the fly brain ever created, pinpointing millions of connections between 25,000 neurons. Now, a wiring diagram of the entire brain is within reach.