A new control switch could make RNA therapies easier to program

Using this approach, researchers hope to deliver therapeutic RNA molecules selectively to cancer cells or other target cells.

Anne Trafton | MIT News Office • mit
March 15, 2023 ~7 min

Are you a rapid ager? Biological age is a better health indicator than the number of years you've lived, but it's tricky to measure

Aging is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases. Figuring out what influences longevity and how to identify rapid agers could lead to healthier and longer lives for more people.

Aditi Gurkar, Assistant Professor of Geriatric Medicine, University of Pittsburgh • conversation
March 15, 2023 ~10 min


After taking intro course in new concentration, alum sets up own lab

Sam Wattrus ’16, Ph.D. ’22, becomes the first human developmental and regenerative biology concentrator to establish an independent research lab.

Joelle Zaslow • harvard
March 13, 2023 ~6 min

Smell is the crucial sense that holds ant society together, helping the insects recognize, communicate and cooperate with one another

Researchers explore what happens when ants can’t properly use smell to detect friend from foe.

Stephen Ferguson, Postdoctoral Scholar in Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University • conversation
March 13, 2023 ~7 min

Unlocking secrets of the honeybee dance language – bees learn and culturally transmit their communication skills

Honeybees possess one of the most complex examples of nonhuman communication. New research suggests that it is learned and culturally passed down from older to younger bees.

James C. Nieh, Associate Dean and Professor of Biology, University of California, San Diego • conversation
March 9, 2023 ~8 min

Creating a versatile vaccine to take on Covid-19 in its many guises

Aided by machine learning, scientists are working to develop a vaccine that would be effective against all SARS-Cov-2 strains.

Steve Nadis | MIT CSAIL • mit
March 9, 2023 ~9 min

Study confirms why we need female mice in neuroscience research

Researchers found that female mice, despite ongoing hormonal fluctuations, exhibit exploratory behavior that is more stable than that of their male peers, countering the belief that the hormone cycle in females causes behavioral variation that could throw off results.

Catherine Caruso • harvard
March 8, 2023 ~12 min

Evolution, aging, and knee osteoarthritis

The same skeletal changes that allowed humans to walk upright make us vulnerable to knee osteoarthritis as we age, human evolutionary biologist says.

Anna Lamb • harvard
March 8, 2023 ~4 min


Humanity’s quest to discover the origins of life in the universe

Scientists from the University of Cambridge, ETH Zurich, Harvard University, and the University of Chicago have founded the Origins Federation, which will

Cambridge University News • cambridge
March 8, 2023 ~5 min

Nanotube sensors are capable of detecting and distinguishing gibberellin plant hormones

Developed at SMART, the nondestructive nanosensors could have wide applications in agricultural science.

Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology • mit
March 7, 2023 ~10 min

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