What is metabolism? A biochemist explains how different people convert energy differently − and why that matters for your health

An elite athlete’s metabolism mostly looks different from a patient with COVID-19 − but their occasional similarities can reveal important insights into health and disease.

Travis Nemkov, Assistant Research Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus • conversation
April 4, 2024 ~9 min

A new computational technique could make it easier to engineer useful proteins

MIT researchers plan to search for proteins that could be used to measure electrical activity in the brain.

Anne Trafton | MIT News • mit
April 3, 2024 ~8 min


As climate change and pollution imperil coral reefs, scientists are deep-freezing corals to repopulate future oceans

Just as the world’s zoos breed critically endangered animals in captivity to repopulate the wild, scientists are building a global effort to freeze corals for reef restoration.

Mary Hagedorn, Research Scientist, Smithsonian Institution • conversation
March 28, 2024 ~11 min

A protein found in human sweat may protect against Lyme disease

Researchers also found that a variant of the protein is not as protective against the bacteria and increases susceptibility to the disease.

Anne Trafton | MIT News • mit
March 19, 2024 ~8 min

Five MIT faculty members take on Cancer Grand Challenges

Joining three teams backed by a total of $75 million, MIT researchers will tackle some of cancer’s toughest challenges.

Bendta Schroeder | Koch Institute • mit
March 18, 2024 ~4 min

City mouse or country mouse? I collect mice from Philly homes to study how they got so good at urban living

An evolutionary biologist is studying what these resilient urban pests can teach us about adaptation and evolution.

Megan Phifer-Rixey, Assistant Professor of Biology, Drexel University • conversation
March 14, 2024 ~7 min

Surviving fishing gear entanglement isn’t enough for endangered right whales – females still don’t breed afterward

Even when female North Atlantic right whales survive entanglement in fishing gear, it may affect their future ability to breed, increasing the pressure on this critically endangered species.

Rob Harcourt, Professor of Marine Ecology, Macquarie University • conversation
March 13, 2024 ~10 min

Scientists develop a rapid gene-editing screen to find effects of cancer mutations

With the new technique, MIT researchers hope to identify mutations that could be targeted with new cancer therapies.

Anne Trafton | MIT News • mit
March 12, 2024 ~9 min


Exploring the cellular neighborhood

Software allows scientists to model shapeshifting proteins in native cellular environments.

Alison Biester | Department of Biology • mit
March 11, 2024 ~6 min

Rare access to hammerhead shark embryos reveals secrets of its unique head development

Because hammerhead sharks give birth to live young, studying their embryonic development is much more complicated than harvesting some eggs and watching them develop in real time.

Gareth J. Fraser, Associate Professor of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, University of Florida • conversation
March 8, 2024 ~5 min

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