HHMI’s Gilliam Fellowships Aim to Increase Diversity in the Sciences
March 09, 2010
HHMI has selected five exceptional individuals to receive the 2010 Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study. These students will join a dynamic group of 30 Gilliam fellows, who share a passion for science and a commitment to increasing diversity in the sciences. More

A New Finding Clarifies the Cause of Spinal Muscular Atrophy
March 09, 2010
New findings about an often fatal neurodegenerative disease suggest that helping a beneficial protein linger a little longer could promote neuron survival. More

New Ways to Disarm Deadly South American Hemorrhagic Fever Viruses
March 07, 2010
New World hemorrhagic fevers are emerging infectious diseases found in South America that can cause terrible, Ebola-like symptoms. Now HHMI researchers have discovered exactly how one virus latches onto and infects human cells, offering a much-needed lead toward new treatments. More

Asexual Plant Reproduction May Seed New Approach for Agriculture
March 07, 2010
An HHMI international research scholar and his colleagues have moved a step closer to turning sexually-reproducing plants into asexual reproducers, a finding that could have profound implications for agriculture. More

Blood Vessel Cells Promote Self-Renewal of Blood Stem Cells
March 05, 2010
Endothelial cells, the building blocks of the vascular system, keep blood stem cells dividing healthily in a lab dish much longer and more effectively than previous methods of growing the cells. More

Appetite Grows When New Bacteria Take Over the Gut
March 04, 2010
A new study suggests that gut microbes might one day be grouped along with inadequate exercise and overeating as a cause of obesity and metabolic syndrome. More

Mitochondrial DNA's Surprising Variability Could Complicate Forensic and Genealogical Analyses
March 04, 2010
The mitochondrial genome, long thought to be nearly identical in every cell in the human body, actually varies to a surprising degree. More

What Model Organisms Can Teach Us about Emotion
February 20, 2010
At the AAAS Annual Meeting, David Anderson discussed how studies of model organisms such as mice and fruit flies can improve scientists' understanding of the neural basis of emotion. More

New Tool Illuminates Connections between Stem Cells and Cancer
February 20, 2010
A new tool to understand how cancers grow presents a new opportunity to identify novel cancer drugs. Owen Witte's team has been able to break apart human prostate tissue, extract the stem cells in that tissue, and alter those cells genetically so that they spur cancer. More

Stem Cell Challenges and Opportunities Discussed at AAAS Meeting
February 20, 2010
At the AAAS Annual Meeting on Feb. 20, George Daley described the current climate facing stem cell researchers in the United States. He also discussed his current viewpoint on whether induced pluripotent stem cells have the same potential therapeutic utility as human embryonic stem cells. More