Whitehead Institute researchers Silvi Rouskin, Ankur Jain, and David Bartel discuss how their RNA research connects to health and disease, including viral infections and neurodegeneration. This podcast is part of a multimedia series on RNA.

AudioHelicase

RNA in health and disease

Whitehead Institute Member Sinisa Hrvatin discusses his research on the neuroscience of hibernation.

AudioHelicase Special: Getting a handle on hibernation

How do cells decide how long to pause division after they detect errors? Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman and postdoc Mary Jane Tsang identified that the key player is a previously undiscovered protein that was hiding in plain sight. Our Behind the Science podcast looks at the unexpected nature of this discovery.

Read more about the science at https://wi.mit.edu/news/protein-hidden-plain-sight-helps-cells-time-their-escape.

Credits:
Photo: Kuan Chung Su/ Whitehead Institute
Music:  Coffee or Tea by Michael Ramir C., Mixkit License
Sound effects: Fast wall clock ticking, Cowbell sharp hit, Mixkit License

Behind the Science

Behind the Science: A protein hidden in plain sight

In this episode of AudioHelicase, we sit down with three Whitehead Institute researchers driving breakthroughs in disease treatment. Join us as we explore some of the toughest challenges they're overcoming to move transformative therapies from the lab bench to your medicine cabinet.

Credits:
Interviews, production, and hosting by Shafaq Zia.

Music and sound effects:
Crescent Bloom by Kai Engel (CC BY-NC 4.0)
OBJPlls-INT_Pills Rattling by Alessia Pultrone (CC  BY-NC  4.0)
Asthma Inhaler — Sprayed/ Dispensed 2 times by MutilatorBCB (CC0  1.0)
Velcro 7 by CassieTee (CC  BY-NC  3.0)

Illustration: DrawImpacts

AudioHelicase Special: How foundational research takes medicines from lab to shelf

In this episode of AudioHelicase, we sit down with four Whitehead Institute researchers who are gaining unique insights into biological processes—from regeneration, organ function, and immune response to embryonic development—by studying them within the rich context of their natural environment.

Credits:
Interviews, production, and hosting by Shafaq Zia.

Music:
little ukulele melody.mp3 by InVolumes (CC0)

Illustration: 
Madeleine Turner

AudioHelicase Special: When cells are in their element

In this episode, Whitehead Institute Member Mary Gehring discusses how gene regulation can be passed from one generation to the next

Whitehead's Mary Gehring discusses how gene regulation can be passed from one generation to the next

In this episode of AudioHelicase, Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman discusses how his work on the kinetochore provides a window into cell division and what happens when this vital cellular function goes awry.

Whitehead’s Iain Cheeseman discusses cell division and what can happen when it goes wrong

Whitehead Institute Member Pulin Li talks about how her lab engineers cells in Petri dishes to communicate with each other and form patterns, recreating processes seen in embryo development—and how this work could eventually inform efforts to grow tissues in the lab.

Whitehead's Pulin Li on creating multicellular patterns in a Petri dish

Plants have been used as medicine for thousands of years; could they contribute to a solution to the COVID-19 pandemic? This is what Whitehead Institute Member Jing-Ke-Weng set out to address in a new paper, published May 20 in the journal Molecular Plant.

We talked to Weng about an herbal treatment being used to treat COVID-19 in China derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine, the work necessary for such a treatment to be translated to an FDA-approved drug, and why the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need for basic, fundamental research in plant science and beyond.

Music: “Versailles” by Pierce Murphy (CC-BY 4.0), “The Minutes” by Scott Gratton (CC-BY-NC 4.0) Produced by Eva Frederick and Conor Gearin.

Whitehead's Jing-Ke Weng on COVID-19 treatments taking root in plant science

On this episode of AudioHelicase podcast, Whitehead Fellow Olivia Corradin talked about investigating the genetic underpinnings of diseases through a new technique she developed, the outside variant approach. Applying the method to study the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS), Corradin and colleagues identified a role for a cell type in the brain in MS, offering a new way of understanding the disease. She also discussed running a lab during the COVID-19 pandemic, and evaluating scientific information in a time of uncertainty.

Music: “Versailles” by Pierce Murphy (CC-BY 4.0). Produced by Conor Gearin.

Whitehead Institute’s Olivia Corradin on a new way to probe disease genetics

In this episode of AudioHelicase Podcast, Whitehead Fellow Silvi Rouskin discusses her research on solving the structure of the novel coronavirus's RNA genome, with the goal of revealing weak points in the virus’s gene regulation that new drugs could potentially target.

Music: “Versailles” by Pierce Murphy (CC-BY 4.0). Produced by Conor Gearin.

Whitehead Institute’s Silvi Rouskin on solving the structure of the coronavirus genome

Making our world more sustainable to preserve it for future generations will take not just one but many solutions. Researchers at Whitehead Institute are exploring how the natural world could teach us how to improve the sustainability of how we produce food, how we make medicines, how we make products more durable, and potentially how we remove carbon from the atmosphere.  In this special episode of AudioHelicase, we’ll hear from researchers at the Institute that are pursuing creative solutions to sustainability that combine a passion for making a difference with boundless curiosity for the living world.

Interviews by Greta Friar and Eva Frederick. Music by Pierce Murphy (CC BY 4.0) and Chris Zabriskie (CC BY 3.0). Produced and hosted by Conor Gearin.

AudioHelicase Special: How researchers at Whitehead Institute are building a more sustainable future

In this special episode of AudioHelicase, we talk to three researchers about the cells in our bodies that can regenerate – and those that can’t. We ask, why can some cells no longer renew themselves? And, importantly, can we change that? This podcast is part of our multimedia series, Cells Over Time.

AudioHelicase Special: Rebuilding a Body

AudioHelicase podcast unwinds the science and the people behind some of Whitehead Institute’s most exciting discoveries

Whitehead Institute

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