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During fetal development, the human brain generates an excess of neurons, most of which are eliminated shortly before and after birth. New research from Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital suggests that this is a critical quality control...

When the immune system detects a threat, cells communicate with one another through signals that activate inflammation. Scientists have long understood that these signals are relayed through receptors: proteins on or inside cells that detect danger and...

Researchers have developed a new method for predicting tissue age and screening for genes that affect the aging process. Using these methods, the team — led by George Church , the Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard...

BBS Faculty: Kathleen Burns, HMS professor of pathology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, for work on transposable elements in human disease. Her discoveries have highlighted long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1) activity as a source of heritable...

Four Harvard Medical School researchers have been awarded research grants by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of their High-Risk, High-Reward Research program . In this year’s round, the NIH will provide approximately $237.5 million in...

When people think about science policy, they might picture a one-way relationship: scientists make discoveries, and policymakers decide how to use them. But according to Antonia Kowalewski, co-president of the Harvard Griffin GSAS Science Policy Group...

Highlights Studies in mouse models have previously shown that continuously breathing low-oxygen air may be beneficial in Parkinson’s disease and rare diseases involving mitochondrial dysfunction, but this raises practical and safety issues. To address...

Researchers have built a catalog of mitochondrial proteins found in six eukaryotic organisms — five parasites and one plant — that, along with existing inventories of human and yeast mitochondria, reveals new insights into this essential organelle. By...

Researchers have answered a longstanding question about how certain non-enveloped viruses punch through the cell membrane to deliver their genetic material. The findings deepen understanding of virology and could aid the biotech industry’s search for ways...

Susan Dymecki , the George Fabyan Professor of Genetics in the Field of Comparative Pathology in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, has been named the next chair of the HMS Department of Genetics, effective Jan. 2, 2027. She will become...