Profiles

Molecular neurobiologist Julie Moreno explores the consequences of protein misfolding in the brain.

Two decades ago, Caroline Gargett identified adult stem cells in the endometrium. Now, she explores their functions to improve women’s health.

Parasitologist Luísa Figueiredo uncovered key elements of the secret life of African trypanosomes inside their hosts.

Alison Van Eenennaam uses genome-editing technologies to aid beef cattle production and animal welfare.

Genetic engineering pioneer Kevin Esvelt’s work highlights biotechnology’s immense potential for good—but also for catastrophe.

Haydeh Payami helped uncover the genetic basis of Parkinson’s disease. Now, she hopes to find new ways to treat the disease by studying the gut microbiome.

Samantha Maragh has taken on the difficult challenge of standardizing assays, data norms, and terminology in the ever evolving genome editing field.

Matthew Disney’s idea of small molecules that target RNA once seemed fanciful. Now, even the pharma industry is pursuing it

Brought together by a shared interest in synthetic biology and diagnostics, two researchers are transforming how we label biomolecules.

Timothy Hand leads a research team that explores how maternal immune signals shape the infant intestinal microbiota.

Alysson Muotri launched brain organoids into outer space and found that microgravity enriches our understanding of brain development and disease.

Ana Teresa Freitas discussed how individual variation in vitamin D synthesis and metabolism influences susceptibility to upper respiratory viruses.

As alternatives to insecticides, Omar Akbari uses sophisticated genetic engineering methods to solve the world’s mosquito problems.

The University of Chicago cell biologist is studying how the nutrients available to cancers influence their growth. 

At the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, the developmental biologist is probing the maternal-fetal interface across mammalian species.

The University of Miami researcher studies how a mysterious group of supersized viruses infects and influences the evolution of their hosts.

The Duke University cell biologist uses live-cell microscopy to reveal how brain cells rid themselves of damaged mitochondria and what goes wrong in neurodegenerative disease.

The Boston University neuroscientist wants to take the edge off traumatic memories by manipulating how they’re processed in the brain.

The MIT biologist studies how RNA molecules self-assemble and the role these accumulations may play in diseases such as ALS and Huntington’s.