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Motor neuron

What: Researchers from the ӳý, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), and Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) used an eclectic combination of cutting-edge technologies to determine what’s going wrong at the molecular level in the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Their research, published online this week in two separate Cell journals, sheds light on the mechanisms that lead to the disease and highlights potential targets for new treatments.

Kerstin Lindblad-Toh

This week, ӳý scientific director of vertebrate genome biology Kerstin Lindblad-Toh became one of the first recipients of a new long-term research grant from the Swedish Research Council. The program, known as , provides Swedish scientists with 10 years of flexible funding to support ambitious, long-term projects. Lindblad-Toh is one of only nine researchers selected to receive the inaugural award.

You’re on a crowded subway car and someone nearby sneezes. Influenza viruses shed by your fellow rider are expelled in droplets of saliva that land on you and the person next to you. Two days later, you begin suffering from the classic flu symptoms of fever, aches, and runny nose, while the lucky rider next to you somehow dodges the infectious bullet.

The Crohn's Microbiome

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness that our bodies are not entirely our own: each of us contains a delicate ecosystem comprised not only of human cells, but also trillions of microorganisms – bacteria, viruses, and other assorted “bugs” – that reside in our bodies. Within the human gut, as in any ecosystem, this balance can easily be disrupted, with devastating consequences.