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In science, sometimes you need to dive deep to see the big picture. Scientists at the Ó³»­´«Ã½ have demonstrated this time and again, enabling biological discoveries by generating dense maps, such as the survey of thousands of epigenetic marks on DNA across the human genome conducted as part of the .

For decades, researchers have sought a biological toolset capable of precisely and systematically turning off genes throughout the genomes of human cells. The CRISPR-Cas9 system – a recently discovered system with bacterial origins – has the potential to overcome many of the limitations of currently available gene-silencing techniques. Earlier this year, several research groups showed that it was possible to use CRISPR-Cas9 to turn off genes in mammalian cells.

Lenalidomide structure

What: A team led by Ó³»­´«Ã½ scientists has uncovered how the cancer drug lenalidomide works. Lenalidomide has been used for nearly a decade to treat multiple myeloma and other disorders that affect blood cells found in bone marrow, but its exact mechanism of action hadn’t previously been understood.

To give employees ample time to celebrate the holidays with friends and family, the Ó³»­´«Ã½ will close from Monday, December 23, 2013 to Wednesday, January 1, 2014. It will reopen on Thursday, January 2, 2014.

Our websites, of course, will still be up and running during the closing, allowing researchers all over the globe to continue accessing data, software, tools, and more.

The Ó³»­´«Ã½ is pleased to announce the latest class of Merkin Institute Fellows. The Ó³»­´«Ã½â€™s first endowed fellowship, the Merkin Institute Fellows program was established in 2012 by Dr. Richard Merkin to provides sustained support for some of the most promising and ambitious scientists pursuing bold research at the Ó³»­´«Ã½. The 2013-2014 recipients represent three of the Ó³»­´«Ã½â€™s fastest rising stars: Sangeeta Bhatia, John Doench, and Angela Koehler.