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Using whole-genome sequencing, a team led by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the ӳý has traced the path of the E. coli outbreak that sickened thousands and killed over 50 people in Germany in summer 2011 and also caused a smaller outbreak in France. It is one of the first uses of genome sequencing to study the dynamics of a food-borne outbreak and provides further evidence that genomic tools can be used to investigate future outbreaks and provide greater insight into the emergence and spread of infectious diseases.

Aviv Regev
ӳý core member Aviv Regev will lead the Klarman Cell Observatory
Image courtesy of Maria Nemchuk, ӳý Communications

The Eli and Edythe L. ӳý of Harvard and MIT (“the ӳý”) today announced that it has received a $32.5M grant from the Boston-based Klarman Family Foundation to support a new collaborative effort focused on deciphering how human cells are wired.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the most common form of blood cancer, is a strikingly heterogeneous disease. In some cases, the disease is aggressive and fatal; in others, it causes few symptoms for years or decades. From a genome analysis perspective, CLL is also unusual: it is quiet.

Man wearing mask during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic

When the Spanish flu stalked the globe in 1918, some theorized that the death toll was so dire because of the World War I effort. Young and previously healthy soldiers and civilians alike had simply pushed themselves too hard, the theory went, running down their immune systems and leaving them vulnerable to a viral pandemic that ultimately killed worldwide.