The second annual Catalyst Symposium, sponsored by the Department of Biology and Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, invited postdocs from across the country to meet with faculty, present their work to the MIT community, and build relationships.
Inaugural symposium draws diverse science, underrepresented voices to MIT mit.edu - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mit.edu Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
New MIT professors research hibernation, cancer, the immune system, airways, and human movement in the departments of biology and brain and cognitive sciences at the School of Science.
February 17, 2021
by Jeanna Lucci-Canapari
A multi-institution symposium led by Yale School of Medicine treated more than 1,900 online participants from across the country to a showcase of research from a diverse group of talented postdoctoral researchers, with the goal of propelling their promising careers in scientific discovery. The Intersections Science Fellows Symposium was held through Zoom sessions and webinars from January 6 through 8, and was hosted by a coalition formed by Yale and 25 other national research institutions.
The symposium featured the research contributions from 26 junior scientists, who were chosen to present their work as 2021 Intersection Science Fellows. Selected from a pool of more than 400 applicants, the fellows largely represented communities that have been historically unrepresented in the field of medical research, including those from ethnic and racial minorities, those with disabilities, those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, women, or those
The two studies are complementary: The study published in
Cell looks at the entire human genome and gives a very broad overview of host factors that are required for infection by the virus. The study published in
Cell Host and Microbe focuses in detail on a smaller subset of host factors and how they interact. Together, the studies reveal previously unknown potential drug targets for vanquishing the virus.
What the Virus Needs From Us
Both studies relied on the genome-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9. This versatile tool allows scientists to make precise cuts in the genome. The MSK, Rockefeller, and NYU scientists used CRISPR to systematically knock out genes in human cells and ask whether the loss of that gene’s function impaired the virus’s ability to infect, reproduce in, and ultimately kill the cells.