Tag: Research

  • Health

    Mutations drive malignant melanoma

    Two mutations that collectively occur in 71 percent of malignant melanoma tumors have been discovered in what Harvard scientists call the “dark matter” of the cancer genome, where cancer-related mutations haven’t been previously found.

  • Health

    New avenue in neurobiology

    Harvard stem cell biologists have proven that it is possible to turn one type of already differentiated neuron into another inside the brain, and their findings may have enormous implications for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

  • Health

    A hidden genetic code

    For decades, scientists wondered whether there was some subtle difference between parts of the genetic code that, while different, appear to encode the same amino acid. Harvard researchers now have the answer.

  • Science & Tech

    An early sign of spring, earlier than ever

    Record warmth in 2010 and 2012 resulted in similarly extraordinary spring flowering in the eastern United States — the earliest in the more than 150 years for which data is available— researchers at Harvard University, Boston University, and the University of Wisconsin have found.

  • Health

    Digging yields clues

    As described in a Jan. 16 paper in Nature, a team of researchers led by Hopi Hoekstra, professor of organismic and evolutionary biology and molecular and cellular biology, studied two species of mice – oldfield mice and deer mice – and identified four regions in their genome that appear to influence the way they dig…

  • Health

    Pill-sized device rivals endoscopy

    Physicians may soon have a new way to screen patients for Barrett’s esophagus, a precancerous condition usually caused by chronic exposure to stomach acid. Harvard researchers at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital have developed an imaging system enclosed in a capsule about the size of a multivitamin pill that creates detailed,…

  • Health

    One cell is all you need

    Scientists at Harvard have pioneered a breakthrough technique that can reproduce an individual’s entire genome from a single cell. The development could revolutionize everything from cancer treatment, by allowing doctors to obtain a genetic fingerprint of a person’s cancer early in treatment, to prenatal testing.

  • Science & Tech

    Building a better machine

    Students in the “Physics and Applied Physics Research Freshman Seminar” labored hard to improve on a model heat engine, continuing the work of a previous class.

  • Health

    A treatment for ALS?

    According to researchers, results from a meta-analysis of 11 independent amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research studies are giving hope to the ALS community by showing, for the first time, that the fatal disease may be treatable.

  • Health

    Battling a bacterial threat

    Harvard physicians and scientists are joining forces to tackle one of the most troubling developments on the medical landscape: the rise of drug-resistant bacteria.

  • Health

    Problem with generic meds

    Researchers from Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found that some patients who receive generic drugs that vary in their color are over 50 percent more likely to stop taking the drug, leading to potentially important and potentially adverse clinical effects.

  • Campus & Community

    Next step for South Asia Initiative

    In response to the South Asia Initiative’s demonstrated commitment to the advancement of South Asian studies and programs, the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost at Harvard have formally renamed it the South Asia Institute at Harvard University.

  • Science & Tech

    Climate change on world stage

    In a question-and-answer session, Professor Robert Stavins discusses the recent international conference on climate change, and the prospects for nations to reach agreement on a plan to confront it.

  • Science & Tech

    Corn in a changing climate

    Harvard researchers have concluded that omitting the adaptive ability of crops from assessments of potential damages from a warming climate could substantially overestimate losses to U.S. maize yields.

  • Health

    Extra chemo could be answer

    Researchers have found that young patients with an aggressive form of leukemia who are likely to relapse after chemotherapy treatment can significantly reduce those odds by receiving additional courses of chemotherapy.

  • Science & Tech

    AA benefits vary between sexes

    A new study finds differences in the ways that participation in Alcoholics Anonymous helps men and women maintain sobriety.

  • Science & Tech

    Building with DNA bricks

    Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have created more than 100 3-D nanostructures using DNA building blocks that function like Lego bricks — a major advance from the two-dimensional structures the same team built a few months ago.

  • Nation & World

    “Jesus said to them, my wife”

    Four words on a previously unknown papyrus fragment provide the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus had been married, Harvard Professor Karen King told the 10th International Congress of Coptic Studies, September 18, 2012.

  • Campus & Community

    Harvard names vice provost for research

    Harvard names Richard McCullough of Carnegie Mellon University as the vice provost for research.

  • Health

    Skin cancer detection breakthrough

    Researchers at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital have pinpointed when seemingly innocuous skin pigment cells mutate into melanoma.

  • Campus & Community

    Researchers awarded NARSAD grants

    The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation announced $11.9 million in new research grants, strengthening its investment in the most promising ideas to lead to breakthroughs in understanding and treating mental illness, including 19 grants to Harvard researchers.

  • Science & Tech

    Soft robots go for color, camouflage

    Researchers have developed a system — inspired by nature — that allows soft robots to either camouflage themselves against a background, or to make bold color displays. Such a “dynamic coloration” system could one day have a host of uses, ranging from helping doctors plan complex surgeries to acting as a visual marker to help…

  • Science & Tech

    Soft Robots, in color

    Having already broken new ground in robotics with the development, last year, of a class of “soft”, silicone-based robots based on creatures like squid and octopi, Harvard scientists are now working to create systems that would allow the robots to camouflage themselves, or stand out in their environment.

  • Campus & Community

    Applications open for Australia-Harvard Fellowships

    The Harvard Club of Australia Foundation is accepting applications for its 2013 Australia-Harvard Fellowship program.

  • Campus & Community

    REAI grants open for applications

    The Real Estate Academic Initiative at Harvard is offering its second round of grants of the academic year to support real estate and urban development research by Harvard faculty and students.

  • Campus & Community

    Harvard Innovators – Innovation at Harvard

    Throughout the Harvard community, students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae are working every day across disciplines and around the globe to generate innovative ideas and solutions. Here are just a few examples.

  • Campus & Community

    Fountain of Youth – Innovation at Harvard

    Our bodies repair and regenerate with the help of compound structures at the end of chromosomes called telomeres. But as these telomeres weaken, we age. Harvard swimmer Meaghan Leddy COL ’12 explains how Harvard scientists are exploring ways to reverse the symptoms of aging by increasing the levels of a certain enzyme to keep our…

  • Campus & Community

    Bench to Bedside – Innovation at Harvard

    Harvard researchers and clinicians collaborate across disciplines and around the globe to craft solutions to the world’s toughest health challenges.

  • Campus & Community

    On the Cutting Edge of History – Innovation at Harvard

    Jeremy Geidt, lecturer on dramatic arts and senior actor at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), recounts a few memorable moments in Harvard’s history.