Howard Hughes Medical Institute - HHMI

12/19/2025

HHMI Investigator Alexander Rudensky and collaborators at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have solved a 20-year mystery among scientists: Why are high levels of regulatory T cells linked to better survival in colorectal cancer, when they’re usually linked to poor outcomes in most other cancers? The researchers ID'd two subtypes of regulatory T cells in colorectal cancer — one that supports tumor growth, and one that restrains it. These findings could help improve immunotherapy treatment for patients with colorectal *and* other types of cancer. Learn more:

A new MSK study finds that in colorectal cancer, not all regulatory T cells are created equal. One subtype suppresses cancer growth while another aids it. The findings could help improve immunotherapy treatment for the majority of patients with colorectal cancer, and potentially for other cancers.

12/17/2025

"I feel being part of their life, being part of their career, is just priceless.” — HHMI Investigator Xin Chen, '25 Summer Undergraduate Research Program mentor

Rising junior or senior? Applications close 11:59pm Dec. 22! This summer, become a Cech Fellow & explore a career in biological or biomedical research alongside some of the nation's top scientists: bit.ly/CechFellows.

12/16/2025

What if the bacteria living in our digestive tracts could produce compounds that help us live longer?

The Wang (Meng) Lab at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus has found a way to get gut microbes to produce metabolites that promote longevity in animals. This points to a potential strategy for using bacteria-targeting drugs to support healthier aging, *and* inspires a new way of thinking about drug development. Full story: hhmi.news/48QyPAm.

12/09/2025

"Having this experience … allowed me to explore my interests, goals, & work towards what I want to do in the future.” — Ariana Rodriguez, Summer Undergraduate Research Program alum

Rising junior or senior? Explore a future in biological or biomedical research this summer! Mentorship from top scientists, hands-on research, and no prior lab experience required. Applications close 12/22: https://bit.ly/CechFellows

12/07/2025

What happens when HHMI scientists come together? Inspiring conversations, new perspectives, and a shared excitement for discovery. No matter what program they’re part of, our Investigators, Scholars, Fellows, and more join a vibrant scientific community driven by bold ideas.

12/05/2025

To capture the most detailed images to date of chromatin condensates — droplet-like structures formed by compacted DNA — you're going to need a verrry big microscope, like the one pictured here.

HHMI Investigator Michael Rosen and team (not pictured) visualized the molecules inside the droplets using cryo-electron tomography, a microscopy technique that creates 3D reconstructions of biological samples at high resolution.

Visualization of the assembly process (as seen in this video) will help researchers better understand how DNA is packaged inside cells, and how disruptions may lead to diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative conditions. “I’m certain we’re only at the tip of the iceberg,” says Rosen. https://hhmi.news/4iFBIrV

11/28/2025

A perfect model for coming together this season: mouse skeletal muscles undergoing fusion, obviously.

In this mesmerizing confocal microscopy video, nuclei are labeled in green & cell bodies are labeled in red. Credit: Yue Lu, Elizabeth Chen Lab, UT Southwestern Medical Center

11/26/2025

"My advice to other undergraduates: Just go for it!" — Lalitha Ravipati, alum, Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Rising junior or senior who's interested in working alongside some of the nation's top scientists this summer? Apply now: https://bit.ly/CechFellows

11/19/2025

Which came first — the sponge or the comb jelly?

HHMI Investigator Nicole King and her team used a new method to answer an old question, and their results offer strong evidence that sponges may have evolved first.

Knowing which animal roots the tree of life helps researchers understand how organisms are related to each other, and how complex features like the nervous system evolved.

Read more:

HHMI Investigator Nicole King and her team implemented a new method to determine which animals evolved first. The new research strongly supports the hypothesis that sponges root the animal tree of life.

11/18/2025

Calling all rising juniors & seniors: Applications for our ’26 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program are now open! Interested in a career in biological or biomedical research? Nine weeks, hands-on research, generous stipend, & mentorship from some of the nation’s top scientists — learn more about the Cech Fellows Program today: bit.ly/CechFellows

10/31/2025

Happy Halloween! 🎃🦇

Bats are more than just Halloween icons — HHMI scientists are studying them to explore fundamental questions about the brain and behavior.

HMMI Investigator Michael Yartsev and Freeman Hrabowski Scholar Gerald Carter utilize the unique attributes of bats, such as their flight abilities and complex social systems, to study memory formation, spatial mapping, and cooperation and bonding.

Their discoveries could have important implications for other species, including humans. Read more: https://bit.ly/434gm18

Photo 1: Vampire bat, Credit: Gerald Carter
Photo 2: A pair of Egyptian fruit bats, Credit: Wudi Fan (Yartsev Lab)

10/28/2025

Researchers in the Vosshall lab have discovered the first evidence of what happens when a female mosquito chooses to mate for the one and only time in her life.

A female mosquito only gets one shot to get reproduction right: She mates just a single time in her entire life. With the stakes so high, it would make sense for these insects to be quite choosey when it comes to selecting a mate. And yet a long-standing assumption in the field was that males controlled the process, and females were simply passive recipients of s***m.

“There’s an inherent contradiction in this assumption,” says Rockefeller University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute mosquito expert Leslie Vosshall. “If females have no say, then multiple males should be able to mate with them all the time. So how can a female mosquito both be a helpless creature but also the decision maker?”

Puzzled by the paradox, Vosshall and her team dove into the moment-by-moment, nuts-and-bolts of mosquito mating. The resulting study, recently published in Current Biology, uncovered the first evidence that scientists had it backwards: What makes mating possible is a subtle behavior of the female—a physical movement of her genitalia. Moreover, no subsequent physical pairings trigger this behavior again, regardless of how many males try, or how often they try—and they try a lot.

“It’s a very fast, very subtle change, but it entirely dictates whether mating occurs,” says lead author Leah Houri-Zeevi, a postdoctoral scientist in the lab. “If she makes this movement, it happens. If she doesn’t, it doesn’t matter what the male does—no successful mating will occur.”

Learn more here: https://www.rockefeller.edu/news/38501-when-it-comes-to-mating-female-mosquitoes-call-the-shots/