Howard Hughes Medical Institute

05/17/2026

Meet the 96-channel electronic pipette that helped HHMI Investigator Paul Bieniasz & colleagues at The Rockefeller University run 7,000+ parallel experiments that uncovered more than 100 bNAb escape mutations across 15 viral strains. What’s it all mean? Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) are a promising HIV treatment, but the virus is highly skilled at escaping them. Bieniasz & team used a new method to build the most comprehensive view yet of how HIV-1 builds resistance. “Knowing how different strains of the virus respond to leading bNAb therapies will greatly improve our ability to anticipate whether a particular therapy will be effective for individual patients,” says Bieniasz. bit.ly/3RCCi08

📷: Lori Chertoff

Study shows the most comprehensive view to date of how some viral strains develop drug resistance.

05/13/2026

A new AI algorithm from Freeman Hrabowski Scholar David Van Valen & Caltech colleagues speeds up image analysis & enables tracking of millions of cells across many conditions, helping overcome a longtime bottleneck for scientists. This image shows the model at work on a microscope image, with each cell marked in its own distinct color: bit.ly/4cYe9cV.

05/11/2026

Meet NovoTags, a new class of fluorescent imaging probes that combines AI-driven protein design from HHMI Investigator David Baker (University of Washington) with ultra-bright dyes from Sr. Group Leader Luke Lavis (HHMI Janelia Research Campus). This AI@HHMI project enables scientists to watch dozens of proteins inside a cell at once — something current tools can't do — and aims to make NovoTags available to the entire scientific community: bit.ly/4noBb06.

What if scientists could watch a dozen proteins at work inside a cell at the same time? A new AI@HHMI project combines AI-driven protein design with bright dyes to build probes that could make that possible. This story is part of a series exploring AI@HHMI projects.

05/10/2026

This mesmerizing timelapse captures the nonstop motion inside an animal cell. Red/orange streaks are the growing ends of microtubules (marked by a fluorescent protein called EB3), tiny “highways” that can rapidly assemble and disassemble to move proteins & other molecules within the cell.

📸: Confocal microscopy video courtesy Andy Moore, HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus

05/09/2026

A new gene-editing strategy from HHMI Investigator Michel Nussenzweig's lab at The Rockefeller University could teach the immune system to make its own therapeutic antibodies. Successful so far in mice, the approach may one day lead to treatments for HIV, cancer, & metabolic disease in humans. “This is a step in that direction,” says the Nussenzweig Lab’s Harald Hartweger, “showing the feasibility of making life-saving proteins.” bit.ly/4tkQvfo

05/07/2026

Nematodes follow their noses (er, sensory organs) just like we do — toward smells they love, away from those they don't. Steven Flavell (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)) & collaborators have now mapped this process neuron by neuron, showing exactly which neurons in the worm’s brain sense where smells are coming from, plan turns toward or away, execute shifts to reverse, etc. The result? A rare look at how brains turn sensation into behavior: bit.ly/3RcNeBp.

05/05/2026

You asked, we answered: Sr. Science Program Coordinator Adrielle Munger talks through applicants’ top-5 questions about the Gilliam Fellows program, from eligibility to what’s new for ‘26. Second- or third-year PhD student in the biological or biomedical sciences? Applications open 9/1! bit.ly/Gilliam26

05/05/2026

What looks like a rainbow kaleidoscope is actually living cells dividing in real time. 🌈 These intestinal epithelial cells were grown from an organoid: a miniature, lab-grown model of an organ that lets scientists study human biology & disease outside the body. And the colors? Not just beautiful — they're depth-coded. Cool blues and purples are closer, while warm yellows are farther away.

Credit: Matthew Tyska, Vanderbilt University

05/01/2026

The power of science, community, curiosity, & love — all in under 2 minutes. (Oh, & sea cucumbers.) Meet Gilliam Fellow Julienn Torres-Rodriguez (Recinto de Río Piedras de la UPR) who’s got a message for all potential '26 Gilliam applicants: "This will be an amazing opportunity for you, so don't miss it. Capisce?" Applications open 9/1! bit.ly/4qQArRh

04/29/2026

This colorful tapestry isn't hanging in a gallery — it’s inside of you! (Congratulations.) Meet the extracellular matrix (ECM), aka what fills the space between your cells. The red/orange waves are ECM molecules, and the blue ovals nestled inside are cell nuclei. Capturing the ECM was once a major challenge, until scientists Antonio Fiore & Kayvon Pedram at our Janelia Research Campus developed a way to image it without damage.

04/27/2026

Hibernation is a biological superpower that can extend lifespan and improve resilience to stress and disease. Jealous yet? Same — but what if we could harness its benefits for human health? Freeman Hrabowski Scholar Siniša Hrvatin has discovered the neural trigger that induces key features of topor & hibernation, which could transform how we treat disease, injury, & aging: bit.ly/41Uzw8F.

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar Siniša Hrvatin studies how animals hibernate — and what that state reveals about the biology of survival and aging.