Science
15 Harvard Affiliates Call on Senate to Deny RFK Jr. Nomination for Health Secretary
Fifteen Harvard-affiliated Nobel Laureates signed an open letter to the United States Senate opposing the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ’76 as Secretary of Health and Human Services on Monday night.
Harvard Biology Lecturer Andrew Berry Sends Up Yale at Annual Bulldog Roast
At his annual ‘Bulldog Roast’ on Thursday before the 140th Harvard-Yale game, Harvard Organismic and Evolutionary Biology lecturer Andrew J. Berry poked fun at Yale University’s alumni, mascot, and residential life.
Rhinos Get a Renovation: Construction Finishes at the Biological Laboratories
Harvard is concluding renovations to the first floor of its Biological Laboratories, which will provide a permanent home for Molecular and Cellular Biology faculty.
HMS Study Reveals How Mutation Can Accelerate Breast Cancer Progression
A new study led by Harvard Medical School researchers shed new light on how even a single defective copy of the tumor-suppressor BRCA1 gene can increase patients’ risk of developing breast cancer.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Says U.S. Trails China in AI Development
Former Google CEO Eric E. Schmidt said the U.S. is falling behind China in the race to develop more powerful artificial intelligence at a Harvard Institute of Politics forum on Monday.
HMS Study Suggests New Narratives for Pompeii Victims
New DNA analysis challenges existing hypotheses about the identities and relationships of victims found in Pompeii after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E., per a study published in Current Biology on Nov. 7.
Pesticide Consumption May be Linked to Male Infertility, Harvard Study Suggests
A study conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health demonstrated that high intake of pesticide residue from fruits and vegetables may reduce fertility in men.
HMS Study Sheds Light on Link Between Heart Condition and Cancer Treatment
A new study out of Harvard Medical School is opening the door for cancer patients with a rare but dangerous heart condition to continue immunotherapy treatment for the first time.
Harvard Biology Professors Win International Awards for Neuroscience Research
Two Molecular and Cellular Biology professors, Takao K. Hensch ’88 and Catherine Dulac, received prestigious international awards this fall for their neuroscience research.
Harvard, UMiami Researchers Debunk Ecuador Mass Extinction Event in New Study
Scientists debunked a widely accepted mass extinction of 90 plant species in Ecuador’s Centinela cloud forests in the 1980s, per an October research paper published in Nature Plants.
Harvard Study Suggests Vitamin D Has No Effect on Cardiovascular Health
Vitamin D supplementation does not reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, researchers reported in a September paper.
Ozempic, Wegovy Use Doubled as Bariatric Surgery Procedures Declined in 2022-2023, Harvard Researchers Report
The national use of weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy more than doubled as bariatric surgery frequency dropped by about 25 percent from 2022 to 2023, researchers report in an Oct. 25 study.
Massive Meteor May Have Supercharged Early Microbial Life on Earth, Harvard Study Finds
A meteorite 200 times larger than the one that wiped out Earth’s dinosaurs may have been critical for the development of early microbial life on the planet three billion years ago, according to a Harvard study published last week.
Harvard Professor-Led Company Says It Reconstructed Genome of Extinct Tasmanian Tiger
Colossal Laboratories and Biosciences, a company co-founded by Harvard professor George M. Church, announced last week that it had reconstructed the genome of the extinct Tasmanian tiger with more than 99.9 percent accuracy — the most complete ancient genome of its kind.
AI Is Changing Healthcare. Harvard Medical School Is Following Suit.
The Harvard Medical School started offering a month-long introductory course on AI in healthcare for students on its Health Sciences and Technology track — the first of its kind offered at a medical school.
European Court Invalidates Harvard Biotech Patent in Three Countries
A top European court ruled against Harvard last week in a patent dispute against biotech company NanoString Technologies, invalidating one of the University’s two disputed patents in three European countries.
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Lays Off 87 Workers in Restructuring Effort
The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard announced on Oct. 10 that it laid off 87 employees as part of a strategic restructuring.
Cerebellum Only Necessary for Some Muscle Memory, Harvard Researchers Find
In an August study, researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences discovered a new distinction between long and short-term motor memories — a class of memories developed through repeated physical movements.
‘Share the Universe’: Harvard Astronomy Club Holds Rare Comet Viewing
Dozens of students gathered at Harvard’s Loomis-Michael Observatory on Thursday and Friday for a rare viewing of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, a “naked-eye visible comet” that researchers say is unlikely to return for at least 80,000 years.
Kip Thorne, 2017 Nobel Laureate, Talks Black Holes During Inaugural Hawking Lecture
Hundreds packed Science Center Hall B to watch Kip S. Thorne, a professor of theoretical physics at Caltech and a 2017 Nobel Prize laureate, discuss black holes and wormholes during the inaugural Hawking Lecture on Friday.
Harvard-Led Researchers Are Creating an Air Quality Sensor Inspired By Dog Noses
Researchers led by Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences professor Joanna Aizenberg are developing a new air quality sensor inspired by a dog’s nose that promises more specificity than existing products.
Human and Evolutionary Biology Dept. Holds Focus Groups on Renaming Concentration
Harvard’s Human Evolutionary Biology department is holding focus groups to seek student feedback on potential name options.
Harvard’s Wyss Institute Gives Startup License to Use Newly-Developed Biomaterials
Attivare Therapeutics, a startup founded by researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, received a license from the Wyss Institute to use biomaterials developed at Harvard to create treatments for tumors that do not respond to existing immunotherapies.
Harvard Museum of Natural History Hosts National Fossil Day
The Harvard Museum of Natural History welcomed visitors on Sunday for its third annual National Fossil Day event since the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing children and adults to learn about paleontology by interacting with artifacts from the museum's collections.
Brigham and Women's Hospital Researchers Find Nasal Spray Protects Against Respiratory Illnesses
Researchers found that a drug-free nasal spray protected against airborne respiratory illnesses — including Covid-19, influenza, viruses, and pneumonia — in a preclinical study published by Harvard Medical School-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital on Sept. 24.