Broad Institute

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard was established in 2004 with the goal of enhancing human health. It focuses on genomics to deepen our knowledge of disease biology and treatment, paving the way for innovative therapies in the future.

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New technique expands cells to sequence DNA and capture fine structural details

1 week ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato

Broad Institute researchers have developed a technology that provides new insight into how disruptions in the nucleus of the cell can impact health and disease. The approach, called expansion in situ genome sequencing, allows scientists to sequence DNA and map its location relative to proteins within cell nuclei. The method uses a gel to expand cells while keeping them intact, enabling both sequencing and high-resolution imaging within the same cells.
Making antibiotics more potent against drug-resistant bacteria

1 week ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato

Researchers have created a pipeline for discovering unique combinations of molecules that increase the effectiveness of antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria. The team, led by scientists at the Broad Institute and the Tufts University School of Medicine, used a microfluidic approach to screen more than 1 million combinations of antibiotics, small molecules, and bacteria.
Gene editing disrupts Huntington’s mutation in mice

1 week ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato

Broad Institute researchers have developed a way to edit the genetic sequences at the root of Huntington’s disease and Friedreich’s ataxia. The conditions are two of more than 40 severe neurological disorders caused by three-letter stretches of DNA that repeat consecutively. If longer than a certain threshold length, these sequences grow in length uncontrollably and lead to brain cell death in Huntington’s disease, and the breakdown of nerve fibers in Friedreich’s ataxia.
With AI, researchers predict the location of virtually any protein within a human cell

2 weeks ago | broadinstitute.org | Adam Zewe |fei chen |Caroline Uhler

A protein located in the wrong part of a cell can contribute to several diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, cystic fibrosis, and cancer. But there are about 70,000 different proteins and protein variants in a single human cell, and since scientists can typically only test for a handful in one experiment, it is extremely costly and time-consuming to identify proteins’ locations manually.
New study aims to uncover the genetics of anorexia and other eating disorders

2 weeks ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato |Ben Neale |Mark Daly

A new direct-to-participant effort now underway is giving people the opportunity to participate in the largest and most diverse genetic study of anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders to date. Researchers at the Broad Institute Ben Neale and Mark Daly are co-leading the study, which allows people across the US to sign up to have their DNA analyzed as part of this effort.
Evolved gene editor inserts entire genes in human cells

3 weeks ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato

Researchers from the Broad Institute and Columbia University have developed a way to insert entire healthy genes into human cells efficiently enough for potential therapeutic applications. It lays a foundation for gene-editing therapies for patients with different mutations that cause a genetic disease.
#WhyIScience Q&A: A systems biologist uses AI to understand how the genome controls cell fate

3 weeks ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato

Growing up in the Sichuan province in China, Bo Xia was curious about the nature he saw around him: the creeks that ran through his hometown and its many animals and insects. In school, he loved imagining how molecules made up materials and whole organisms. He read about graphene in a textbook and was intrigued by how the material’s structure — a single layer of carbon atoms patterned like a honeycomb — granted it special electronic properties.
Potential Alzheimer’s disease therapeutic target identified in brain immune cells

1 month ago | broadinstitute.org | Brandon Chase

Since the 1990s, researchers have found several immune system molecules that act like “brakes” on immune responses, leading to a new class of cancer drugs. One of these “immune checkpoint” molecules, called Tim-3 has recently been linked to late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but its role in the brain was unknown until now.
Scientists have developed a way to scale up spatial genomics and lower costs

2 months ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato

Spatial transcriptomics technologies opened the door for new kinds of biological measurements, allowing scientists to generate detailed maps of where genes are expressed in tissue. But most methods rely on expensive and time-intensive imaging that requires specialized equipment. A new method developed by researchers at the Broad Institute promises to make spatial transcriptomics easier for scientists to use.
Why brain cancer is often resistant to immunotherapy

Feb 26, 2025 | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato

Immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of many cancers, but brain tumors such as gliomas remain particularly difficult to treat, in part because they potently suppress immune responses. New findings from researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) could help make immunotherapies for brain cancer more effective.