Professor Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte and first author Masakazu Kurita, along with collaborators, have developed a technique to directly convert the cells in an open wound into new skin cells. The approach relies on reprogramming the cells to a stem-cell-like state and may be useful for healing skin damage, countering the effects of aging and helping to better understand skin cancer.
Read News ReleaseVP, Chief Scientific Officer Martin Hetzer and first author Asako McCloskey have devised a method to manipulate numerous individual nuclear pores, which are essential elements of cells that provide controlled ways to move material into and out of a nucleus. The breakthrough may lead to insights into how to stop cancerous cells from proliferating out of control.
Read News ReleaseAssistant Professor Dmitry Lyumkis, first author Sriram Aiyer and collaborators used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM)—a cutting-edge technology that enables researchers to capture the structure of complex molecules in unprecedented detail—to show the structure of AAV2, a version of a virus, advancing the technique’s capabilities and the virus’ potential as a delivery vehicle for gene therapies.
In addition, Lyumkis, together with co-corresponding author and Helmsley-Salk Fellow Patrick Hsu, first author Cheng Zhang and colleagues, used cryo-EM to report the detailed molecular structure of CRISPR-Cas13d, a promising enzyme for emerging RNA-editing technology.
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Salk’s New ExplorersLike people, institutions move forward generation by generation. The Salk Institute’s first group of scientists included founder Jonas Salk, famous for developing the first effective and safe polio vaccine; and Renato Dulbecco, who demonstrated how viruses can cause cancer and who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1975.
A matter of timeSalk Professor Satchidananda (Satchin) Panda runs his life like clockwork. Most mornings, if he’s not traveling, he wakes up around 6 a.m. without an alarm. One of the first things he does is go out to his backyard to check on his provisions for wild birds.
Driven to SucceedFrom once being a schoolboy sitting on the floor of a rural classroom with no electricity, to now being a breast cancer researcher in the laboratory of Geoffrey Wahl, Raj Giraddi’s deep and abiding interest in biological research has always driven him forward.
