Here’s an excerpt from The Tech, MIT’s student paper:
Professor Rudolf Jaenisch, MIT biology professor and a founding member of the Whitehead Institute, was recently named by President Obama as one of the seven recipients of the National Medal of Science, the highest honor given by the U.S. government in the fields of science and engineering… (Former Whitehead director Susan Lindquist was one of last year’s the medal recipients.).
TT: Cam you discuss some of the recent issues you have worked with in epigenetic regulation?
RJ: When I came to Boston and began working in the Whitehead Institute, it was already possible to make a mutation of the enzyme transferase, and put it into cells. Mice deficient in this embryo died early in development, proving the importance of methylation in development. This was the background from which I studied the role of epigenetics in cancer and chromosome activation.
Dolly was created from epigenetic regulation — she was made from a skin cell that was put into an egg of a new sheep, which led to the creation of a new sheep. If this is to be done with humans, you will need human eggs as well. However, we found we could take a skin cell, treat it, and make pluripotent cells to make a new organism. These induced pluripotent stem cells [iPS cells] have the ability to differentiate into different cells of the body, though they cannot create a completely new organism. This technique can revolutionize medicine, because you can study disease from the iPS cells of sick patients.
TT: Do you have any advice for students who are aspiring scientists or researchers?
RJ: Students should always follow their interests and be courageous to look for answers to questions they are interested in. Scientific research is a risky business, but you’re bound to get satisfying results if you are passionate about what you do. One challenge you will face in research is that funding favors those who do bandwagon research. But if you focus on your interests and solutions to research problems instead of on the actual paper or job, you will find the process to be extremely satisfying.