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Salk News


Scientists identify gene crucial to normal development of lungs and brain

LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a gene that tells cells to develop multiple cilia, tiny hair-like structures that move fluids through the lungs and brain. The finding may help scientists generate new therapies that use stem cells to replace damaged tissues in the lung and other organs.


Wylie Vale, Salk scientist, pioneer and leader, dies at 70

LA JOLLA, CA—Dr. Wylie Vale, a Salk Institute professor and world-renowned expert on brain hormones, died January 3 while on vacation in Hana, Hawaii. He was 70 years old.


Salk scientists map the frontiers of vision

LA JOLLA, CA—There’s a 3-D world in our brains. It’s a landscape that mimics the outside world, where the objects we see exist as collections of neural circuits and electrical impulses.


Salk discovery may lead to safer treatments for asthma, allergies and arthritis

LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists have discovered a missing link between the body's biological clock and sugar metabolism system, a finding that may help avoid the serious side effects of drugs used for treating asthma, allergies and arthritis.


Alzheimer’s drug candidate may be first to prevent disease progression

LA JOLLA, CA—A new drug candidate may be the first capable of halting the devastating mental decline of Alzheimer's disease, based on the findings of a study published in PLoS ONE.


Salk researchers develop safe way to repair sickle cell disease genes

LA JOLLA, CA—Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a way to use patients’ own cells to potentially cure sickle cell disease and many other disorders caused by mutations in a gene that helps produce blood hemoglobin.


Tweaking a gene makes muscles twice as strong

LA JOLLA, CA—An international team of scientists has created super-strong, high-endurance mice and worms by suppressing a natural muscle-growth inhibitor, suggesting treatments for age-related or genetics-related muscle degeneration are within reach.


Salk scientists receive significant philanthropic support with five distinguished chair appointments

LA JOLLA, CA—The Salk Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of five faculty members to be recipients of endowed chairs established by philanthropic leaders in support of scientific research.


Fruit fly intestine may hold secret to the fountain of youth

LA JOLLA, CA—One of the few reliable ways to extend an organism’s lifespan, be it a fruit fly or a mouse, is to restrict calorie intake. Now, a new study in fruit flies is helping to explain why such minimal diets are linked to longevity and offering clues to the effects of aging on stem cell behavior.


New anti-inflammatory drugs might help avoid side effects of steroids

LA JOLLA, CA—A new class of anti-inflammatory drugs may one day serve as an alternative to steroid medications and possibly help avoid the serious side effects of steroids, based on research findings at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.


Salk Institute molecular biologist Inder M. Verma named PNAS editor-in-chief

WASHINGTON, DC—The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announces the appointment of Inder M. Verma, Ph.D., as editor-in-chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the official NAS journal. He will formally assume the editorship on November 1, and the transition to the new position will occur over several weeks.


Salk breathes new life into fight against primary killer of premature infants

LA JOLLA, CA—A discovery by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies might explain why some premature infants fail to respond to existing treatments for a deadly respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and offers clues for new ways to treat the breathing disorder.


Salk Institute earns top global ranking for scientific research

LA JOLLA, CA—The SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR) World Report has identified the Salk Institute as one of the top five research organizations in the world, based on excellence and high quality of its scientific findings.


Salk to accelerate brain research with $4.5 million NIH grant

LA JOLLA—The National Institutes of Health has announced that the Salk Institute will receive $4.5 million to establish a Neuroscience Core Center, a new research center intended to accelerate brain research that lays the foundation for developing new ways to treat congenital brain defects and neurological diseases.


“Alarm clock” gene explains wake-up function of biological clock

LA JOLLA, CA‚Ever wondered why you wake up in the morning—even when the alarm clock isn’t making jarring noises? Wonder no more. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a new component of the biological clock, a gene responsible for starting the clock from its restful state every morning.


Salk scientist receives distinguished NIH award for transformative research

LA JOLLA, CA—Dr. Fred Gage, a professor in the Salk Institute Laboratory of Genetics and holder of the Vi and John Adler Chair for Research on Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases, has been named a 2011 recipient of the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Transformative Research Projects (T-R01) program.


Discovery of insulin switches in pancreas could lead to new diabetes drugs

LA JOLLA, CA—Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered how a hormone turns on a series of molecular switches inside the pancreas that increases production of insulin.


Bionic bacteria may help fight disease and global warming

La Jolla—A strain of genetically enhanced bacteria developed by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies may pave the way for new synthetic drugs and new ways of manufacturing medicines and biofuels, according to a paper published September 18 in Nature Chemical Biology.


Salk scientist earns competitive grant from Whitehall Foundation

LA JOLLA, CA—Axel Nimmerjahn, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Center and holder of the Richard Allan Barry Developmental Chair in Biophotonics has been awarded a highly selective grant from the Whitehall Foundation. He will receive $223,000.00 over three years to study the contribution of astrocytes to normal brain function.


Are genes our destiny?

LA JOLLA, CA—A “hidden” code linked to the DNA of plants allows them to develop and pass down new biological traits far more rapidly than previously thought, according to the findings of a groundbreaking study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.