Rudolf Jaenisch

About

Rudolf Jaenisch is a Professor of Biology at MIT, a Core Member of the Whitehead Institute, and a Member of the Institute of Medicine. His research focuses on understanding the epigenetic regulation of gene expression in mammalian development and disease. He uses pluripotent cells, including embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, to study the genetic and epigenetic basis of human diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, autism, and cancer. His work emphasizes the importance of embryonic stem cells, which have the potential to generate any cell type in the body, for regenerative medicine. He studies how somatic cells reprogram to an embryonic pluripotent state and uses patient-specific pluripotent cells to investigate complex human diseases. Rudolf Jaenisch has made significant contributions to the field of biomedical research, earning numerous awards including the Franklin Institute Benjamin Franklin Medal, the Otto Warburg Medal from the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the National Medal of Science from the NSF.

Research topics

• Biology
• Genetics
• Cell biology
• Computational biology
• Immunology
• Virology
• Cancer research
• Internal medicine

Selected publications

• Reverse-transcribed SARS-CoV-2 RNA can integrate into the genome of cultured human cells and can be expressed in patient-derived tissues

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2021-05-06 · 300 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Prolonged detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA and recurrence of PCR-positive tests have been widely reported in patients after recovery from COVID-19, but some of these patients do not appear to shed infectious virus. We investigated the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 RNAs can be reverse-transcribed and integrated into the DNA of human cells in culture and that transcription of the integrated sequences might account for some of the positive PCR tests seen i…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• In situ genome sequencing resolves DNA sequence and structure in intact biological samples

  Science · 2021 · 209 citations

  Understanding genome organization requires integration of DNA sequence and three-dimensional spatial context; however, existing genome-wide methods lack either base pair sequence resolution or direct spatial localization. Here, we describe in situ genome sequencing (IGS), a method for simultaneously sequencing and imaging genomes within intact biological samples. We applied IGS to human fibroblasts and early mouse embryos, spatially localizing thousands of genomic loci in individual nuclei. Usin…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• MeCP2 links heterochromatin condensates and neurodevelopmental disease

  Nature · 2020 · 200 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• SARS-CoV-2 RNA reverse-transcribed and integrated into the human genome

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2020 · 69 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Prolonged SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding and recurrence of PCR-positive tests have been widely reported in patients after recovery, yet these patients most commonly are non-infectious. Here we investigated the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 RNAs can be reverse-transcribed and integrated into the human genome and that transcription of the integrated sequences might account for PCR-positive tests. In support of this hypothesis, we found chimeric transcripts consisting of viral fused to cellular sequences in…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• MECP2 directly interacts with RNA polymerase II to modulate transcription in human neurons

  Neuron · 2024-05-01 · 52 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R37HD045022

  NIH · $7.5M · 2018

• NIH Grant R01NS08853801

  NIH · $1.0M · 2019

• NIH Grant R01NS088538

  NIH · $5.0M · 2020

Frequent coauthors

• Konrad Hochedlinger

  Harvard Stem Cell Institute

  163 shared

• Kevin Eggan

  Broad Institute

  130 shared

• Richard A. Young

  113 shared

• Arlene H. Sharpe

  Massachusetts General Hospital

  92 shared

• Albert W. Cheng

  Arizona State University

  92 shared

• Caroline Beard

  Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

  88 shared

• Laurie Jackson‐Grusby

  Harvard Stem Cell Institute

  85 shared

• Styliani Markoulaki

  Northwestern University

  80 shared

Labs

• Rudolf Jaenisch LabPI

Education

• M.D., Medicine

  University of Munich

  1967

Awards & honors

• Otto Warburg Medal, 2014
• Medicine Medal, New York Academy, 2013
• Benjamin Franklin Medal, Franklin Institute, 2013
• National Medal of Science, 2011
• National Medal of Science, 2010

Similar researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Robert A. Weinbergh-291
• Susumu Tonegawah-237
• Phillip A. Sharph-227