Rudolf Jaenisch

Rudolf Jaenisch

Professor of Biology; Core Member, Whitehead Institute; Member, Institute of Medicine

Rudolf Jaenisch uses pluripotent cells (ES and iPS cells) to study the genetic and epigenetic basis of human diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, autism and cancer.

617-258-5186

Phone

WI-461B

Office

jaenisch@wi.mit.edu

Email

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

Location

Lab Website
Robert Burger

Assistant

617-258-7137

Assistant Phone

Education

  • MD, 1967, University of Munich

Research Summary

We aim to understand the epigenetic regulation of gene expression in mammalian development and disease. Embryonic stem cells are important because they have the potential to generate any cell type in the body and, therefore, have great potential for regenerative medicine. We study the way somatic cells reprogram to an embryonic pluripotent state, and use patient specific pluripotent cells to study complex human diseases.

Awards

  • German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Otto Warburg Medal, 2014
  • New York Academy, Medicine Medal, 2013
  • Franklin Institute, Benjamin Franklin Medal, 2013
  • National Science Foundation, National Medal of Science, 2011
  • National Science Foundation, National Medal of Science, 2010
  • National Academy of Sciences, Member, 2003

Key Publications

  1. Editing DNA Methylation in the Mammalian Genome. Liu, XS, Wu, H, Ji, X, Stelzer, Y, Wu, X, Czauderna, S, Shu, J, Dadon, D, Young, RA, Jaenisch, R et al.. 2016. Cell 167, 233-247.e17.
    doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.08.056PMID:27662091
  2. Parkinson-associated risk variant in distal enhancer of α-synuclein modulates target gene expression. Soldner, F, Stelzer, Y, Shivalila, CS, Abraham, BJ, Latourelle, JC, Barrasa, MI, Goldmann, J, Myers, RH, Young, RA, Jaenisch, R et al.. 2016. Nature 533, 95-9.
    doi: 10.1038/nature17939PMID:27096366
  3. One-step generation of mice carrying mutations in multiple genes by CRISPR/Cas-mediated genome engineering. Wang, H, Yang, H, Shivalila, CS, Dawlaty, MM, Cheng, AW, Zhang, F, Jaenisch, R. 2013. Cell 153, 910-8.
    doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.04.025PMID:23643243
  4. In vitro reprogramming of fibroblasts into a pluripotent ES-cell-like state. Wernig, M, Meissner, A, Foreman, R, Brambrink, T, Ku, M, Hochedlinger, K, Bernstein, BE, Jaenisch, R. 2007. Nature 448, 318-24.
    doi: 10.1038/nature05944PMID:17554336
  5. Monoclonal mice generated by nuclear transfer from mature B and T donor cells. Hochedlinger, K, Jaenisch, R. 2002. Nature 415, 1035-8.
    doi: 10.1038/nature718PMID:11875572

Recent Publications

  1. Rett Syndrome: Thinking Beyond Brain Borders. Liu, Y, Guo, R, Jaenisch, R. 2025. Adv Exp Med Biol 1477, 243-263.
    doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-89525-8_9PMID:40442389
  2. Exploring the complexity of MECP2 function in Rett syndrome. Liu, Y, Whitfield, TW, Bell, GW, Guo, R, Flamier, A, Young, RA, Jaenisch, R. 2025. Nat Rev Neurosci 26, 379-398.
    doi: 10.1038/s41583-025-00926-1PMID:40360671
  3. SARS-CoV-2 infection of human pluripotent stem cell-derived vascular cells reveals smooth muscle cells as key mediators of vascular pathology during infection. Richards, A, Khalil, AS, Friesen, M, Whitfield, TW, Gao, X, Lungjangwa, T, Kamm, RD, Wan, Z, Gehrke, L, Mooney, D et al.. 2024. Nat Commun 15, 10754.
    doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-54917-4PMID:39737992
  4. Astrocytic modulation of population encoding in mouse visual cortex via GABA transporter 3 revealed by multiplexed CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. Park, J, Sipe, GO, Tang, X, Ojha, P, Fernandes, G, Leow, YN, Zhang, C, Osako, Y, Natesan, A, Drummond, GT et al.. 2024. bioRxiv , .
    doi: 10.1101/2024.11.06.622321PMID:39605420
  5. Tuning porosity of macroporous hydrogels enables rapid rates of stress relaxation and promotes cell expansion and migration. Nerger, BA, Kashyap, K, Deveney, BT, Lou, J, Hanan, BF, Liu, Q, Khalil, A, Lungjangwa, T, Cheriyan, M, Gupta, A et al.. 2024. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 121, e2410806121.
    doi: 10.1073/pnas.2410806121PMID:39467139
  6. Abortive infection of bat fibroblasts with SARS-CoV-2. Bisht, P, Gallagher, MD, Barrasa, MI, Boucau, J, Harding, A, Déjosez, M, Godoy-Parejo, C, Bisher, ME, de Nola, G, Lytton-Jean, AKR et al.. 2024. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 121, e2406773121.
    doi: 10.1073/pnas.2406773121PMID:39401365
  7. Mitochondrial dysfunction and increased reactive oxygen species production in MECP2 mutant astrocytes and their impact on neurons. Tomasello, DL, Barrasa, MI, Mankus, D, Alarcon, KI, Lytton-Jean, AKR, Liu, XS, Jaenisch, R. 2024. Sci Rep 14, 20565.
    doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-71040-yPMID:39232000
  8. Rapid phagosome isolation enables unbiased multiomic analysis of human microglial phagosomes. Wogram, E, Sümpelmann, F, Dong, W, Rawat, E, Fernández Maestre, I, Fu, D, Braswell, B, Khalil, A, Buescher, JM, Mittler, G et al.. 2024. Immunity 57, 2216-2231.e11.
    doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2024.07.019PMID:39151426
  9. Multi-species genome-wide CRISPR screens identify conserved suppressors of cold-induced cell death. Lam, B, Kajderowicz, KM, Keys, HR, Roessler, JM, Frenkel, EM, Kirkland, A, Bisht, P, El-Brolosy, MA, Jaenisch, R, Bell, GW et al.. 2024. bioRxiv , .
    doi: 10.1101/2024.07.25.605098PMID:39091747
  10. The A53T Mutation in α-Synuclein Enhances Proinflammatory Activation in Human Microglia Upon Inflammatory Stimulus. Krzisch, M, Yuan, B, Chen, W, Osaki, T, Fu, D, Garrett-Engele, CM, Svoboda, DS, Andrykovich, KR, Gallagher, MD, Sur, M et al.. 2025. Biol Psychiatry 97, 730-742.
    doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.07.011PMID:39029776
  11. Human-specific paralogs of SRGAP2 induce neotenic features of microglia structural and functional maturation. Diaz-Salazar, C, Krzisch, M, Yoo, J, Nano, PR, Bhaduri, A, Jaenisch, R, Polleux, F. 2024. bioRxiv , .
    doi: 10.1101/2024.06.28.601266PMID:38979266
More Publications

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Photo credit: Gretchen Ertl/Whitehead Institute