Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)

Meet the 96-channel electronic pipette that helped #HHMIInvestigator Paul Bieniasz & colleagues at The Rockefeller University run 7,000+ parallel experiments that uncovered more than 100 bNAb escape mutations across 15 viral strains. What’s it all mean? Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) are a promising HIV treatment, but the virus is highly skilled at escaping them. Bieniasz & team used a new method to build the most comprehensive view yet of how HIV-1 builds resistance. “Knowing how different strains of the virus respond to leading bNAb therapies will greatly improve our ability to anticipate whether a particular therapy will be effective for individual patients,” says Bieniasz. bit.ly/3RCCi08 Image courtesy Lori Chertoff 

Our paid, Presidential Fellows Program offers the chance to work directly with leadership across science, AI, finance, strategy, communications, media production, and more. Open to both outstanding recent graduates and candidates with advanced degrees, it’s designed for those who move between domains quickly, and who want to build judgement and leadership skills applicable to complex institutions. Applications now open! bit.ly/4nwUi8f

A new AI algorithm from #FreemanHrabowski Scholar David Van Valen & Caltech colleagues speeds up image analysis & enables tracking of millions of cells across many conditions, helping overcome a longtime bottleneck for scientists. This image shows the model at work on a microscope image, with each cell marked in its own distinct color: bit.ly/4cYe9cV.

Meet NovoTags, a new class of fluorescent imaging probes that combines AI-driven protein design from #HHMIInvestigator David Baker (University of Washington) with ultra-bright dyes from Sr. Group Leader Luke Lavis (HHMI Janelia Research Campus). This AI@HHMI project enables scientists to watch dozens of proteins inside a cell at once — something current tools can't do — and aims to make NovoTags available to the entire scientific community: bit.ly/4noBb06.

This mesmerizing timelapse captures the nonstop motion inside an animal cell. Red/orange streaks are the growing ends of microtubules (marked by a fluorescent protein called EB3), tiny “highways” that can rapidly assemble and disassemble to move proteins & other molecules within the cell. Confocal microscopy video courtesy Andy Moore, HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus.

A new gene-editing strategy from #HHMIInvestigator Michel Nussenzweig's lab at The Rockefeller University could teach the immune system to make its own therapeutic antibodies. Successful so far in mice, the approach may one day lead to treatments for HIV, cancer, & metabolic disease in humans. “This is a step in that direction,” says the Nussenzweig Lab’s Harald Hartweger, “showing the feasibility of making life-saving proteins.” bit.ly/4tkQvfo

Nematodes follow their noses (er, sensory organs) just like we do — toward smells they love, away from those they don't. #HHMIInvestigator Steven Flavell (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) & collaborators have now mapped this process neuron by neuron, showing exactly which neurons in the worm’s brain sense where smells are coming from, plan turns toward or away, execute shifts to reverse, etc. The result? A rare look at how brains turn sensation into behavior: bit.ly/3RcNeBp.

You asked, we answered: Sr. Science Program Coordinator Adrielle Munger talks through applicants’ top-5 #GilliamFellows questions, from eligibility to what’s new for ‘26. Second- or third-year PhD student in the biological or biomedical sciences? Applications open 9/1! bit.ly/Gilliam26

What looks like a rainbow kaleidoscope is actually living cells dividing in real time. 🌈 These intestinal epithelial cells were grown from an organoid: a miniature, lab-grown model of an organ that lets scientists study human biology & disease outside the body. And the colors? Not just beautiful — they're depth-coded. Cool blues and purples are closer, while warm yellows are farther away. Credit: Matthew Tyska, Vanderbilt University

The power of science, community, curiosity, & love — all in under 2 minutes. (Oh, & sea cucumbers.) Meet #GilliamFellow Julienn Torres-Rodriguez (University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras), who’s got a message for all potential '26 Gilliam applicants: "This will be an amazing opportunity for you, so don't miss it. Capisce?" Applications open 9/1! bit.ly/4qQArRh