Phone: 1-617-432-6543

News

Nara and Laura's DEET paper highlighted by multiple news outlets!

Admin
January 2024

Worm Study Raises Concern About DEET’s Effect on Reproduction | Harvard Medical School

Link to Harvard Medicine News Article

Toxicologists Warn Bug Sprays May Cause Infertility and Birth Defects

Link to Newsweek Article

Worm study raises concern about DEET’s effect on reproduction

Link to Science Magazine Article

Worm study finds DEET insect repellent may cause reproductive problems

Link to Cosmos Magazine Article

DEET found to cause reproductive damage in worms, warranting further investigation, scientists say

Link to Yahoo News Article

Bug Spray May Cause Infertility and Birth Defects, New Study Shows

Link to Best Life Article

Worm study raises concern about DEET’s effect on reproduction

Link to Bioengineer Article

Q&A: Worm study raises concern about DEET’s effect on reproduction

Link to Medical Xpress Article

Does the Insect Repellent DEET Affect Reproductive Systems?

Link to Inside Climate News Article

Worms can teach us about side effects of mosquito repellent, scientists say

Link to Independent Article

Worm Study Raises Concern About DEET’s Effect on Reproduction

Link to Someone Somewhere Blog Post

Laura and Priah's paper highlighted in a Current Biology Dispatch!

Admin
November 2022
thumb1

"Meiosis: Deciphering the dialog between recombination and the synaptonemal complex"

Link to Current Biology Dispatch

Graduate student Ayana Henderson gets interviewed in Harvard Medicine magazine

Admin
October, 2020
thumb1

"Science can help people by studying the molecular mechanisms that underlie disease, particularly diseases that disproportionately affect women and minorities".

Link to Harvard Medicine magazine

Congratulations Dr. Altendorfer for a successful PhD thesis defense!

Admin
September, 2020
thumb1

Our CoQ10 paper is highlighted in Harvard Medicine magazine

Admin
June, 2020
thumb1

We found that a naturally occurring antioxidant, Coenzyme Q10, reversed most of the reproductive harm caused by the plasticizer BPA.

Link to Harvard Medicine magazine

New studies show how DNA crossovers can drive healthy, abnormal sperm, egg cell division

Admin
June, 2020
thumb1

Two studies from the labs of Steven McCarroll and Monica Colaiacovo provide new insights into how meiotic crossover formation is regulated to avoid aneuploidies, a cause for infertility, miscarriages and conditions such as Down syndrome.

Link to Harvard Medical School News.

2020 Department of Genetics Retreat Poster Winner

Admin
Feb, 2020
thumb1

Marina Martinez-Garcia was a poster presentation winner at the 2020 Department of Genetics Retreat! She presented her work on Synaptonemal Complex Assembly in C. elegans

Link to the Genetics Retreat 2020 website

Worm study shows how a common chemical disrupts reproductive biology

Admin
Jan, 2020
thumb1

Harvard Medical School News highlights our new research revealing how DEHP, a common plasticizer, is associated with reproductive abnormalities.

Link to Harvard Medical School News Link to Genetic Engineering & Biotech News Link to EurekAlert! from the AAAS

Our lab wins the Genetics Dept. Halloween Party prize

Admin
Nov, 2019
thumb1

Laura guessed the number of treats inside Frankenstein Monster's head and our lab had the most members dressed up.

Study links excessive brain activity to shorter life spans

Admin
Oct, 2019
thumb1

New research from the Yankner Lab, in collaboration with Monica Colaiacovo and George Church, offers the first evidence that nervous system activity affects human longevity.

Link to The Harvard Gazette.

Congratulations Dr. Cuenca for a successful PhD thesis defense!

Admin
Aug, 2019
thumb1

Nara Shin's paper has been highlighted in HMS News

Admin
Feb, 2019
thumb1

"Worm-based tool reveals environmental chemicals likely to cause reproductive problems in people" In the image, chromosomes (red) are improperly organized and separated in a dividing worm embryo following exposure to the pesticide TCMTB.

Link to Harvard Medical News

Our new study in bioRχiv about FANC pathway in DNA repair and histone modification.

Admin
Feb, 2018
thumb1

The histone demethylase LSD1 was originally discovered as removing methyl groups from di- and monomethylated histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me2/1), and several studies suggest it plays roles in meiosis as well as epigenetic sterility given that in its absence there is evidence of a progressive accumulation of H3K4me2 through generations. In addition to transgenerational sterility, growing evidence for the importance of histone methylation in the regulation of DNA damage repair has attracted more attention to the field in recent years. However, we are still far from understanding the mechanisms by which histone methylation is involved in DNA damage repair and only a few studies have been focused on the roles of histone demethylases in germline maintenance. Here, we show that the histone demethylase LSD1/CeSPR-5 is interacting with the Fanconi Anemia (FA) protein FANCM/CeFNCM-1 based on biochemical, cytological and genetic analyses. LSD1/CeSPR-5 is required for replication stress-induced S-phase checkpoint activation and its absence suppresses the embryonic lethality and larval arrest observed in fncm-1 mutants. FANCM/CeFNCM-1 re-localizes upon hydroxyurea exposure and co-localizes with FANCD2/CeFCD-2 and LSD1/CeSPR-5 suggesting coordination between this histone demethylase and FA components to resolve replication stress. Surprisingly, the FA pathway is required for H3K4me2 maintenance regardless of the presence of replication stress. Our study reveals a connection between Fanconi Anemia and epigenetic maintenance, therefore providing new mechanistic insight into the regulation of histone methylation in DNA repair.

Link to Preprint

Monica is interviewed in Harvard Medicine magazine (Autumn 2017; Volume 90, Number 3)

Admin
Nov, 2017
thumb1

This latest issue of Harvard Medicine Magazine is focused on the environment. Monica talks about the research from our lab looking into how reproductive health is impacted due to exposures to common chemicals present in our environment.

Link to Harvard Medical Magazine

Monica became an editorial board member of PLOS Genetics!

Admin
Apr, 2016
thumb1

PLOS Genetics publishes human studies, as well as research on model organisms—from mice and flies, to plants and bacteria. Their emphasis is on studies of broad interest that provide significant insight into a biological process or processes. Topics include (but are not limited to) gene discovery and function, population genetics, genome projects, comparative and functional genomics, medical genetics, disease biology, evolution, gene expression, complex traits, chromosome biology, and epigenetics.

Link to PLOS Genetics

2016 Department of Genetics Retreat Poster Winner

Admin
Feb, 2016
thumb1

Nara Shin was a poster presentation winner at the 2016 Department of Genetics Retreat!
She presented her work on: "Assessing Germline Exposure to Environmental Toxicants by High-Throughput Screening in C. elegans"

Dr. Colaiacovo is now a Tenured Full professor

Admin
Jul, 2015

The Faces of HMS: A Q&A with Monica Colaiacovo interview

Admin
Jul, 2014

You can read this interesting interview of Monica Colaiacovo for @HMS

Read the iterview

Green Eggs and HIM:Uncovering the reproductive effects of chemical exposure

Admin
Jun, 2014
@HMS writes an article and records a video about the lab's work regarding the effects of chemical exposures in meiosis

Monica on Science Matters video

Admin
Nov, 2013

Contact Details

Dr. Monica Colaiacovo
Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School
Department of Genetics 
New Research Building, Room 334 
77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115 USA 
Telephone: 1-617-432-6543
Email: mcolaiacovo@genetics.med.harvard.edu