Skip to main content

Pardis Sabeti

Performing at IDWeek 2019

Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins

During the opening reception for IDWeek 2019, I performed with my band the Affordable Rock ‘n’ Roll Act (ARRA). We were joined onstage by Pardis Sabeti (second from left), a computational geneticist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, and a talented rock ‘n’ roll singer. Here we perform Pardis’ song “Breathe In (Turkana Boy).” IDWeek is the joint annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the HIV Medical Association (HIVMA), and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS). The reception took place on October 2, 2019 at the Washington, D. C. Convention Center. Credit: Dawd Siraj, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Singing with Pardis Sabeti and MIT Logarhythms

Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins

This is a blast from the not-too-distant past. I delivered the Compton Lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, in October 2014. At the end of the lecture, I was joined on stage by Pardis Sabeti (center) and the MIT Logarhythms (right). We joined together to sing Sabeti’s inspiring song, “One Truth,” about the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa. Credit: MIT


From Ebola Researchers, An Anthem of Hope

Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins

One Truth Video screenshot

After watching this music video, you might wonder what on earth it has to do with biomedical science, let alone Ebola research. The answer is everything.

This powerful song, entitled “One Truth,” is dedicated to all of the brave researchers, healthcare workers, and others who have put their lives on the line to save people during the recent outbreak of Ebola virus disease. What’s more, it was written and performed by seven amazing scientists—one from the United States and six from West Africa.


Using Genomics to Follow the Path of Ebola

Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins

Ebola virus

Caption: Colorized scanning electron micrograph of filamentous Ebola virus particles (blue) budding from a chronically infected VERO E6 cell (yellow-green).
Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH

Long before the current outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) began in West Africa, NIH-funded scientists had begun collaborating with labs in Sierra Leone and Nigeria to analyze the genomes and develop diagnostic tests for the virus that caused Lassa fever, a deadly hemorrhagic disease related to EVD. But when the outbreak struck in February 2014, an international team led by NIH Director’s New Innovator Awardee Pardis Sabeti quickly switched gears to focus on Ebola.

In a study just out in the journal Science [1], this fast-acting team reported that it has sequenced the complete genetic blueprints, or genomes, of 99 Ebola virus samples obtained from 78 patients in Sierra Leone. This new genomic data has revealed clues about the origin and evolution of the Ebola virus, as well as provided insights that may aid in the development of better diagnostics and inform efforts to devise effective therapies and vaccines.


DNA and the Roots of Hair Roots

Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins

An Asian family (adult male and female and two adolescents, male and female) sitting around a coffee table playing a board game
Researchers have discovered one genetic recipe for this family’s thick dark hair.
Source: National Cancer Institute, NIH; Bill Branson, photographer.

It’s intriguing to find the roots of physical traits: skin color, height, and those weird tufts of hair on Uncle Mike’s ears. We’re all curious to know why we look the way we do. But new technologies are allowing us to discover the precise genetic roots of human traits that vary across the world. Variations in our DNA have helped us resist diseases and adapt to different climates and foods, enabling us to colonize just about every environment on the planet.

Recent studies have pinpointed variations responsible for lighter skin in Northern climates (such as SLC24A5 [1]) and the ability to tolerate milk sugar (lactose) in adulthood [2]. But a new NIH-funded study of a gene variant that arose in China adds a fascinating wrinkle—the use of a mouse model to help understand a potential human advantage [3]. (Regular readers will note that last week in this space I wrote about how mouse models could sometimes be misleading—this week the mouse is a champion!)