波士顿是美国的科学城.这个只有四百多万人口的城市拥有200所大学和数以百计的研究机构和高技术公司.因此,波士顿的科学、技术和教育在美国起着举足轻重的作用.在美国教育界号称“四大金刚”的哈佛大学、麻省理工学院(简称MIT)、加州大学伯克莱分校和斯坦福大学中,就有两所在波士顿.在生化方面,可以挤入美国五强的大学,波士顿占了三所(哈佛、MIT和Brandeis大学).在众多的研究所中,有两个生物医学方面的研究所出类拔萃.它们是MIT的Whitehead研究所和哈佛的Dana-Farber癌症研究所.在此,笔者仅就自己所了解的与学术研究有关的情况,将这两个研究所作一简要的介绍,以供国内生化界和生物医学界同行们参考. Whitehead研究所成立才4～5年,主要从事生 Boston is the Science City in the United States, a city of more than four million with 200 universities and hundreds of research institutes and high-tech companies, and Boston’s science, technology and education play a pivotal role in the United States. Two of the Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University, two in the US education community called “The Four Diamonds,” are two in Boston, biochemically crowded into the top five in the United States Of Boston’s three universities (Harvard, MIT and Brandeis), two of the largest biomedical research institutes in the world are MIT’s Whitehead Institute and Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Research Here, the author only for their understanding of academic research and the situation, the two institutes for a brief introduction for domestic biochemistry and biomedical colleagues for reference.Whitehead Institute was established only 4 ~ 5 years, mainly engaged in students