Harvard restarts scientific research
Harvard researchers take selfies on their first day back in the lab since the COVID-19 shutdown. The Manning Lab marks the occasion with coordinated signs. Photo courtesy of the Manning Lab The shutdown was swift and unprecedented. Laboratories across Harvard, unless involved in COVID-19 research, came to a screeching halt as the spread of the novel coronavirus intensified and the campus underwent a massive effort to de-densify. This week, after almost three months of wondering when things would return to normal, reassuring steps were taken that made that day easier to imagine. Nearly 2,000 faculty and staff from the FAS Division of Science and the John E. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) got back to their labs this week, marking a new phase in a gradual effort to resume scientific research into everything from the laws of physics and quantum science to using gene regulation to find...