Biological Engineering

MIT researchers have developed a light-sensitive protein that can be embedded into neuron membranes, where it emits a fluorescent signal that indicates how much voltage a particular cell is experiencing. This could allow scientists to study how neurons behave, millisecond by millisecond, as the brain performs a particular function.

Seeing the brain's electrical activity

Fluorescent sensor allows imaging of neurons' electrical communications, without electrodes.

February 26, 2018

Exploring his depth of field

Photographer, poet, and PhD student in biological engineering Corban Swain pursues diverse interests with a keen eye.

February 21, 2018

Four faculty are among the 83 members and 16 foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Four MIT faculty elected to the National Academy of Engineering for 2018

New members have made advances in the development of plasticity, novel genetic evolution methods, systems modeling, and clean energy.

February 16, 2018

A collection of SHERLOCK paper test strips. (Left) Unused paper strips, (middle) paper tests displaying a negative SHERLOCK readout, and (right) paper tests displaying a positive SHERLOCK readout.

Researchers advance CRISPR-based tool for diagnosing disease

With SHERLOCK, a strip of paper can now indicate presence of pathogens, tumor DNA, or any genetic signature of interest.

February 15, 2018

Five cancer researchers make up the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine’s founding faculty. Left to right: Angela Koehler, Michael Hemann, Michael Yaffe (director), Forest White, and Matthew Vander Heiden.

Fine-tuning cancer medicine

New cancer research initiative eyes individualized treatment for patients.

February 1, 2018

From left to right: Polina Anikeeva, the Class of 1942 Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and associate director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics, and Feng Zhang, the James and Patricia Poitras ’63 Professor in Neuroscience at the McGovern Institute, a core member of the Broad Institute, and an associate professor in the departments of Brain and C...

Polina Anikeeva and Feng Zhang awarded 2018 Vilcek Prize

Prize recognizes contributions to biomedical research made by immigrant scientists.

February 1, 2018

Postdoc Kathryn Kauffman and former guest researcher Aidong Ruan process ocean water samples at Canoe Cove in Nahant, Massachusetts. The researchers were observing how microbial communities change over time in a particular location.

Microbial communities demonstrate high turnover

New research provides insight into the behavior of microbial communities in the ocean.

January 18, 2018

Members of the MIT engineering faculty annually receive a myriad of honors and awards in recognition of their scholarship, service, and overall excellence.

School of Engineering fourth quarter 2017 awards

Faculty members were recognized for excellence via a diverse array of honors, grants, and prizes over the last quarter.

January 16, 2018

Microbiology Graduate PhD Program participants celebrate their 10-year anniversary at their fall 2017 retreat.

Celebrating a decade of interdisciplinary microbiology

The Microbiology Graduate PhD Program spans 50 labs across 10 departments and divisions, offering a broad approach to microbial science and engineering.

December 12, 2017

First row, left to right: Arvind Satyanarayan, Bryan Bryson, David Des Marais, Desiree Plata. Second row, left to right: Sili Deng, Wim van Rees, Farnaz Niroui, Julian Shun. Third row, left to right: Koroush Shirvan, Luca Carlone, Mingda Li, Phillip Isola. Fourth row, left to right: Rafael Gomez Bombarelli, Song Han, Tami Lieberman, Tim Kraska.

School of Engineering welcomes new faculty

Sixteen new professors join seven of the school’s departments.

December 8, 2017

MIT researchers have discovered a way to make bacteria more vulnerable to a class of antibiotics known as quinolones, which include ciprofloxacin and are often used to treat infections such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.

Boosting the antibiotic arsenal

New strategy could enable existing drugs to kill bacteria that cause chronic infections.

December 7, 2017

MIT engineers have devised a 3-D printing technique that uses a new kind of ink made from genetically programmed living cells.

Engineers 3-D print a “living tattoo”

New technique 3-D prints programmed cells into living devices for first time.

December 5, 2017

Through a Bridge Project collaboration with David Weinstock (left) of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), and MIT Professor Scott Manalis (center), cell-weighing technology is being evaluated in a clinical laboratory at DFCI. MIT visiting scientist Mark Stevens is pictured at right.

Over the river and do some good

The Bridge Project collaboration accelerates new, highly original, and powerful approaches to defeating cancer.

November 22, 2017

Cells pass through an sSMR device, which consists of multiple sensors that are fluidically connected in series and separated by delay channels (not all is shown). This design enables a stream of cells to flow through the device such that different sensors can concurrently weigh flowing cells in the stream.

Cell-weighing method could help doctors choose cancer drugs

Technique may predict which therapies a patient is most sensitive or resistant to.

November 20, 2017

“I think certainly there’s some promise in developing probiotics that could be targeted to possibly fixing some of the effects of a high-salt diet, but people shouldn’t think they can eat fast food and then pop a probiotic, and it will be canceled out,” says MIT Professor Eric Alm.

Gut microbes can protect against high blood pressure

Strain of intestinal bacteria can stop a high-salt diet from inducing inflammatory response linked to hypertension.

November 15, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology - On Campus and Around the world

Browse By

Topics

Departments

Centers, Labs, & Programs

Schools

Department