Forbes contributor Farah Qaiser spotlights how a team of MIT researchers developed a CRISPR-based diagnostic tool to help predict kidney organ transplant rejections. Qaiser writes that in the future, “the tool may become the go-to pee-in-a-cup option to monitor viral infections and early signs of transplant rejection in patients with kidney transplants.”
In an article for Quartz, Prof. David Kaiser and his colleagues explore the possibility of community transmission of Covid-19 in India. “Only with a higher test rate will we know whether we have 135 infected persons or 1,35,000,” writes Kaiser and his co-authors. “The answer is critical to India’s battle against Covid-19.”
MIT startup Biobot Analytics is analyzing wastewater as part of an effort to better understand the spread of Covid-19, reports Boston 25. Mariana Matus, CEO and co-founder of Biobot Analytics, explains that, “Our objective is to make this data available to all of our leaders, our decision-makers…so they have the best data available to open cities in a smart way.”
MIT Press and Candlewick Press are launching two new imprints MITeen Press and MIT Kids Press, reports Nina MacLaughlin for The Boston Globe. “They’ll be publishing books on STEAM topics for kids and young adults, on subjects including the environment, the Internet, and planetary science,” MacLaughlin writes.
MIT researchers have developed a new type of lightweight sensor that can be integrated into clothing for monitoring of vital signs, reports Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch. Etherington writes that the sensors are “machine-washable and can be integrated into clothing that appears totally normal on the outside.”
Boston Globe reporter Andy Rosen writes that MIT researchers have developed a device that uses wireless signals to remotely monitor patients with Covid-19. “It really increases the safety that we can provide to doctors, nurses, and staff, and at the same time be able to access information that is otherwise unavailable," explains Prof. Dina Katabi.
Prof. Barry Posen writes for Foreign Affairs about whether the Covid-19 pandemic could cause an increase in military conflicts. COVID-19, “is weakening all of the great and middle powers more or less equally,” writes Posen. “For the duration of the pandemic, at least, and probably for years afterward, the odds of a war between major powers will go down, not up.”
CNBC reporter Cory Stieg spotlights the efforts of the MIT-Event team, which designed a low-cost ventilator based on a project started in an MIT course in 2010. “We very quickly realized that we actually had a duty to reprise this project and see if it could be done safely,” explains research scientist Nevan Hanumara.
Marketplace spotlights a new study by MIT researchers that examines how many people have been able to transition to working remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. The researchers found that “of those employed four weeks earlier, more than one-third had converted from commuting to working from home.”
Bloomberg reporter Eric Roston spotlights Prof. John Sterman and his work developing a climate change simulator called En-ROADS. “The simulator came together over nearly a decade, with hundreds of climate workshops involving thousands of people,” writes Roston.
In an article for Teen Vogue, Zach Schemerle explores the emergency grading policies set by different schools in response to the coronavirus pandemic. “MIT was among the first major institutions to give its grading policy a high-profile makeover, framing the national debate by implementing a type of pass/no record policy,” notes Schemerle.
Bloomberg reporters Eric Roston and Paul Murray outline an array of options for slowing climate change using En-ROADS, a climate change simulator developed by researchers from MIT and other organizations. En-ROADS “lets everyone test the impact of climate solutions. It’s a policy simulator designed for use in role-playing workshops for negotiators, academic seminars, and as a learning aid for curious individuals.”
Forbes contributor Allison Gasparini highlights how researchers from MIT and other institutions have developed a new technique to image proteins in 3-D at the nanoscale. Gasparini notes that, “understanding the location of a protein within a cell is crucial for a variety of medical studies.”
MIT researchers have identified specific cells in the body that appear to be targeted by coronavirus, reports Travis Anderson for The Boston Globe. The researchers hope “their findings will help scientists working on developing new drug treatments or testing existing medications that could be repurposed for treating COVID-19.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Sarah Toy spotlights Prof. Lydia Bourouiba’s research examining coughing and sneezing. Bourouiba has found that “coughing, sneezing and even speaking will produce a small gas cloud that traps clusters of droplets of various sizes.”