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“Science is always subject to a set of assumptions,” David Gifford says. “What this whole study demonstrates, in my opinion, is that it’s important to think carefully about our assumptions.”

Mapping regulatory elements

Systematically searching DNA for regulatory elements indicates limits of previous thinking.

January 27, 2016

An illustration of the surface acoustic wave generators, with the generated 3-D trapping nodes. The inset indicates a single particle within a 3-D trapping node, which can be manipulated independently along x, y, or z axes.

Acoustic tweezers manipulate cells with sound waves

Technique could enable 3-D printing of cellular structures for tissue engineering.

January 25, 2016

A stealth material surface, shown here, has been engineered to provide an “invisibility cloak” against the body’s immune system cells. In this electron microscopy image, you can see the material's surface topography.

No more insulin injections?

Encapsulated pancreatic cells offer possible new diabetes treatment.

January 25, 2016

On the top row are two images of a nanomesh bilayer of PDMS cylinders in which the top layer is perpendicular to the complex orientation of the bottom layer. The bottom images show well-ordered nanomesh patterns of PDMS cylinders. The images on the right show zoomed-in views of the images on the left.

Self-stacking nanogrids

Polymer nanowires that assemble in perpendicular layers could offer route to tinier chip components.

January 22, 2016

“We can, through engineering, convert this organism’s parasitic lifestyle into a more symbiotic relationship,” Jacquin Niles says about the malaria parasite.

Engineering foe into friend

Bose Grant awardee Jacquin Niles aims to repurpose the malaria parasite for drug delivery.

January 22, 2016

MIT researchers scanned the brains of children who were not depressed but had a parent who had suffered from the disorder. Such children are three times more likely to become depressed later in life, usually between the ages of 15 and 30.

Diagnosing depression before it starts

Brain scans may identify children who are vulnerable to depression, before symptoms appear.

January 21, 2016

Two professors to join the School of Science faculty this spring

January 20, 2016

Celebrating the "Pleasures of Poetry" at MIT

Now in its 20th season, a popular poetry series provides the MIT community with new voices and verbal harmonies — and a window into MIT's varied poetry offerings.

January 19, 2016

MIT neuroscientists discovered that the protein CPG2 connects the cytoskeleton (represented by the scaffold of the bridge) and the endocytic machinery (represented by the cars) during the reabsorption of glutamate receptors. Each "car" on the “bridge" carries a vesicle containing glutamate receptors.

How neurons lose their connections

Scientists identify protein that allows brain cells to dampen their sensitivity.

January 14, 2016

“I think the flexibility of having the opportunity to discover what you're interested in, to pursue these things, and to create a space for yourself where you can feel comfortable was what drove me to MIT,” Larissa Senatus says.

Larissa Senatus learns about the world by doing

Mechanical engineering major hopes to bring hands-on learning opportunities home to Haiti.

January 13, 2016

The regulation of the enzyme ribonucleotide reductase allows for just the right levels of deoxynucleotides, the building blocks of DNA, to be produced in the cell.

Supply chain

Chemists discover how a single enzyme maintains a cell’s pool of DNA building blocks.

January 12, 2016

This image demonstrates tissue patterns that emerge from genetically programmed human pluripotent stem cells, and was taken on day nine of the MIT study. It shows immunostainings of cell nuclei for CEBPA (red, endodermal marker), SOX10 (green, ectodermal marker), and DAPI (blue, binds to DNA in the nucleus).

Organ-on-a-chip

In a step toward personalized drug testing, researchers coax human stem cells to form complex tissues.

January 6, 2016

To track the family history for a single cell, researchers engineered a microfluidic device that traps first an individual cell and then all of its descendants. The device has several connected channels, each of which has a trapping pocket used to capture single cells in precise locations. After the initial cell grows and divides, its progeny float downstream and are captured in the next available...

Tracing a cellular family tree

New technique allows tracking of gene expression over generations of cells as they specialize.

January 6, 2016

Manu National Park, a large (15,328-square-kilometer) protected area in southeastern Peru, includes several ecological zones and spans an elevation range of 150-4,200 meters above sea level. Manu’s vast tracks of Amazonian rainforest are part of the global tropical forest carbon sink that is slowing the rate of increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, a primary driver of climate change.

Assessing nature's carbon sinks

Study estimates the annual carbon sequestration rate in protected areas such as rainforests will decline by about 40 percent between now and 2100.

January 5, 2016

As bacteria stream through a microfluidic lattice, they synchronize and swim in patterns similar to those of electrons flowing through a magnetic material. This image shows a microfluidic 6x6 lattice. The left-hand side shows the original data as seen under the microscope. The overlaid color coding on the right-hand side shows the relative strength of clockwise (purple) or anti-clockwise (green) ...

Study reveals shared behavior of microbes and electrons

Bacteria streaming through a lattice behave like electrons in a magnetic material.