Bacteria

Researchers at MIT and the University of California at San Diego have delivered artificial genetic circuits into bacteria, allowing the microbes to kill cancer cells in three different ways. Here, an image of a motherboard has been micropatterned using programmable probiotic bacteria. The bright lines are composed of dots made of bacteria. This technique was developed in the lab of MIT professor S...

Cancer-fighting bacteria

Engineers program E. coli to destroy tumor cells.

July 20, 2016

MIT and Broad Institute postdoc Ilana Brito sampled not only the human microbiome in the remote villages in Fiji she studied, but also the reservoirs of microbes in the community.

Microbiome genes on the move

Largest metagenomic view of the developing world uncovers “mobile genes” that reveal how culture shapes the human microbiome.

July 14, 2016

Gene circuits in live cells can perform complex computations

Technique combines analogue and digital processes in engineered cells.

June 3, 2016

Mutualism, a phenomenon in which different species benefit from their interactions with each other, can help bacteria form drug-resistant communities. Pictured is an artist’s interpretation of mutualism among bacteria.

Teamwork enables bacterial survival

Strains of E. coli resistant to one antibiotic can protect other bacteria growing nearby.

May 16, 2016

MIT chemical engineering postdoc Amit Kumar PhD '10 (left) and Professor Gregory Stephanopoulos

3 Questions: Amit Kumar and Gregory Stephanopoulos on turning waste gases into biofuels

Research conducted by Kumar, along with a team led by Professor Greg Stephanopoulos, looks to the future of emissions reduction and recycling.

May 2, 2016

Katharina Ribbeck (left) and Jesse Thaler

Biobarrier explorer and dark matter theorist win MIT’s prestigious junior faculty award

Katharina Ribbeck and Jesse Thaler named recipients of the Harold E. Edgerton Award.

April 20, 2016

MIT spinout Synlogic is re-programming bacteria found in the gut as "living therapeutics" to treat major diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Reprogramming gut bacteria as “living therapeutics”

Daily doses of synthetic biotics developed by startup Synologic may sense, treat metabolic diseases.

April 5, 2016

MIT biological engineers have devised a programming language that can be used to give new functions to E. coli bacteria.

A programming language for living cells

New language lets researchers design novel biological circuits.

March 31, 2016

An artist’s rendition of DNA entering bacteria.

Breaking through the bacteria barrier

New microfluidic device may speed up DNA insertion in bacteria, the first step in genetic engineering.

February 19, 2016

bioLogic Second Skin from the MIT Media Lab's Tangible Media Group

A living, breathing textile aims to enhance athletic performance

Researchers in the Media Lab's bioLogic group have created a new form of performance fabric that combines biomaterials research with textile design.

February 16, 2016

“We wanted to find the link,” Gloria Choi says. “How do you go all the way from the immune system in the mother to the child’s brain?”

How severe maternal inflammation can lead to autism-like behavior

Immune molecules in infected mothers tied to brain and behavior abnormalities in offspring.

January 28, 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.

January 5, 2016

To prevent genetically modified bacteria from escaping into the wider environment, researchers have developed safeguards in the form of two so-called “kill switches,” which they call “Deadman” and “Passcode.” These kill switches can cause synthetic bacteria to die without the presence of certain chemicals.

“Kill switches” shut down engineered bacteria

Synthetic biology technique could make it safer to put engineered microbes to work outside the lab.

December 11, 2015

James Collins, the Termeer Professor of Bioengineering at MIT.

Reprogramming biology

Biological engineer James Collins designs genetic circuits with novel functions.

November 14, 2015

Microbe sleuth

Tanja Bosak examines how life and the Earth evolved in tandem during their early history together.

October 5, 2015

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

Browse By

Topics

Departments

Centers, Labs, & Programs

Schools

Topic