To make mini-organs grow faster, give them a squeeze
Study finds that compressing cells, and crowding their contents, can coax them to grow and divide.
3 Questions: Ram Sasisekharan on hastening vaccines and treatments
Biological engineer discusses condensing the time taken to develop therapeutics down from many years to a matter of months.
Three from MIT receive National Health Institute Awards
Michael Birnbaum, Anders Hansen, and Tami Lieberman receive NIH Director’s New Innovator Awards from the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program.
Cancer researchers collaborate, target DNA damage repair pathways for cancer therapy
MIT researchers find blocking the expression of the genes XPA and MK2 enhances the tumor-shrinking effects of platinum-based chemotherapies in p53-mutated cancers.
SMART researchers develop fast and efficient method to produce red blood cells
New technology cuts cell culture time by half and uses more targeted cell sorting and purification methods.
Rapid test for Covid-19 shows improved sensitivity
A CRISPR-based test developed at MIT and the Broad Institute can detect nearly as many cases as the standard Covid-19 diagnostic.
A new way to make bacteria more sensitive to antibiotics
SMART researchers find exposing bacteria to hydrogen sulfide can increase antimicrobial sensitivity in bacteria that do not produce H2S.
A new tool for modeling the human gut microbiome
Bacteria linked to Crohn’s disease are difficult to grow in the lab, but MIT engineers have found a way.
MindHandHeart announces a record 24 Community Innovation Fund projects
Fund has launched a special summer round to spearhead projects addressing mental health, well-being, and racial justice at MIT.
Rapid antibody development yields possible treatment for yellow fever
The experimental drug has shown promise in early-stage clinical trials conducted in Singapore.
![“The biology [around gut bacteria’s influence on health] is fairly complex, and we’re still in the early days of unravelling it, but there have been a number of clinical studies that have reported benefits to restoring gut health, and that’s our north star: the clinical data,” Finch co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Smith PhD ’14 says.](/sites/default/files/styles/term_page__news_article/public/images/202007/MIT-Finch-01.jpg?itok=-8olXqg-)
Finch Therapeutics unleashes the power of the gut
The company is developing treatments that restore gut bacteria in people struggling with a range of diseases.
Engineering superpowered organisms for a more sustainable world
MIT students explore algal water purifiers, programmable soil bacteria, and other biological engineering approaches to food and water security.
Faculty receive funding to develop artificial intelligence techniques to combat Covid-19
C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute awards $5.4 million to top researchers to steer how society responds to the pandemic.
Engineers use “DNA origami” to identify vaccine design rules
In lab tests, virus-like DNA structures coated with viral proteins provoke a strong immune response in human B cells.
A focused approach to imaging neural activity in the brain
New molecule for imaging calcium in neurons reduces crosstalk from neighboring neurons.