Health sciences and technology

“The challenge is to design devices that can be made for a much lower cost, but that are still as robust and functional as those in the developed world,” senior Matthew Cavuto says.

Matthew Cavuto: Getting a leg up on engineering

MIT senior will use Marshall Scholarship to work on devices that enhance mobility for the disabled.

February 9, 2017

Researchers have discovered that in people with dyslexia the brain has a diminished ability to acclimate to a repeated input — a trait known as neural adaptation.

Distinctive brain pattern may underlie dyslexia

Study suggests reduced plasticity could account for reading difficulties.

December 21, 2016

MIT postdoc Carl Schoellhammer (center) takes home gold at the Collegiate Inventor’s Competition for his SuonoCalm system.

Carl Schoellhammer wins gold medal at 2016 National Collegiate Inventors Competition

MIT postdoc honored for his work developing a technique to quickly deliver medicine to the gastrointestinal tract.

December 15, 2016

“…[I]f a fluorescence microscope’s resolution is set at 2 micrometers, our technique can have 300 nanometer resolution — about a sixfold improvement over regular microscopes,” says MIT graduate student Frederick Sangyeon Cho. “The idea is very simple but very powerful and can be useful in many different imaging applications.”

Laser particles could provide sharper images of tissues

New imaging technique stimulates particles to emit laser light, could create higher-resolution images.

November 3, 2016

Graduate student Stephanie Ku holds her dog, Wingnut, at an MIT Puppy Lab event on an unusually warm October afternoon. Ku is founder of the Puppy Lab, which launched in May as part of MIT's MindHandHeart Initiative.

Scene at MIT: Puppy love

October 26, 2016

MIT researchers have developed a stretchy optical fiber in which they have injected multiple organic dyes (yellow, blue, and green regions). In addition to lighting up, the dyes act as a strain sensor, enabling researchers to quantify where and by how much a fiber has been stretched.

Stretchy optical fibers for implanting in the body

Biocompatible fibers could use light to stimulate cells or sense signs of disease.

October 17, 2016

MIT shares $75 million grant to fight heart disease

One Brave Idea Research Award will support the search for new biomarkers and treatments.

October 5, 2016

Nanosensors could help determine tumors’ ability to remodel tissue

Measuring enzyme levels could help doctors select appropriate treatments.

September 29, 2016

A new computer system can automatically screen young children for speech and language disorders and, potentially, even provide specific diagnoses.

Automated screening for childhood communication disorders

Computer system could help identify subtle speech, language disorders in time for early intervention.

September 22, 2016

A new gene therapy technique being developed by researchers at MIT uses microRNAs — small noncoding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression — to control breast cancer metastasis.

Gene therapy technique may help prevent cancer metastasis

Gene-regulating RNA molecules could help treat early-stage breast cancer tumors before they spread.

September 19, 2016

High-capacity nanoparticle

Particles that carry three or more drugs hold potential for targeted cancer therapy.

September 14, 2016

A team of MIT scientists has developed a strategy for delivering large numbers of beneficial bacterial to the human gut. The strategy involves coating bacteria with polymer layers that protect them from the acids and bile salts found in the digestive tract.

Delivering beneficial bacteria to the GI tract

Method that transports microbes through the stomach to the intestine may benefit human health.

September 14, 2016

MIT researchers have added an extra layer of control to the CRISPR gene-editing approach, by making the system responsive to light.

Using light to control genome editing

New technique offers precise manipulation of when and where genes are targeted.

August 25, 2016

MIT biological engineers have devised a memory storage system illustrated here as a DNA-embedded meter that is recording the activity of a signaling pathway in a human cell.

Recording analog memories in human cells

Engineers program human cells to store complex histories in their DNA.

August 18, 2016

“There's a lot of role models here [at MIT], and sometimes, in Chile or in Mexico or in Costa Rica, [girls] don't know that there's a graduate student or an undergrad doing these cool things at MIT,” says grad student Alicia Chong Rodriguez. “I think it's a matter of just connecting the dots.”

Taking on gender gaps in health care and technology

Graduate student Alicia Chong Rodriguez uses her engineering skills to empower women.