Prof. Robert Langer speaks with Scientific American reporter Gary Stix about the material he and his colleagues developed that can tighten skin and deliver medications. Langer explains that the material is an “ointment that you can apply very easily but then the way we've set up the chemistry, it actually hardens and becomes almost like an invisible Band-Aid.”
A new material developed by MIT researchers can help smooth wrinkles, protect the skin from sun damage and could one day even administer medications, reports Gina Kolata for The New York Times. “We made literally hundreds of polymers,” explains Prof. Robert Langer. “We were looking for safety, spreadability, adherence, and the right kind of mechanical and optical properties.”
MIT researchers have developed a transparent, silicon-based polymer that can protect skin from sun damage and smooth out wrinkles, writes Amina Khan for The Los Angeles Times. Prof. Robert Langer explains that users of the material will “hardly know that it’s on. It sort of conforms to the skin.”
BBC News reporter Michelle Roberts writes that MIT researchers have developed a new material that can hide wrinkles and could eventually be used to deliver medicines and sun protection. The researchers found that skin “coated with the polymer was more elastic than skin without the film. And, to the naked eye, it appeared smoother, firmer and less wrinkly.”
Researchers from MIT and Mass General Hospital have been named one of the winners of Popular Science’s 2016 Invention Awards for their work developing an ingestible electronic device that measures vital signs, reports Dialynn Dwyer for Boston.com.
A team of MIT researchers has been selected as the winner of the Koch Institute research-grant pitch competition for their work on developing a diagnostic platform for early-stage leukemia, reports Amanda Hoover for Boston.com. Hoover explains that the diagnostic method would “single out individual cells during blood tests, highlighting those affected by leukemia.”
Washington Post reporter Laurie McGinley writes that Prof. Tyler Jacks, director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, was named to a panel of experts that will advise the Obama administration on the cancer “moonshot” initiative and how to best “tackle some of the most promising but challenging areas in research today.”
MIT researchers have found evidence that there may be windows of opportunity during which drugs are more effective at treating cancer, reports Ariana Eunjung Cha for The Washington Post. "If we know the route to resistance," explains Prof. Michael Hemann, "we can ambush tumor cells."
MIT researchers have uncovered a potential link between a high-fat diet and increased risk of many types of cancer, reports Chukwuma Muanya for The Guardian. Muanya explains that the study “reveals the effect that a high-fat diet has on the biology of stem cells… and how this might make cancer more likely.”
In this “Science of Innovation” segment, NBC Learn explores Prof. Angela Belcher’s work using viruses engineered in her laboratory to form nanoscale wires for tiny batteries. “By harnessing nature’s own processes, Angela Belcher has been able to turn today’s viruses into tomorrow’s batteries.”
Prof. Paula Hammond speaks with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell about why she feels it's imperative that researchers from different disciplines collaborate on cancer research. Hammond explained funding is needed to bring “scientists, clinicians, technologists together in places like the Koch Institute," where people "work collectively toward a cure.”
In this Reuters video, Ben Gruber examines how MIT researchers are working on developing new treatments for diabetes. "What we developed is basically a new material that acts like an invisibility cloak,” explains Prof. Daniel Anderson. “It coats the cells but allows them to function and live but protects them from the immune system.”
STAT reporter Andrew Joseph writes that MIT scientists have developed a potential new treatment for diabetes. Joseph explains that the new technique could allow healthy insulin-producing cells to be successfully transplanted into patients.
Prof. Paula Hammond speaks with Tom Ashbrook of NPR’s On Point about Vice President Biden’s new cancer initiative. Hammond likens the challenge to “going to the moon and back, it’s creating a permanent space station out there as well that allows us to continue to learn about some of the new approaches.”
Prof. Michael Yaffe speaks with Scott Kirsner of WBUR’s Radio Boston about Vice President Joe Biden’s new cancer initiative. Prof. Yaffe says that the announcement comes at a “golden era for cancer research. We’ve laid the groundwork and we’re poised with incredible technologies, knowledge and understanding of the disease.”