In a Boston Globe Magazine article about bioelectronic medicine, writer Jessie Scanlon highlights research by Profs. Ed Boyden and Daniela Rus. Boyden notes that by creating light-sensitive molecules, which can be switched on and off and inserted into neurons, “groups in academia and industry are using the tool to discover patterns of neural activity.”
Boston Globe reporter Alyssa Meyers writes that a new study by MIT researchers shows that probiotics could be used to help fight high blood pressure. The researchers found that probiotics, “can boost beneficial bacteria in the human gut that prevent pro-inflammatory immune cells from increasing in number." Pro-inflammatory immune cells have been linked with hypertension.
Using nanotechnology and CRISPR, Prof. Daniel Anderson has turned off a cholesterol-related gene in mouse liver cells, reports Julie Steenhuysen for Reuters. This new development “could lead to new ways to correct genes that cause high cholesterol and other liver diseases,” Steenhuysen writes.
BostInno’s Karis Hustad spotlights how Solve tackles some of the world’s most pressing challenges. “You need a different type of innovation or technology or adaptation and affordability of technology for some of the big challenges of today,” explains Alexandra Amouyel, Solve's executive director. “To do that, you need a much more bottom up, grassroots innovation process.”
In an article published by The Wall Street Journal about the future of programmable materials, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith highlight Prof. Daniela Rus’ work developing “origami bots that can shape themselves into tools to perform medical procedures or deliver drugs inside the body.”
In an article published by U.S. News & World Report, Robert Preidt writes that MIT researchers have identified a mechanism that helps the flu viruses evolve rapidly. “Blocking flu viruses from using the host cells' chaperones could help prevent the viruses from developing resistance to existing drugs and vaccines,” says Preidt.
MIT researchers have developed a portable paper-based test that can diagnose the Zika virus and differentiate between four types of the Dengue virus, writes Rowan Walrath for Boston Magazine. The researchers are, “also working on a diagnostic for the tick-borne Powassan virus, which…causes a severe form of encephalitis.”
A new blood test developed by MIT researchers can distinguish between the Zika and dengue viruses, reports Andrew Joseph for STAT. “Being able to distinguish the four serotypes is very important for epidemiology purposes and to know what viruses are circulating in an environment,” explains Prof. Lee Gehrke.
Prof. Lee Gehrke speaks with WBUR’s Carey Goldberg about a new paper-based diagnostic that can detect the Zika virus. “Our technology for screening large numbers of antibodies against a panel of closely related viral proteins has allowed us to specifically identify antibodies that recognize only one of the viral antigens, and that gives us a great deal of specificity.”
MIT researchers have potentially discovered a way to prevent the flu virus from evolving to resist vaccines and treatment, reports Alyssa Meyers for The Boston Globe. The researchers are also, “testing HIV and other rapidly mutating viruses to see if inhibiting chaperones could prevent those viruses from mutating and becoming treatment-resistant.”
BBC News reporter James Gallagher writes that MIT researchers have developed a new technology that could eventually enable doctors to administer multiple vaccines in one shot.
Guardian reporter Nicola Davis writes that MIT researchers have developed a new approach that could be used to deliver multiple vaccines in one injection. Davis explains that the technique could prove useful in developing countries, “potentially allowing all childhood vaccines and their boosters to be given in one shot.”
MIT researchers have developed a new way of creating drug-carrying particles that could allow multiple doses of a vaccine to be delivered over an extended period of time, reports Matt Reynolds for New Scientist. “The technology could eventually be used to create ‘omni-vaccines’ that protect against a whole host of diseases in one shot.”
Boston Magazine reporter Rowan Walrath writes that MIT researchers have developed a new technique that could be used to deliver multi-drug vaccines. The researchers developed a new method for “designing customizable, three-dimensional microparticles that resemble minuscule coffee cups. Each cup…contains a drug or vaccine ‘library’ that can be released at multiple points over an extended period of time.”
Damien Garde of STAT highlights Prof. Li-Huei Tsai’s research on the HDAC2 enzyme in an article about Alzheimer’s research. “If we can reduce HDAC2 expression in Alzheimer’s disease models, we can reactivate the genes [that] actually rescue learning and memory,” says Prof. Tsai.