National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The Economist writes about new research from Prof. Chris Voigt, in which “he and his colleagues demonstrate how to control customised cells with coloured light.”

Timandra Harkness of BBC Radio 4’s FutureProofing series spoke with research affiliate Gio Traverso and postdoc Phillip Nadeau about their ingestible electronic device that uses stomach acid to power tiny sensors. “Once you have the capacity to have a smart system sitting in your stomach that one can communicate with, it opens up the door to homing in on the individual patient,” said Traverso.

STAT reporter Eric Boodman writes that MIT researchers have engineered living materials that glow when they detect certain chemicals. Boodman notes that the researchers hope the living sensors “could at some point be used to pick up dangerous toxins or the chemical signs of disease.”

Reporting for the PBS NewsHour, Nsikan Akpan highlights a new study co-authored by MIT researchers that examines how many NIH grants lead to new patents and medications. Prof. Pierre Azoulay explains that the study, “provides evidence that the research done in the public sector is useful — it’s relevant for the research done by private-sector firms.”

Newsweek reporter Jessica Wapner writes about a new study by MIT researchers that provides evidence that NIH funding contributes to a large number of patents in the field of biomedicine. The findings indicate that NIH-funded research “is not being done in an ivory tower,” explains Prof. Pierre Azoulay. “Companies use it as input in their own discovery efforts.”   

Nature reporter Elie Dolgin writes about Prof. Pierre Azoulay’s new research that shows NIH funding has a significant impact on innovation in the field of biomedicine. Azoulay explains that from an economic standpoint the U.S. is “under-investing overall” in biomedical research.

Los Angeles Times reporter Melissa Healy writes that a new study by Prof. Pierre Azoulay examining the impact of NIH-funded research shows that NIH funding, “fuels the kinds of innovations that drive the U.S. economy.” Azoulay explains, “NIH public funding expenditures have large effects on the patenting output of the private sector.”  

A study by Prof. Pierre Azoulay demonstrates the significant impact of NIH funding on biomedical patents, reports Carolyn Johnson for The Washington Post. Azoulay explains, “if your view was that the research done by academics...[has] no ramifications for the real world and the development of new medicines — well, that view is not correct.” 

Popular Science reporter Rob Verger writes that MIT researchers have identified a way to prevent the body from developing scar tissue around medical implants. The “discovery involves using drugs to affect the behavior of a type of immune system cell called a macrophage in a way that prevents the buildup of scar tissue.”

Postdoctoral associate Phillip Nadeau speaks with CBC reporter Nora Young about a new ingestible electronic device developed by MIT researchers that could potentially be used to transmit patient data or deliver medications. Young explains that the new device “doesn't require a battery, because it's able to create an electrical current from the acid in your stomach.”

Researchers at MIT have designed a new living material infused with cells that could one day be used as a wearable sensor, writes Brooks Hays for UPI. The researchers used the new material to “design gloves and bandages that light up when they come in contact with target chemicals.”

Research affiliate Giovanni Traverso speaks with Ira Flatow of Science Friday about a new ingestible device powered by stomach acid. “When you start thinking about keeping a system inside of the body for a long time,” Traverso explains, “powering that system becomes a challenge, and that’s exactly what we tried to aim to address here with this study.”

MIT researchers have developed an ingestible device that is powered by stomach acid and can deliver drugs for up to one week, reports Brooks Hays of UPI. "Our work helps pave the way toward a new era of pill-sized electronics, which can operate over the course of weeks or even months in the gastrointestinal tract,” says Giovanni Traverso, a research affiliate at the Koch Institute.

MIT researchers have developed a new drug capsule that can deliver doses of medication over the course of several weeks, reports Robby Berman for Slate. Berman explains that the star-shaped device is like “a little pharmacy stationed in the stomach, ready to dispense doses at the desired times.”

Prof. Robert Langer speaks with Kathryn Nave of Wired about the future of drug delivery. Langer explains that a problem facing medical professionals is that many drugs are not taken regularly or as prescribed, and describes how he is developing a “long-acting pill that you could swallow to release the right drug dosage for weeks.”