National Institutes of Health (NIH)

In this image of a mouse visual cortex, astrocytes (stained red) appear about as abundant as neurons (green).

MIT neuroscientists give "invisible" cells a new look

With a new grant, a Picower Institute team is studying the role of astrocytes, which may partner with neurons to process information in the brain.

February 12, 2018

This image shows neurons in the CA3 region of the hippocampus, which is important for memory encoding and retrieval. Nuclei of the CA3 neurons are labeled in green and their dendrites in red, and the smaller specks of green above represent axons projecting to the CA3 neurons from the dentate gyrus.

Study reveals molecular mechanisms of memory formation

Neuroscientists discover a cellular pathway that encodes memories by strengthening specific synapses.

February 8, 2018

Our daily lives include hundreds of routine habits, made up of many smaller actions, such as picking up our toothbrush, squeezing toothpaste onto it, and then lifting the brush to our mouth. This process of grouping behaviors together into a single routine is known as “chunking.” MIT neuroscientists have now found that certain neurons in the brain are responsible for marking the beginning and ...

Distinctive brain pattern helps habits form

Study identifies neurons that fire at the beginning and end of a behavior as it becomes a habit.

February 8, 2018

Dagdeviren (center) developed the device while working as a postdoc in the labs of Graybiel (left), Cima (right), and Langer (far left).

Ultrathin needle can deliver drugs directly to the brain

Miniaturized system could be used to treat neurological disorders that affect specific brain regions.

January 24, 2018

MIT biologists have designed a new peptide that can disrupt a key protein that many types of cancers, including some forms of lymphoma, leukemia, and breast cancer, need to survive.

Biologists’ new peptide could fight many cancers

Drug that targets a key cancer protein could combat leukemia and other types of cancer.

January 15, 2018

Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a capsule that can deliver a week’s worth of HIV drugs in a single dose. The new capsule is designed so that patients can take it just once a week, and the drug will release gradually throughout the week.

New drug capsule may allow weekly HIV treatment

Replacing daily pills with a weekly regimen could help patients stick to their dosing schedule.

January 9, 2018

MIT scientists have determined the structure of an enzyme that is found in ocean microbes and can produce a precursor to methane.

Researchers establish long-sought source of ocean methane

An abundant enzyme in marine microbes may be responsible for production of the greenhouse gas.

December 7, 2017

DNA loops create what Whitehead Institute researchers call “insulated neighborhoods” for genes and their promoters and enhancers.

Rethinking transcription factors and gene expression

Study shows that, like proteins, genomes must fold appropriately to function properly and that some transcription factors provide the structural support.

December 7, 2017

MIT engineers have devised a 3-D printing technique that uses a new kind of ink made from genetically programmed living cells.

Engineers 3-D print a “living tattoo”

New technique 3-D prints programmed cells into living devices for first time.

December 5, 2017

Cells pass through an sSMR device, which consists of multiple sensors that are fluidically connected in series and separated by delay channels (not all is shown). This design enables a stream of cells to flow through the device such that different sensors can concurrently weigh flowing cells in the stream.

Cell-weighing method could help doctors choose cancer drugs

Technique may predict which therapies a patient is most sensitive or resistant to.

November 20, 2017

MIT neuroscientists have discovered that making decisions, especially when choosing between two options that have both positive and negative elements, can be dramatically affected by chronic stress.

Stress can lead to risky decisions

Neuroscientists find chronic stress skews decisions toward higher-risk options.

November 16, 2017

MIT researchers have devised a way to control single neurons using optogenetics. To help achieve this, they developed an opsin, or light-sensitive protein, that can be targeted to neuron cell bodies (bottom row). Neurons in the top row have traditional opsins that are distributed throughout their axons.

Next-generation optogenetic molecules control single neurons

Focused laser beam could help scientists map connections among neurons that underlie behavior.

November 13, 2017

In a new study, MIT researchers have developed nanoparticles that can deliver the CRISPR genome-editing system and specifically modify genes, eliminating the need to use viruses for delivery.

CRISPR-carrying nanoparticles edit the genome

New delivery system developed by MIT team deletes disease-causing genes and reduces cholesterol.

November 13, 2017

A photograph shows regenerated helical silk fibers colored by Rhodamine dyes, under UV light.

How to build better silk

Reconstituted silk can be several times stronger than the natural fiber and made in different forms.

November 9, 2017

MIT researchers have adapted the CRISPR genome-editing system to identify genes that protect cells from a protein associated with Parkinson’s disease.

New technique scours the genome for genes that combat disease

Biological engineers identify genes that protect against protein linked to Parkinson’s disease.

October 12, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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