MIT scientists engineer starfish cells to shape-shift in response to light
The research may enable the design of synthetic, light-activated cells for wound healing or drug delivery.
Lincoln Laboratory and National Strategic Research Institute launch student research program to tackle biothreats to national security
MIT students who participated in the pilot program developed tools to rapidly screen for novel biosynthetic capabilities.
Unlocking mRNA’s cancer-fighting potential
MIT spinout Strand Therapeutics has developed a new class of mRNA molecules that can sense where they are in the body, for more targeted and powerful treatments.
Coloring outside the lines
Mathias Kolle’s color-changing materials take inspiration from butterflies and mollusks.
Christopher Voigt named head of the Department of Biological Engineering
Synthetic biology expert to succeed Angela Belcher as department head effective Aug. 1.
Inaugural J-WAFS Grand Challenge aims to develop enhanced crop variants and move them from lab to land
Matt Shoulders will lead an interdisciplinary team to improve RuBisCO — the photosynthesis enzyme thought to be the holy grail for improving agricultural yield.
3 Questions: Cullen Buie on a new era for cell therapies
The associate professor of MechE reflects on how his company, Kytopen, has grown and shifted focus in developing safer immunotherapies.
A global lab for teaching and practicing synthetic biology
A pandemic-fueled transformation of the MIT course MAS.S64 (How to Grow (Almost) Anything) leads to next steps in democratizing synthetic biology.
Engineered bacteria could help protect “good” gut microbes from antibiotics
Microbes that safely break down antibiotics could prevent opportunistic infections and reduce antibiotic resistance.
An “oracle” for predicting the evolution of gene regulation
Researchers create a mathematical framework to examine the genome and detect signatures of natural selection, deciphering the evolutionary past and future of non-coding DNA.
Volta Labs: Improving workflows for genetic applications
Udayan Umapathi SM ’17 and Will Langford SM ’14, PhD ’19 are co-founders of a Media Lab spinoff building a full-stack platform to enable automation for genomics and genetic engineering.
Company founded by MIT alumnus lets anyone run DNA experiments
MiniPCR bio has sold thousands of its inexpensive polymerase chain reaction machines to researchers and schools around the world.
Synthetic biology circuits can respond within seconds
MIT engineers design the first synthetic circuit that consists entirely of fast, reversible protein-protein interactions.
Deblina Sarkar joins the MIT Media Lab faculty
New research group aims to bridge the gap between nanotechnology and synthetic biology.
Printing objects that can incorporate living organisms
A 3D printing system that controls the behavior of live bacteria could someday enable medical devices with therapeutic agents built in.