Fluorescent Brain Probe Visualizes Groups of Neurons As They Compute
Fluorescent probe could allow scientists to watch circuits within the brain and link their activity to specific behaviors. Using a fluorescent probe that lights up…
Bioengineering
Oscillating Genetic Circuit: A Reliable Clock for Your Microbiome
Genetic oscillator records changes in microbiome growth patterns in vivo. For all the attention the human microbiome has been getting over the last few years,…
Amazing New Material Combines Wood Fibers and Spider Silk
The unique material outperforms most of today’s synthetic and natural materials by providing high strength and stiffness, combined with increased toughness. Achieving strength and extensibility…
Scientists Develop Modular Approach to Engineering Immune Cells
Yale researchers have developed a new way to efficiently engineer immune cells, an advance which enhances the ability to fend off cancer and other diseases,…
Scientists Use Acoustic Waves to Monitor Stiffness of Living Cells
MIT engineers have devised a new, noninvasive way to measure the stiffness of living cells using acoustic waves. Their technique allows them to monitor single…
Breakthrough Could Lead to New Insights About Cancer Development
MicroRNAs, the tiny bits of genetic material that regulate gene expression, play a significant – but poorly understood – role in controlling the differences between…
Liquid-Gated Membranes Filter Water With Higher Efficiency, Longer Time to Foul
Filtering and treating water, both for human consumption and to clean industrial and municipal wastewater, accounts for about 13 percent of all electricity consumed in…
MIT Develops New Way to Help Blood Cells Regenerate Faster
Patients with blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma are often treated by irradiating their bone marrow to destroy the diseased cells. After the treatment,…
Scientists Use Acoustic Forces to Print Like Never Before
Harvard University researchers have developed a new printing method that uses soundwaves to generate droplets from liquids with an unprecedented range of composition and viscosity….
New Organ on a Chip Lets Researchers Study Effects of Drugs and Disease
The human brain is the most complex and delicate of all the body’s organs, and the one most in need of protection from toxins and…
Engineers Develop a Probiotic Mix of Bacteria to Treat Cholera
MIT engineers have developed a probiotic mix of natural and engineered bacteria to diagnose and treat cholera, an intestinal infection that causes severe dehydration. Cholera…
Neuroscientists Develop Calcium-Based MRI Sensor to Monitor Neural Activity
System detects direct signals of neural activity; could reveal patterns underlying behavior. MIT neuroscientists have developed a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sensor that allows…
New Nanofiber Dressings Dramatically Accelerate Healing and Tissue Regeneration
Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have developed new…
FDA-Approved Compound Prevents Breast Cancer Cells From Spreading
Researchers at Houston Methodist used computer modeling to find an existing investigational drug compound for leukemia patients to treat triple negative breast cancer once it…
New Microfluidic Platform Evaluates Human Organ Interactions to Medications Without Risk
MIT engineers have developed new technology that could be used to evaluate new drugs and detect possible side effects before the drugs are tested in…
Critically Important Intercellular Communication System Discovered
Multicellular organisms like ourselves depend on a constant flow of information between cells, coordinating their activities in order to proliferate and differentiate. Deciphering the language…
Breakthrough Technique Uses Nanoparticles to Combat Cancer Drug Resistance
The ability for cancer cells to develop resistance to chemotherapy drugs – known as multi-drug resistance – remains a leading cause for tumor recurrence and…
This Ultrathin Miniaturized System Can Deliver Drugs Directly to the Brain
MIT researchers have devised a miniaturized system that can deliver tiny quantities of medicine to brain regions as small as 1 cubic millimeter. This type…