Koch Institute

MIT researchers have designed nanoparticles that can deliver messenger RNA to specific organs. In this image, lung cells expressing the synthetic mRNA show up as red.

New materials improve delivery of therapeutic messenger RNA

Polymeric nanoparticles can efficiently administer mRNA to cells of the lungs, liver, and other organs.

July 16, 2018

MIT engineers have designed nanoparticles that can be attached to T cells and release T-cell-stimulating molecules called cytokines (yellow spheres). These cytokines activate T cells (blue) to attack nearby tumor cells.

Nanoparticles give immune cells a boost

Drugs carried in cellular “backpacks” help T cells to destroy tumors.

July 9, 2018

This osteosarcoma cell appears with DNA in blue, mitochondria in yellow, and actin filaments in purple.

Restricting a key cellular nutrient could slow tumor growth

Researchers identify the amino acid aspartate as a metabolic limitation in certain cancers.

June 28, 2018

This image shows pancreatic cancer cells (nuclei in blue) growing as a sphere encased in membranes (red).

Biologists discover how pancreatic tumors lead to weight loss

Shortfall of digestive enzymes can lead to tissue breakdown in early stages of pancreatic cancer.

June 20, 2018

Researchers derived a single Paneth cell with anti-microbial granules in red and green from an adult intestinal stem cell.

Charting a path to better cell models of the intestine

Researchers generate an intestinal cell mimic that can be harnessed in studies of diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease.

June 19, 2018

Robert Langer named 2018 US Science Envoy

Institute Professor chosen to help forge connections and identify opportunities for sustained international cooperation.

June 18, 2018

Researchers have taken an in-depth look at RNA-protein interactions, determining the sequence, structure, and context preferences of RNA-binding proteins in a high throughput manner.

Decoding RNA-protein interactions

Scientists leverage one step, unbiased method to characterize the binding preferences of more than 70 human RNA-binding proteins.

June 7, 2018

MIT researchers, working with scientists from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, have developed a new way to power and communicate with devices implanted deep within the human body.

Wireless system can power devices inside the body

New technology could enable remote control of drug delivery, sensing, and other medical applications.

June 4, 2018

MIT researchers have designed brain-tumor-targeting nanoparticles that can carry two different drugs, one in the core and one in the outer shell.

Tiny particles could help fight brain cancer

Nanoparticles carrying two drugs can cross the blood-brain barrier and shrink glioblastoma tumors.

May 24, 2018

Ed Boyden (left) and Feng Zhang have been named HHMI investigators.

Ed Boyden and Feng Zhang named Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators

MIT faculty members are among 19 top scientists selected from across the nation.

May 23, 2018

MIT researchers developed these polymer microspheres containing polio vaccine that can be released in two separate bursts.

A single-injection vaccine for the polio virus

Nanoparticles could offer a new way to help eradicate the disease worldwide.

May 21, 2018

MIT spinout Sigilon Therapeutics has partnered with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company to develop implantable medical devices that act like “living drug factories,” encapsulating engineered cells that live in the body for months, or years, and produce insulin. Down the road, cells may also be engineered to secrete other hormones, proteins, and antibodies.

“Living drug factories” may one day replace injections

Startup develops implantable, encased cells that live in the body and secrete insulin and other therapeutics.

May 16, 2018

Biologists compared C. elegans embryos missing the alfa-1 gene, right, to those with the gene, left. At bottom right, abnormal blobs of yolk labeled with a fluorescent protein can be seen in the embryo lacking alfa-1.

Biologists discover function of gene linked to familial ALS

Study in worms reveals gene loss can lead to accumulation of waste products in cells.

May 4, 2018

Intestinal stem cells from mice that fasted for 24 hours, at right, produced much more substantial intestinal organoids than stem cells from mice that did not fast, at left.

Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity

A drug treatment that mimics fasting can also provide the same benefit, study finds.

May 3, 2018

Left to right: Jay Mahat, Nicholas Struntz, Benjamin Mead, and Sarvesh Varma are the first recipients of the MIT-GSK Gertrude B. Elion Research Fellowship Program for Drug Discovery and Disease.

Inaugural class of MIT-GSK Gertrude B. Elion Research Fellows selected

New fellowship program honoring trailblazing Nobel laureate awards four MIT postdocs focused on drug discovery and development.

April 17, 2018

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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