Biological Engineering

Cancer cells targeted with nanoparticles built in the Hammond laboratory

MIT “Russian Doll” tech lands $7.9M international award to fight brain tumors

Researchers from MIT's Koch Institute will work with teams in the UK and Europe to use nanoparticles to carry multiple drug therapies to treat glioblastoma.

July 26, 2019

A cancer cell (blue, center) can elude attack by immune cells (such as these T cells shown in green and red) by sequestering the mutated proteins that would otherwise signal its identity as a "foreign" invader away from the cell’s surface.

Unmasking mutant cancer cells

A new dosing regimen for an old cancer drug shows new promise as an immunotherapy.

July 17, 2019

The CRISPR family enzyme Cas13 (pink) is at the heart of the RESCUE platform, where it uses a special guide (red) to target RNAs in the cell (blue).

New CRISPR platform expands RNA editing capabilities

The new system, dubbed RESCUE, allows RNA edits to be made that were not previously possible.

July 11, 2019

MIT engineers have devised a way to stimulate T cells (shown in red) to attack tumors by activating them with a vaccine that accumulates in the lymph nodes. B cells in the lymph nodes are labeled in blue.

New vaccine strategy boosts T-cell therapy

Super-charging a treatment for leukemia also makes it effective on solid tumors.

July 11, 2019

Top: A cell undergoing normal cell division (mitosis). Bottom row: Defects in the mitotic spindle produced by two drugs that interfere with cancer cell division. These defects can lead to cell death.

Cancer biologists identify new drug combo

Two drugs that block cell division synergize to kill tumor cells.

July 10, 2019

A new technique prevents cell-killing proteins called cytokines from escaping once they have been injected into a tumor.

Confining cell-killing treatments to tumors

Attaching a Velcro-like molecule may prevent immune proteins called cytokines from leaking out of cancerous tissue after injection.

June 26, 2019

Winners in the Patagonia Case Competition: (l-r) Audrey Bazerghi, Cherry Gao, Jordan Landis, Cristina Bleicher, Ellena Kim, and Ty Christoff-Tempesta.

Graduate students win first place in 2019 Patagonia Case Competition

MIT PhD and MBA students proposed a winning solution for sustainable food and apparel packaging.

June 24, 2019

A visualization of the data for a sample provided by DNA microscopy, with random colors assigned to individual inferred cells.

A chemical approach to imaging cells from the inside

Researchers develop a new microscopy system for creating maps of cells, using chemical reactions to encode spatial information.

June 20, 2019

Squire Booker (front row, fifth from left) poses with the current MSRP students.

From one MSRP generation to the next

Squire Booker PhD ’94 met with former and current Summer Research Program students to explain how his summer experience at MIT shaped his research trajectory.

June 10, 2019