Prof. Kevin Esvelt speaks with Scientific American reporter Elie Dolgin about his work applying genetic engineering to eradicate diseases like malaria. Esvelt explains that one day researchers could potentially, “engineer an organism that would confer disease resistance to an entire species. Ideally, we’d want to start small and local, see how well it works, and only then scale up if it’s warranted.”
CBS Boston spotlights how Portal Instruments, an MIT startup, is bringing a needle-free injector to the market, which could change the way people take medicine. The device, “fires a pressurized spray to penetrate the skin, instead of piercing the skin with traditional needles.”
A new study by MIT researchers provides evidence that antibiotics can change the body’s chemistry and make it more hospitable to bacteria, reports Melinda Wenner Moyer for Scientific American. “We suspect that the strength of this effect will really depend on the type of infection and types of antibiotics used,” explains postdoc Jason Yang.
Prof. Timothy Lu speaks with STAT reporter Eric Boodman about his work trying to harness bacteria to treat disease. Lu notes that his lab is also currently working on, “building these genetic circuits for therapeutic applications, but instead of targeting bacteria, we’ve been focused on using human cells.”
Using nanotechnology and CRISPR, Prof. Daniel Anderson has turned off a cholesterol-related gene in mouse liver cells, reports Julie Steenhuysen for Reuters. This new development “could lead to new ways to correct genes that cause high cholesterol and other liver diseases,” Steenhuysen writes.
Boston Globe reporter Alex Kingsbury writes that MIT researchers have developed a paper-based test to diagnose Zika. The test could not only make it easier for doctors to diagnose the disease in developing countries, but also “distinguish between the four types of dengue fever, even if Zika wasn’t present — a useful diagnostic tool for doctors in its own right.”
MIT researchers have developed a portable paper-based test that can diagnose the Zika virus and differentiate between four types of the Dengue virus, writes Rowan Walrath for Boston Magazine. The researchers are, “also working on a diagnostic for the tick-borne Powassan virus, which…causes a severe form of encephalitis.”
A new blood test developed by MIT researchers can distinguish between the Zika and dengue viruses, reports Andrew Joseph for STAT. “Being able to distinguish the four serotypes is very important for epidemiology purposes and to know what viruses are circulating in an environment,” explains Prof. Lee Gehrke.
MIT researchers have developed a new test that can identify dengue and the Zika virus quickly and cheaply, reports Sophie Hares for Reuters. “Knowing whether these tests are positive or negative is very important for designing the course of clinical care,” explains Prof. Lee Gehrke. “It simplifies the decision tree and, we believe, leads to improved patient care.”
Damien Garde of STAT highlights Prof. Li-Huei Tsai’s research on the HDAC2 enzyme in an article about Alzheimer’s research. “If we can reduce HDAC2 expression in Alzheimer’s disease models, we can reactivate the genes [that] actually rescue learning and memory,” says Prof. Tsai.
Carey Goldberg of WBUR speaks to Prof. Kevin Esvelt and graduate student Joanna Buchthal about the next steps in engineering mice that are immune to Lyme disease. With the Lyme disease antibodies identified, the next step is “to encode that mouse DNA back in the mouse genome so that it can be inherited by future generations,” says Esvelt.
CBS Boston highlights a new study by MIT researchers that shows that blocking the HDAC2 enzyme could one day help restore memories in Alzheimer’s patients. Postdoctoral fellow Jay Penney explains that, “What we’ve done is found a new way to basically prevent this negative effect of this enzyme.”
MIT researchers have found that blocking the HDAC2 enzyme could potentially restore the memories of Alzheimer’s patients, reports Alyssa Meyers for The Boston Globe. The researchers, “pinpointed a gene called Sp3 that binds with HDAC2, which then results in the compression and subsequent deactivation of memory genes.”
Boston Magazine reporter Jamie Ducharme writes that MIT researchers have found that blocking the HDAC2 enzyme may potentially reverse memory loss in Alzheimer’s patients. The researchers, “blocked HDAC2 activity by preventing it from binding with Sp3, a protein coding gene that the team found to be a crucial part of genetic blockade formation.”
Boston Magazine reporter Jamie Ducharme writes that MIT researchers have developed a non-invasive technique for assessing cells, which could eventually be used to help diagnose diseases. The researchers are “working with doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital, who hope to use the technique to study diseases such as cancer and asthma.”