Koch Institute

A scanning electron micrograph of a human T lymphocyte (also called a T-cell) from the immune system of a healthy donor. Researchers have designed a synthetic gene circuit that triggers the immune system to attack cancers when it detects signs of the disease.

Gene circuit switches on inside cancer cells, triggers immune attack

Advance may open new pathways for cancer immunotherapy.

October 19, 2017

Ritu Raman is one five U.S. scientists who have received the 2017 L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Fellowship.

Ritu Raman named L’Oréal Women in Science Fellow

Postdoc in the Langer Lab is honored for her contributions to the advancement of STEM fields and for her support of women and girls in science.

October 17, 2017

A new flexible piezoelectric sensor is 2 by 2.5 centimeters and can be rolled up and swallowed. “For the first time, we showed that a flexible, piezoelectric device can stay in the stomach up to two days without any electrical or mechanical degradation,” assistant professor Canan Dagdeviren, left, says. Dagdeviren is next to researcher Giovanni Traverso.

Flexible sensors can detect movement in GI tract

Ingestible devices could diagnose gastrointestinal slowdown or monitor food intake.

October 10, 2017

In this image, lung cancer driven by the KRAS oncogene shows up in purple. MIT biologists have found a potential new way to treat this type of lung tumor, long thought to be “undruggable."

New target for treating “undruggable” lung cancer

Drug already in clinical trials may be effective on some aggressive adenocarcinomas.

October 2, 2017

“There are very few specific or targeted inhibitors that are used in the treatment of brain cancer. There’s really a dire need for new therapies and new ideas,” says MIT Associate Professor Michael Hemann. The background of this image shows nanoparticles (red) being taken up in the brain with glioblastoma (in green). Nuclear DNA is in blue; tumor-associated macrophages in white.

Biologists identify possible new strategy for halting brain tumors

Cutting off a process that cancerous cells rely on can force them to stop growing.

September 28, 2017

$“If we want to be able to deliver mRNA, then we need a mechanism to be more effective at it because everything that’s been used so far gives you a very small fraction of what would be the optimal efficiency,” says professor Paula Hammond.$

Bio-inspired approach to RNA delivery

New technique could make it easier to use mRNA to treat disease or deliver vaccines.

September 19, 2017

Left to right: Graham Walker, Michael Yaffe and Robert Weinberg.

Three MIT biologists receive NIH Outstanding Investigator Awards

Graham Walker, Michael Yaffe, and Robert Weinberg earn support from the National Institutes of Health to further their research endeavors.

September 19, 2017

“We are very excited about this work because, for the first time, we can create a library of tiny, encased vaccine particles, each programmed to release at a precise, predictable time,” says professor Robert Langer.

One vaccine injection could carry many doses

Microparticles created by new 3-D fabrication method could release drugs or vaccines long after injection.

September 14, 2017

The MIT Department of Biology has welcomed three new members: (left to right) Sebastian Lourido, Stefani Spranger, and Eliezer Calo.

Department of Biology welcomes three new faculty members

Recent additions bring diverse expertise and cultural perspectives to research community.

July 25, 2017

Jinyao Liu, left, and Giovanni Traverso stretch a new hydrogel. To help ensure patients receive their full course of treatment, researchers have developed a new set of drug delivery materials made of the hydrogel. The material can reside in the stomach for up to nine days and slowly release its dosage of medication.

Ingestible drug-delivery materials may help patients comply with treatment regimens

Hydrogel-based capsules could expand and reside in the GI tract for days, slowly releasing medication.

July 25, 2017

Researchers have developed a new way to engineer liver tissue by organizing tiny subunits that contain three types of cells embedded into a biodegradable tissue scaffold. This image shows vascularized engineered human liver tissue that has self-organized into a lobule-like microstructure.

Engineered liver tissue expands after transplant

Tiny implantable “seeds” of tissue produce fully functional livers.

July 19, 2017

Researchers are hoping to use nanotechnology to develop more targeted treatments for drug-resistant bacteria. In this illustration, an antimicrobial peptide is packaged in a silicon nanoparticle to target bacteria in the lung.

Antibiotic nanoparticles fight drug-resistant bacteria

Targeted treatment could be used for pneumonia and other bacterial infections.

July 12, 2017

The Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine’s faculty is made up of Koch Institute members who are committed to fighting cancer with nanomedicine through research, education, and collaboration. Top row (l-r) Sangeeta Bhatia, director; Daniel Anderson; and Angela Belcher. Bottom row: Paula Hammond; Darrell Irvine; and Robert Langer.

Converging on cancer at the nanoscale

Marking its first anniversary, the Koch Institute’s Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine goes full steam ahead.

July 7, 2017

The School of Science newly-tenured professors for 2017 include (clockwise from top left): Mircea Dincă, Liang Fu, Jeff Gore, Jeremiah Johnson, Bradley Pentelute, Jesse Thaler, and Matthew Vander Heiden.

School of Science professors granted tenure

Seven award-winning faculty members represent the departments of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.

June 28, 2017

Chromosome segregation errors lead to abnormal karyotypes, a condition known as aneuploidy. Shown here is a cell undergoing cell division and experiencing chromosome mis-segregation.

How cells combat chromosome imbalance

Biologists discover the immune system can eliminate cells with too many or too few chromosomes.

June 19, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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