Microbes

Timothy Lu's early interest in computer programming was inspired by his father, who worked as an electrical engineer at IBM.

Timothy Lu seeks to combat disease by reprogramming biological systems

Synthetic biologist hopes to develop treatments for cancer and other diseases.

March 4, 2018

A new special subject, 1.S992 (Agricultural Microbial Ecology) from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, took a group of undergraduate students to Israel over MIT’s Independent Activities Period to learn cutting-edge techniques used to study microbial communities.

A microbial approach to agriculture

A new special subject, Agricultural Microbial Ecology, takes students to Israel.

February 14, 2018

Electron microscope images of marine bacteria infected with the non-tailed viruses studied in this research. The bacterial cell walls are seen as long double lines, and the viruses are the small round objects with dark centers.

New type of virus found in the ocean

The unusual characteristics of these abundant, bacteria-killing viruses could lead to evolutionary insights.

January 24, 2018

Postdoc Kathryn Kauffman and former guest researcher Aidong Ruan process ocean water samples at Canoe Cove in Nahant, Massachusetts. The researchers were observing how microbial communities change over time in a particular location.

Microbial communities demonstrate high turnover

New research provides insight into the behavior of microbial communities in the ocean.

January 18, 2018

Microbiology Graduate PhD Program participants celebrate their 10-year anniversary at their fall 2017 retreat.

Celebrating a decade of interdisciplinary microbiology

The Microbiology Graduate PhD Program spans 50 labs across 10 departments and divisions, offering a broad approach to microbial science and engineering.

December 12, 2017

MIT researchers have discovered a way to make bacteria more vulnerable to a class of antibiotics known as quinolones, which include ciprofloxacin and are often used to treat infections such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.

Boosting the antibiotic arsenal

New strategy could enable existing drugs to kill bacteria that cause chronic infections.

December 7, 2017

MIT engineers have devised a 3-D printing technique that uses a new kind of ink made from genetically programmed living cells.

Engineers 3-D print a “living tattoo”

New technique 3-D prints programmed cells into living devices for first time.

December 5, 2017

“I think certainly there’s some promise in developing probiotics that could be targeted to possibly fixing some of the effects of a high-salt diet, but people shouldn’t think they can eat fast food and then pop a probiotic, and it will be canceled out,” says MIT Professor Eric Alm.

Gut microbes can protect against high blood pressure

Strain of intestinal bacteria can stop a high-salt diet from inducing inflammatory response linked to hypertension.

November 15, 2017

“It’s important to have a single test that can differentiate between the four serotypes of Dengue and Zika, because they co-circulate. They’re spread by the same mosquito,” says Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli, an associate professor of engineering at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and a visiting scientist in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.

New test rapidly diagnoses Zika

Paper-based diagnostic avoids false positives from Dengue fever and other related viruses.

September 27, 2017

Virion hikers with varying levels of fitness, illustrated here as preparedness, attempt to climb Folded Peak While some virions are too unfit to hit the trail (red), some are sufficiently fit to reach the summit without help from the park chaperones (blue). Other virions (yellow) are able to reach the summit by hijacking the park chaperones, which are also assisting certain host proteins, and so...

Biochemists discover mechanism that helps flu viruses evolve

Influenza viruses can hijack host cellular machinery to help mutated viral proteins fold and function.

September 26, 2017

2017 MPC-CMSE Summer Scholar Gaetana Michelet holds a pipette in the Biogel Lab of Katharina Ribbeck, the Eugene Bell Career Development Professor of Tissue Engineering at MIT. Ribbeck studies how complex materials such as mucus influence bacterial behavior.

Mucus’ influence on bacterial behavior

Summer Scholar Gaetana Michelet explores the role mucus plays in protecting people from getting sick.

September 8, 2017

“Our prediction is that we might be able to identify risk for preterm birth ahead of time, before labor sets in,” says Katharina Ribbeck, an associate professor of biological engineering at MIT and the senior author of the study. “Diagnostic tools for this are missing.”

Study suggests simple way to predict preterm births

Test of cervical mucus may reveal pregnant women’s risk of going into labor too early.

September 4, 2017

A new method allows scientists to learn more about how existing antibiotics work and potentially help them to develop new drugs.

New way to test antibiotics could lead to better drugs

Study finds bacterial response to drugs varies in different environments.

August 31, 2017

Phytoplankton and chips

Simons Foundation supports enhanced computer infrastructure for MIT's Darwin Project, which focuses on marine microbes and microbial communities.

August 4, 2017

“My training at MIT gave me an empathy for microbes,” says Emily Greenhagen. “It’s an approach that a lot of chemical engineers don’t necessarily think about and has been key to my success.”

A rose by any other name would smell as yeast

Emily Havens Greenhagen ’05 leads a team of scientists brewing perfume from yeast.

July 14, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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