National Institutes of Health (NIH)

This schematic shows a microfluidic device that uses sound waves to separate exosomes (pink spheres) from other components of blood.

Blood testing via sound waves may replace some tissue biopsies

Microfluidic device uses acoustics to quickly analyze blood for signatures of cancer and other diseases.

September 18, 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

MIT engineers have devised a way to automate the process of monitoring neurons in a living brain using a computer algorithm that analyzes microscope images and guides a robotic arm to the target cell. In this image, a pipette guided by a robotic arm approaches a neuron identified with a fluorescent stain.

Robotic system monitors specific neurons

Success rate is comparable to that of highly trained scientists performing the process manually.

August 30, 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 have developed a way to label neurons when they become active, essentially providing a snapshot of their activity at a moment in time.

New tool offers snapshots of neuron activity

FLARE technique can reveal which cells respond during different tasks.

June 26, 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

Metafluidics.org, a new MIT open-source website, supplies blueprints for microfluidic parts. Pictured are a few photographs from the website.

Microfluidics for the masses

New open-source website features blueprints for lab-on-a-chip devices.

June 13, 2017

Brain regions that grew significantly thicker in reading-disabled children whose reading improved after an intensive summer treatment program, as shown in the red and yellow areas. Neither a control group nor children who did not respond to treatment exhibited changes in brain structure.”

Socioeconomic background linked to reading improvement

Dyslexic children from lower-income families benefit more from summer reading intervention.

June 11, 2017

“Even though there has been a lot of high-resolution, atomic level structural work on amyloids by solid-state NMR, people have really not studied the metal-binding aspects,” says professor Mei Hong.

Chemists reveal amyloid structure

Discovery of how amyloids bind metal ions sheds light on protein function.

May 29, 2017

Researchers produced colored images on culture plates by using red, green, and blue lights to control the pigment produced by bacteria with “multicolor vision.” The image has been color-corrected in Photoshop to improve contrast.

Bacteria with multicolor vision

Red, green, and blue light can be used to control gene expression in engineered E. coli.

May 26, 2017

MIT students and postdocs with the Science Policy Initiative participated in Congressional Visits Day for the 11th consecutive year.

MIT students and postdocs advocate for science and engineering funding on Capitol Hill

Members of MIT's Science Policy Initiative meet with members of Congress on Science-Engineering-Technology Congressional Visits Day.

May 11, 2017

MIT researchers created this colon tumor by delivering RNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles to the colon. The RNA can activate or delete specific genes, leading to tumor growth.

New model could speed up colon cancer research

Introducing genetic mutations with CRISPR offers a fast and accurate way to simulate the disease.

May 1, 2017

Wireless power could enable ingestible electronics

Small sensors or drug delivery devices could reside in the GI tract indefinitely.

April 27, 2017

Center for Environmental Health Sciences announces 2017 call for pilot project proposals

Proposals are invited for basic and translational environmental health sciences research.

April 18, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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