Real-time sharing of Zika genomes: the race against a virus
As the global health emergency caused by the Zika outbreak continues, the virus underlying it remains a mystery, with devastating consequences still being identified. More than a year after Zika became widespread in the Americas, scientists have yet to fully unravel its trajectory across the continents, the scale and impact…
Read MoreMIT shares $75 million grant to fight heart disease
One Brave Idea Research Award will support the search for new biomarkers and treatments. MIT is one of the institutions that will share the One Brave Idea Research Award to pursue new biomarkers for atherosclerosis — the hardening of the arteries that kills about 500,000 people in the United States…
Read MoreKwanghun Chung Receives NIH New Innovator Award
Kwanghun Chung, Samuel A. Goldblith Career Development Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering at MIT, core faculty member of the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, core member of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, and an Associate member of the Broad Institute, was selected to receive a 2016 NIH New…
Read MoreNanosensors could help determine tumors’ ability to remodel tissue
Measuring enzyme levels could help doctors select appropriate treatments. MIT researchers have designed nanosensors that can profile tumors and may yield insight into how they will respond to certain therapies. The system is based on levels of enzymes called proteases, which cancer cells use to remodel their surroundings. Once adapted…
Read MoreTo produce biopharmaceuticals on demand, just add water
Freeze-dried cellular components can be rehydrated to churn out useful proteins. Researchers at MIT and other institutions have created tiny freeze-dried pellets that include all of the molecular machinery needed to translate DNA into proteins, which could form the basis for on-demand production of drugs and vaccines. The pellets, which…
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