Biological engineering

Four professors named 2013 MacVicar FellowsGriffith, Miller, Schulz and Teng awarded the Institute’s highest undergraduate teaching honor.

Boyden to share prestigious brain prizeEd Boyden honored for his work on optogenetics; will share 1 million Euro prize with five other researchers.

Research update: Imaging fish in 3-D
Automated system for high-speed analysis of vertebrate larvae could aid drug development.


Cell circuits remember their historyMIT engineers design new synthetic biology circuits that combine memory and logic.

Bringing a new perspective to infectious diseaseEnlisted in the fight against HIV, MIT engineers and scientists contribute new technology, materials and computational studies.

A safer way to vaccinatePolymer film that gradually releases DNA coding for viral proteins could offer a better alternative to traditional vaccines.

Microbiologists eavesdrop on the hidden lives of microbesScientists track ocean microbe populations in their natural habitat to create a ‘day in the life’ montage.

Possible role for Huntington’s gene discoveredMutant forms of the gene disrupt chemical modifications that control access to genes necessary for normal brain cell function.

Tiny tools help advance medical discoveriesMIT researchers are designing tools to analyze cells at the microscale.

Two MIT professors win prestigious Wolf PrizeMichael Artin and Robert Langer honored for groundbreaking work in mathematics and chemistry.

Professor Roger Kamm visualizes sneaky tumor cells with 3-D assayKamm is studying the mechanics of metastasis, the process of cancer-cell migration from one location in the body to another and the cause of more than 90 percent of cancer deaths.

Evolution: It’s all in how you splice itMIT biologists find that alternative splicing of RNA rewires signaling in different tissues and may often contribute to species differences.

Tissue engineering: Growing new organs, and moreResearch could lead to better ways to heal injuries and develop new drugs.

Precisely engineering 3-D brain tissuesNew design technique could enable personalized medicine, studies of brain wiring.

The music of the silksResearchers synthesize a new kind of silk fiber — and find that music can help fine-tune the material’s properties.

When it comes to fostering innovation, student group says 'Do it!'Lady Gaga collaborator and Interscope executive highlights do.it@MIT’s wide-ranging approach.

Fighting bacteria with mucusStudy shows that key proteins in mucus prevent bacterial adhesion to surfaces, could help prevent growth of biofilms.

MIT team builds most complex synthetic biology circuit yetNew sensor can detect four different molecules, could be used to program cells to precisely monitor their environments.

Merging tissue and electronicsNew tissue scaffold could be used for drug development and implantable therapeutic devices.

New study finds link between cell division and growth rateFindings answer puzzling question of how cells know when to progress through the cell cycle.

Genetic 911: Cells’ emergency systems revealedStudy examines how cells exploit gene sequences to cope with toxic stress.

Study identifies enzymes needed to mend tissue damage after inflammationFindings may help predict colon cancer risk for patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

How infection can lead to cancerNew MIT study offers comprehensive look at chemical and genetic changes that occur as inflammation progresses to cancer.

Crowding causes cells to produce an orderly matrix of moleculesMaking proteins stand in line could lead to more lifelike lab tests.

A new look at prolonged radiation exposureMIT study suggests that at low dose-rate, radiation poses little risk to DNA.

Immune protection from an unexpected sourceMIT biological engineers find that proteins in mucus help ward off viral infection.