Polymers

Professor emeritus Frederick J. McGarry dies at 86Polymer engineering professor, alumnus was at MIT for more than 50 years.

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

New material harvests energy from water vaporPolymer film could be used in artificial muscle and to power micro- and nanoelectronic devices.

How to stop leaks — the way blood doesHarnessing the principle that allows blood to clot, MIT researchers are working on new synthetic materials to plug holes.

A step toward stronger polymersCounting loops that weaken materials could help researchers eliminate structural flaws.

Going with the flowNew 3-D microfluidic system offers greater control over production of drug-delivering nanoparticles.

Understanding shape-shifting polymersMIT analysis should enable easier design for biomedical uses of plastic materials that have a shape memory.

Why saliva forms beads on a stringResearchers’ solution to longstanding mystery could enable better inkjet printing and drug-dispensing systems.

Building organs block by blockTissue engineers create a new way to assemble artificial tissues, using ‘biological Legos’ — cells transformed into bricks.