Industrial yeasts are a powerhouse of protein production, used to manufacture vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, and other useful compounds. In a new study, MIT chemical engineers have harnessed artificial intelligence to optimize the development of new protein manufacturing processes, which could reduce the overall costs of developing and manufacturing these drugs. Using a large language model (LLM), […]
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In a wide-ranging live conversation, MIT President Sally Kornbluth joined Jim Braude and Margery Eagan live in studio for GBH’s Boston Public Radio on Thursday, February 5. They talked about MIT, the pressures facing America’s research enterprise, the importance of science, that Congressional hearing on antisemitism in 2023, and more – including Sally’s experience as a […]
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MIT Professor Emeritus Richard O. Hynes PhD ’71, a cancer biologist whose discoveries reshaped modern understandings of how cells interact with each other and their environment, passed away on Jan. 6. He was 81. Hynes is best known for his discovery of integrins, a family of cell-surface receptors essential to cell–cell and cell–matrix adhesion. He […]
Read MoreFor decades, scientists with big questions about biology have found answers in a tiny worm. That worm — a millimeter-long creature called Caenorhabditis elegans — has helped researchers uncover fundamental features of how cells and organisms work. The impact of that work is enormous: Discoveries made using C. elegans have been recognized with four Nobel […]
Read MoreDetecting cancer in the earliest stages could dramatically reduce cancer deaths because cancers are usually easier to treat when caught early. To help achieve that goal, MIT and Microsoft researchers are using artificial intelligence to design molecular sensors for early detection. The researchers developed an AI model to design peptides (short proteins) that are targeted […]
Read MoreOne of the biggest risk factors for developing liver cancer is a high-fat diet. A new study from MIT reveals how a fatty diet rewires liver cells and makes them more prone to becoming cancerous. The researchers found that in response to a high-fat diet, mature hepatocytes in the liver revert to an immature, stem-cell-like […]
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Researchers at MIT and Stanford University have developed a new way to stimulate the immune system to attack tumor cells, using a strategy that could make cancer immunotherapy work for many more patients. The key to their approach is reversing a “brake” that cancer cells engage to prevent immune cells from launching an attack. This […]
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In February, President Sally Kornbluth announced the appointment of Professor Angela Koehler as faculty director of the MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative (MIT HEALS), with professors Iain Cheeseman and Katharina Ribbeck as associate directors. Since then, the leadership team has moved quickly to shape HEALS into an ambitious, community-wide platform for catalyzing research, translation, […]
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The School of Science welcomed 11 new faculty members in 2024. Shaoyun Bai researches symplectic topology, the study of even-dimensional spaces whose properties are reflected by two-dimensional surfaces inside them. He is interested in this area’s interaction with other fields, including algebraic geometry, algebraic topology, geometric topology, and dynamics. He has been developing new tool […]
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Glioblastoma is the most common form of brain cancer in adults, and its consequences are usually quick and fatal. After receiving standard-of-care treatment (surgery followed by radiation and chemotherapy), fewer than half of patients will survive longer than 15 months. Only 5 percent of patients survive longer than five years. Researchers have explored immune checkpoint […]
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Paula Hammond ’84, PhD ’93, an Institute Professor and MIT’s executive vice provost, has been named dean of MIT’s School of Engineering, effective Jan. 16. She will succeed Anantha Chandrakasan, the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, who was appointed MIT’s provost in July. Hammond, who was head of the Department of Chemical […]
Read More“MIT.nano is essential to making progress in high-priority areas where I believe that MIT has a responsibility to lead,” opened MIT president Sally Kornbluth at the 2025 Nano Summit. “If we harness our collective efforts, we can make a serious positive impact.” It was these collective efforts that drove discussions at the daylong event hosted […]
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A new delivery particle developed at MIT could make mRNA vaccines more effective and potentially lower the cost per vaccine dose. In studies in mice, the researchers showed that an mRNA influenza vaccine delivered with their new lipid nanoparticle could generate the same immune response as mRNA delivered by nanoparticles made with FDA-approved materials, but […]
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A new 3D human brain tissue platform developed by MIT researchers is the first to integrate all major brain cell types, including neurons, glial cells, and the vasculature, into a single culture. Grown from individual donors’ induced pluripotent stem cells, these models — dubbed Multicellular Integrated Brains (miBrains) — replicate key features and functions of […]
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Although heart cells and skin cells contain identical instructions for creating proteins encoded in their DNA, they’re able to fill such disparate niches because molecular machinery can cut out and stitch together different segments of those instructions to create endlessly unique combinations. The ingenuity of using the same genes in different ways is made possible […]
Read More Although heart cells and skin cells contain identical instructions for creating proteins encoded in their DNA, they’re able to fill such disparate niches because molecular machinery can cut out and stitch together different segments of those instructions to create endlessly unique combinations. The ingenuity of using the same genes in different ways is made possible […]
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MIT engineers have developed a flexible drug-delivery patch that can be placed on the heart after a heart attack to help promote healing and regeneration of cardiac tissue. The new patch is designed to carry several different drugs that can be released at different times, on a pre-programmed schedule. In a study of rats, the […]
Read More MIT engineers have developed a flexible drug-delivery patch that can be placed on the heart after a heart attack to help promote healing and regeneration of cardiac tissue. The new patch is designed to carry several different drugs that can be released at different times, on a pre-programmed schedule. In a study of rats, the […]
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Cancer immunotherapy, which uses drugs that stimulate the body’s immune cells to attack tumors, is a promising approach to treating many types of cancer. However, it doesn’t work well for some tumors, including ovarian cancer. To elicit a better response, MIT researchers have designed new nanoparticles that can deliver an immune-stimulating molecule called IL-12 directly […]
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On Oct. 20 during its annual meeting, the National Academy of Medicine announced the election of 100 new members, including MIT faculty members Dina Katabi and Facundo Batista, along with three additional MIT alumni. Election to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and […]
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One of the newest weapons that scientists have developed against cancer is a type of engineered immune cell known as CAR-NK (natural killer) cells. Similar to CAR-T cells, these cells can be programmed to attack cancer cells. MIT and Harvard Medical School researchers have now come up with a new way to engineer CAR-NK cells […]
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A diet rich in the amino acid cysteine may have rejuvenating effects in the small intestine, according to a new study from MIT. This amino acid, the researchers discovered, can turn on an immune signaling pathway that helps stem cells to regrow new intestinal tissue. This enhanced regeneration may help to heal injuries from radiation, […]
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A genome-editing technique known as prime editing holds potential for treating many diseases by transforming faulty genes into functional ones. However, the process carries a small chance of inserting errors that could be harmful. MIT researchers have now found a way to dramatically lower the error rate of prime editing, using modified versions of the […]
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At MIT, a few scribbles on a whiteboard can turn into a potentially transformational cancer treatment. This scenario came to fruition this week when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a system for treating an aggressive form of bladder cancer. More than a decade ago, the system started as an idea in the lab […]
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Around the world, about 2 billion people suffer from iron deficiency, which can lead to anemia, impaired brain development in children, and increased infant mortality. To combat that problem, MIT researchers have come up with a new way to fortify foods and beverages with iron, using small crystalline particles. These particles, known as metal-organic frameworks, […]
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For people with Type 1 diabetes, developing hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, is an ever-present threat. When glucose levels become extremely low, it creates a life-threatening situation for which the standard treatment of care is injecting a hormone called glucagon. As an emergency backup, for cases where patients may not realize that their blood sugar […]
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The MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative (MIT HEALS) is launching the Biswas Postdoctoral Fellowship Program to advance the work of outstanding early-career researchers in health and life sciences. Supported by a gift from the Biswas Family Foundation, the program aims to help apply cutting-edge research to improve health care and the lives of millions. […]
Read MoreLeveraging the strengths of two world-class research institutions, MIT and Mass General Brigham (MGB) recently celebrated the launch of the MIT-MGB Seed Program. The new initiative, which is supported by Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), will fund joint research projects led by researchers at MIT and Mass General Brigham. These collaborative projects will advance research in […]
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Researchers at MIT and the Scripps Research Institute have shown that they can generate a strong immune response to HIV with just one vaccine dose, by adding two powerful adjuvants — materials that help stimulate the immune system. In a study of mice, the researchers showed that this approach produced a much wider diversity of […]
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Consuming a high-fat diet can lead to a variety of health problems — not only weight gain but also an increased risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases. At the cellular level, hundreds of changes take place in response to a high-fat diet. MIT researchers have now mapped out some of those changes, with a […]
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Measuring the density of a cell can reveal a great deal about the cell’s state. As cells proliferate, differentiate, or undergo cell death, they may gain or lose water and other molecules, which is revealed by changes in density. Tracking these tiny changes in cells’ physical state is difficult to do at a large scale, […]
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