Press Releases

By stretching a foam ribbon and dissecting leaves, a mathematical model emerges, according to new research by L. Mahadevan. The resulting model has application in understanding a variety of artificial systems such as non-uniform thermal expansion, hydraulic swelling, and plasticity induced shape changes in thin laminae.

An insight from the labs of Harvard chemist George Whitesides and cell biologist Don Ingber is likely to make a fundamental shift in how biologists grow and study cells – and it’s as cheap and simple as reaching for a paper towel.

A team of Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers, including Wyss faculty member Kit Parker, has taken a giant step toward the possibility of using human stem cells to repair damaged hearts.

The Biomedical Engineering Society has awarded Dr. Donald Ingber its 2009 Pritzker Distinguished Lectureship for outstanding achievements, originality and leadership in biomedical engineering.

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation announced that George M. Whitesides, a Wyss faculty member and the Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University, has won the inaugural Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences.

In its quest to find new strategies to treat osteoarthritis and other diseases, a Boston University-led research team has reported finding a new computer tomography contrast agent for visualizing the special distributions of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) – the anionic sugars that account for the strength of joint cartilage.

Harvard research team receives $10 million National Science Foundation grant to fund the development of small-scale mobile robotic devices.

"We decided to engineer in the context of biology, embracing evolution rather than trying to fit a square peg in a round hole," said George Church, citing new research his team published online in Nature on July 26. "This automated, multiplex technology will allow labs to engineer entire pathways and genomes and take cell programming to a whole new level." 

President Obama today named 100 beginning researchers as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on young professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

SEAS Professor, Army Major Parker on mission in Afghanistan

Could lead to insights about how multicellular systems achieve robustness from seemingly random behavior.

MIT and Boston University engineers have designed cells that can count and "remember" cellular events, using simple circuits in which a series of genes are activated in a specific order.

By combining the art of origami with nanotechnology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers have folded sheets of DNA into multilayered objects with dimensions thousands of times smaller than the thickness of a human hair.

Collins, founder of new field of synthetic biology, and George Annas, considered “Father of Patient Rights,” were named the first William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professors at Boston University for their outstanding contributions to teaching and research.

Biomedical engineering pioneer James J. Collins, known for his work in improving the brain functions of stroke victims, has been named the recipient of Drexel University’s inaugural Anthony J. Drexel Exceptional Achievement Award.

Harvard scientists have cleared a key hurdle in the creation of synthetic life, assembling a cell’s critical protein-making machinery in an advance with both practical, industrial applications and that advances the basic understanding of life’s workings.

Finding has potential use in energy and information storage, photonics, adhesion, and more.

Entrepreneur donates $125 million

Peng Yin led a team of scientists at CalTech in creating a simple, modular system for developing nanotubes of various, precisely controlled sizes provides their user with more options. 

New delivery system may be used for HIV as well as TB