Press Releases

With the hand of nature trained on a beaker of chemical fluid, the most delicate flower structures have been formed in a Harvard laboratory -- and not at the scale of inches, but microns.

In the very early hours of the morning, in a Harvard robotics laboratory last summer, an insect took flight. Half the size of a paperclip, weighing less than a tenth of a gram, it leapt a few inches, hovered for a moment on fragile, flapping wings, and then sped along a preset route through the air.

A team of researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have designed a new kind of adaptive material with tunable transparency and wettability features, as reported yesterday in the online version of Nature Materials.

The Wyss Institute  announced today that it was awarded a $9.25 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to further advance a blood-cleansing technology developed at the Institute with prior DARPA support, and help accelerate its translation to humans as a new type of sepsis therapy.

Today the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Sony DADC announced a collaboration that will harness Sony DADC's global manufacturing expertise to further advance the Institute's Organs-on-Chips technologies.

In a London ceremony today, Wyss Founding Director Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., received the NC3Rs 3Rs Prize from the UK's National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) for his innovative Lung-on-a-Chip -- a microdevice lined by human cells that recapitulates complex functions of the living lung.

Doctors routinely track their patients' hand-eye coordination to monitor any neuromuscular deficits, particularly as patients age or when they are injured -- but the tests they have been using to track this kind of information may be subjective and qualitative.

A team of scientists just won a battle in the war against antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" -- and only time will tell if their feat is akin to the bacterial "Battle of Gettysburg" that turns the tide toward victory.

Jennifer A. Lewis, Sc.D., an internationally recognized leader in the fields of 3D printing and biomimetic materials, has been appointed as the first Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), and a Core Faculty Member of the Wyss Institute. Lewis is the first senior faculty to occupy a Wyss-endowed professorial chair.

Wyss Institute researchers have created more than 100 three-dimensional (3D) nanostructures using DNA building blocks that function like Lego® bricks -- a major advance from the two-dimensional (2D) structures.

Bioengineers at Harvard have developed a gel-based sponge that can be molded to any shape, loaded with drugs or stem cells, compressed to a fraction of its size, and delivered via injection. Once inside the body, it pops back to its original shape and gradually releases its cargo, before safely degrading.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have mimicked pulmonary edema in a microchip lined by living human cells, as reported today in the journal Science Translation Medicine. They used this "lung-on-a-chip" to study drug toxicity and identify potential new therapies to prevent this life-threatening condition.

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announces today that two of its core faculty members, Donald E. Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., and James Collins, Ph.D., have been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies, which is one of the highest honors in the field of medicine in the United States.

George Church, Ph.D., well known for his pioneering contributions to genomic science, announced last night that he is leading a team from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University in the Archon Genomics X PRIZE competition -- a 30-day competition presented by Express Scripts that is easy to get excited about, even for those who don't wear a white coat to work every day.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute have created a new kind of barcode that could come in an almost limitless array of styles -- with the potential to enable scientists to gather vastly more vital information, at one given time, than ever before.

A team of experts in mechanics, materials science, and tissue engineering have created an extremely stretchy and tough gel that may pave the way to replacing damaged cartilage in human joints.

In the creeping plant's tendrils, researchers discover a biological mechanism for coiling and stumble upon an unusual type of spring.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute and Harvard Medical School have encoded the book, Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves in DNA, 1,000 times the largest data size previously achieved in DNA.

Scientists from the Wyss Institute and Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a slick way to prevent the troublesome bacterial communities from ever forming on a surface.

The Wyss Institute today announced that it has entered into a Cooperative Agreement worth up to $37 million with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop an automated instrument that integrates 10 human organs-on-chips to study complex human physiology outside the body.

Using recent advances in marine biomechanics, materials science, and tissue engineering, a team of researchers at Harvard University and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have turned inanimate silicone and living cardiac muscle cells into a freely swimming “jellyfish.”

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University today announced that it has received a $2.6 million contract (including option) from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a smart suit that helps improve physical endurance for soldiers in the field.

A Harvard-led team of engineers presented a strategy for building self-thermoregulating nanomaterials that can, in principle, be tailored to maintain a set pH, pressure, or just about any other desired parameter by meeting the environmental changes with a compensatory chemical feedback response.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute have developed a novel biomimetic strategy that delivers life-saving nanotherapeutics directly to obstructed blood vessels, dissolving blood clots before they cause serious damage or even death. This new approach enables thrombus dissolution while using only a fraction of the drug dose normally required, thereby minimizing bleeding side effects that currently limit widespread use of clot-busting drugs.

A novel coating that repels almost every type of liquid and solid -- from blood and crude oil, to ice and bacteria -- has received a 2012 R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine. The annual awards honor the 100 most technologically significant products of the previous year.

A team of researchers from Harvard University have invented a way to keep any metal surface free of ice and frost. The treated surfaces quickly shed even tiny, incipient condensation droplets or frost simply through gravity. The technology prevents ice sheets from developing on surfaces -- and any ice that does form, slides off effortlessly.

Wyss researchers have developed a method for building complex nanostructures out of short synthetic strands of DNA. Called single-stranded tiles (SSTs), these interlocking DNA "building blocks," akin to Legos®,  can be programmed to assemble themselves into precisely designed shapes, such as letters and emoticons.

The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences announced today that the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University is the winner of the 2012 Webby Award in the category of Science.

A research collaboration between the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Children’s Hospital Boston has created a microfluidic device that can harvest rare circulating tumor cells from blood to enable their expansion in culture for analysis.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have created a gut-on-a-chip microdevice lined by living human cells that mimics the structure, physiology, and mechanics of the human intestine -- even supporting the growth of living microbes within its luminal space.

Wyss Institute Core Faculty member Robert J. Wood has been named one of two recipients of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Alan T. Waterman Award. Wood, who is also an associate professor of electrical engineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, shares the honor with Scott Aaronson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute and Harvard Medical School have developed a method for inducing magnetic sensitivity in an organism that is not naturally magnetic -- yeast. Their technology could potentially be used to magnetize a variety of different cell types in medical, industrial and research applications.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute have developed a robotic device made from DNA that could potentially seek out specific cell targets within a complex mixture of cell types and deliver important molecular instructions, such as telling cancer cells to self-destruct. Inspired by the mechanics of the body's own immune system, the technology might one day be used to program immune responses to treat various diseases. The research findings appear in today's issue of Science.

A new technique inspired by elegant pop-up books and origami will soon allow clones of robotic insects to be mass-produced by the sheet. Devised by engineers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute, the ingenious layering and folding process enables the rapid fabrication of not just microrobots, but a broad range of electromechanical devices.

The Wyss Institute announced today that one of its core faculty members, George Church, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for contributions to human genome sequencing technologies and DNA synthesis and assembly. Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.

A research collaboration between the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Children's Hospital Boston has developed "smart" injectable nanotherapeutics that can be programmed to selectively deliver drugs to the cells of the pancreas. Although this nanotechnology will need significant additional testing and development before being ready for clinical use, it could potentially improve treatment for Type I diabetes by increasing therapeutic efficacy and reducing side effects.

The Wyss Institute announced today that its Founding Director, Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., has received the 2011 Holst Medal in recognition of his pioneering work exploring the cellular mechanisms that contribute to mechanical control of tissue and organ development, and his groundbreaking development of bioinspired technologies, ranging from Organ-on-Chip replacements for animal studies, to new engineering approaches for whole organ engineering.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute have developed a new material that replicates the exceptional strength, toughness, and versatility of one of nature's more extraordinary substances -- insect cuticle. Also low-cost, biodegradable, and biocompatible, the new material, called "Shrilk," could one day replace plastics in consumer products and be used safely in a variety of medical applications.

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced today that it has signed an agreement to license its Kilobot robotic technology to K-Team Corporation, a Swiss manufacturer of high-quality mobile robots for use in advanced education and research. K-Team robotics solutions are used in more than 600 universities and industrial research centers internationally.

Columbine flowers are recognizable by the long, trailing nectar spurs that extend from the bases of their petals, tempting the taste buds of their insect pollinators. New research at Harvard and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) helps to explain how columbines have achieved a rapid radiation of approximately 70 species, with flowers apparently tailored to the length of their pollinators' tongues.

A research collaboration between Children's Hospital Boston and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has identified a novel role for mechanical forces in control of whole organ formation. The findings, which appear in the current issue of Developmental Cell, could lead to a new approach for organ engineering in humans.

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced today that it has been awarded a $3.7 million contract (including option) from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a genetic security system that would track an organism's history.

The Wyss Institute announced today that it has been awarded a $12.3 million, four-year grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a treatment for sepsis, a commonly fatal bloodstream infection. Sepsis is a major cause of injury and death among combat-injured soldiers in the field, as well as patients in hospital intensive care units.

After a rain, the cupped leaf of a pitcher plant becomes a virtually frictionless surface. Sweet-smelling and elegant, the carnivore attracts ants, spiders, and even little frogs. One by one, they slide to their doom. Adopting the plant's slick strategy, a group of applied scientists at the Wyss Institute and Harvard's School of Applied Sciences and Engineering have created a material that repels just about any type of liquid, including blood and oil, and does so even under harsh conditions like high pressure and freezing temperatures.

In what could be a significant step toward converting cells into tiny biological production facilities, researchers from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have developed a novel technology for controlling the behavior of a cell, in much the same way that an integrated circuit directs the behavior of a computer or a cell phone.

The Wyss Institute announced today that its lung-on-a-chip microdevice, which could help replace animal testing and accelerate the arrival of promising and affordable new drugs on the market, has been named a finalist for a 2011 INDEX: Design for Life Award. It was one of just 61 finalists selected by an international jury from a total of 966 nominations.

The Wyss Institute announced today that one of its core faculty members, George Church, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of his distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Membership in the academy is one of the highest honors accorded a scientist or engineer.

A research team led by Ozgur Sahin, Ph.D., a Scholar in Residence at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, has developed a tool for rapidly and efficiently building molecular structures that could one day be used to treat and diagnose diseases. Sahin's findings appear in the current issue of Nature Communications.

The "lily white" has inspired centuries' worth of rich poetry and art, but when it comes to the science of how and why those delicately curved petals burst from the bud, surprisingly little is known. Now, however, mathematics has revealed that differential growth and ruffling at the edges of each petal -- not in the midrib, as commonly suggested -- provide the driving force behind the lily's bloom.

The Wyss Institute announced today that its researchers received a total of seven awards at this week’s 50^th Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology. The awards recognized their contributions to developing novel alternatives to animal testing for predicting toxicity and assessing risk in humans.

Donald E. Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., Founding Director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, and award-winning U.S. designer and Wyss Institute Visiting Scholar, Chuck Hoberman, will be keynote speakers at "Adaptive Architecture," a three-day symposium on the future of architecture, which is being held at the Building Centre in London, England.

Four cutting edge Boston based groups are excited to announce their selection for the prestigious Technology Showcase at the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, co-hosted by the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency -- Energy (ARPA-E) and the Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization (CTSI).

Wyss Institute core faculty member, James J. Collins, Ph.D., has been elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering on the basis of his contributions to synthetic biology and engineered gene networks.

The Wyss Institute today announced that its founding director, Donald E. Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., has been inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering's College of Fellows on the basis of his major contributions to cell and tissue engineering, angiogenesis and cancer research, systems biology, and nanobiotechnology.

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University today announced the creation and launch of BIOMOD, a biomolecular design competition for undergraduate students around the world. Student teams will be asked to devise projects in which biological molecules are engineered to assemble themselves into nanoscale structures, systems, or machines that can be programmed to perform useful scientific or technological tasks that could help address real-world challenges.

Wyss Institute researchers have developed a technology for synthesizing whole genes, and potentially whole gene circuits, that is faster, more accurate, and significantly less expensive than current methods.

A team led by Joanna Aizenberg has designed and demonstrated ice-free nanostructured materials that literally repel water droplets before they have the chance to freeze. The findings could lead to a new way to keep airplane wings, buildings, powerlines, and entire highways free of ice during the worst winter weather.

Wyss Institute core faculty member, George Church, Ph.D., has received the 2011 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The prestigious award honors Dr. Church for his innovative contributions to genomic science.

Agilent Technologies Inc. and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University today announced an agreement to work together to develop innovative tools, technologies and instruments that will advance human health and improve the environment.

Researchers from the Wyss Institute have developed a DNA-based extracellular matrix that could be a highly effective and safe tool for regenerating bone, muscle, and other tissues. Their findings appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The Wyss Institute today welcomed a delegation, led by Swiss Federal Councilor Didier Burkhalter, to its facilities in the Longwood Medical Area. The visit was designed to promote the exchange of ideas and innovation strategies and to identify potential areas of future collaboration...

Researchers from the Wyss Institute announced that they have been awarded more than $3 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to develop a "Heart-Lung Micromachine" that will accelerate drug safety and efficacy testing.

Peng Yin, Ph.D., a core member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard and an assistant professor in the Systems Biology Department at Harvard Medical School, has received a National Institutes for Health Director's New Innovator Award. The award, which was announced today, supports highly innovative research by promising new investigators.

Researchers from the Wyss Institute and Boston University have discovered that charitable behavior exists in one of the most microscopic forms of life -- bacteria.

Wyss Institute founding director Donald Ingber has been elected to the Board of Directors for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), a NASA-funded consortium of institutions studying the health risks related to long-duration spaceflight and developing countermeasures to mitigate the risks.

Wyss researchers Researchers have engineered photosynthetic bacteria to produce simple sugars and lactic acid. This innovation could lead to new, environmentally friendly methods for producing commodity chemicals in bulk. Their research findings appear in the June issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Researchers at the Wyss Institute, Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and MIT have reshaped the landscape of programmable matter by devising self-folding sheets that rely on the ancient art of origami. The team demonstrated how a single thin sheet composed of interconnected triangular sections can transform itself into a boat- or plane-shape -- all without the help of skilled fingers.

Wyss researchers have combined microfabrication techniques from the computer industry with modern tissue engineering techniques, human cells and a plain old vacuum pump to create a living, breathing human lung-on-a-chip. The device mimics the most active part of the lung, the boundary between the air sac and the bloodstream.

By emulating nature's design principles, Wyss Institute researchers have created nanodevices made of DNA that self-assemble and can be programmed to move and change shape on demand. In contrast to existing nanotechnologies, these programmable nanodevices are highly suitable for medical applications because DNA is both biocompatible and biodegradable.

Donald E. Ingber, MD, PhD, Founding Director of the Wyss Institute, today received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of In Vitro Biology in recognition of his trailblazing work in advancing the field of in vitro biology. Ingber has developed or applied several technologies -- such as microcontact printing, cell magnetometry, laser nanosurgery, and microfluidics -- to manipulate cell shape and function.

Wyss bioengineers have developed a new technology that can be used to regenerate heart and other tissues and to make nanometer-thick fabrics that are both strong and extremely elastic. The key breakthrough came in the development of a matrix that can assemble itself through interaction with a thermosensitive surface. This discovery has potential applications in tissue regeneration and high-performance textiles.

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced today that it has been awarded a $4.2 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop new approaches for advanced microbial biofuels as part of a national effort to accelerate innovation in clean technologies, increase America's competitiveness, and create jobs.

Hailed as a "cross between a high-speed centrifuge and a cotton candy machine," bioengineers at Harvard have developed a new, practical technology for fabricating tiny nanofibers. The invention, reported in the May 24 online edition of Nano Letters, could be a boon for industry, with potential applications ranging from artificial organs and tissue regeneration to clothing and air filters.

At the American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP) Rous-Whipple Award Lecture, Donald E. Ingber, M.D., Ph.D, will speak on Mechanobiology and Cellular Mechanotransduction. The lecture will take place Sunday, April 25, 5:00 pm-6:00 pm in the Anaheim Convention Center as part of Experimental Biology 2010. “By pursuing the idea that mechanical forces are as important for health as chemicals and genes, our work has helped uncover principles that govern developmental control, and thus, that have great potential for diagnostic and therapeutic applications,” said Dr. Ingber. Download press release from ASIP site...

Molecular Origami is a process that allows researchers to build nano-sized structures out of DNA (or RNA). To help illustrate the basics of DNA origami, Harvard’s Wyss Institute has created a Flash-based interactive feature that allows users to build virtual nanostructures by sequencing a simple, abstract representation of a DNA molecule and then allowing it to self assemble.

A cancer vaccine carried into the body on a carefully engineered, fingernail-sized implant is the first to successfully eliminate tumors in mammals, a team of Harvard bioengineers and biologists including Wyss Faculty Member David Mooney report today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

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. "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