Wyss InstituteSynthetic Biology – Wyss Institute

Building big with DNA gets a software upgrade

Jessica Leff — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 13:55:09 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — 44 years ago, Nadrian Seeman published his groundbreaking ideas on using DNA as a structural material, expanding DNA’s significance way beyond that as a carrier of genetic information. Since then, the steadily growing field of DNA nanotechnology has seen numerous innovations. One of them was the DNA origami technique, which enables researchers to fold a single…

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Wyss Awarded ARPA-H Contract to End the Guesswork in Fetal Distress

Mariel Schoen — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 13:30:02 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Awarded a contract for up to $12M from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, across several of its Technology Platforms and faculty labs, have joined forces to address a critical unmet need in maternal and women’s health: clinicians’ inadequate ability to monitor oxygen support of…

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Pulling carbon into seawater using engineered bacteria

Jessica Leff — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 09:00:14 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Rock weathering, the breakdown and dissolving of rocks and minerals caused by their exposure to water, air, and biological life, is a major regulator of Earth’s atmospheric CO2 levels and climate. Throughout Earth’s history, rock weathering has been faster during warm periods with increased atmospheric CO2 levels. Dissolved minerals ultimately wash into the…

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Researchers clear major obstacle in genetic engineering of proteins

Jessica Leff — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 15:13:59 +0000

By STEPHANIE DUTCHEN / Harvard Medical School Communications (BOSTON) — Scientists have been hard at work for more than 20 years to instruct biological systems, such as E. coli cells, to produce proteins they don’t naturally do. Success could mean faster, cheaper, innovative solutions for medicine, agriculture, materials science, environmental remediation, and other industries.

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Harkamal (Hark) Jhajj on rewiring immune cells to repair fractured bones

Jessica Leff — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:52:41 +0000

The Humans of the Wyss (HOW) series features members of the Wyss community discussing their work, the influences that shape them as professionals, and their collaborations at the Wyss Institute and beyond. Harkamal (Hark) Jhajj is always climbing physical and metaphorical mountains. In his spare time, he loves doing physical activities and exploring nature by hiking and visiting national parks.

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The Wyss Institute’s 2026-2027 Validation Projects

Jessica Leff — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 14:00:41 +0000

Each year, the Wyss Institute’s Validation Project program identifies technologies that are ready to move beyond discovery and into the validation phase. Through dedicated funding, technical resources, business development support, market research, and engagement with clinicians, investors, industry experts, and key opinion leaders, the program helps research teams de-risk high-impact innovations…

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Machine-learning how to overcome antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea

Jessica Leff — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:55:26 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — With tens of millions of annual cases, gonorrhea is the second most frequently reported sexually transmitted infection (STI). In the U.S. alone, over 600,000 cases are reported each year. If left untreated, gonorrhea can result in severe reproductive health issues, including infertility in both women and men, and pelvic inflammatory disease.

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Destigmatizing mental health and democratizing brain-related research

Jessica Leff — Wed, 27 May 2026 13:50:06 +0000

By Jessica Leff More than one in five U.S. adults experience mental illness each year, but in 2024, only 52.1% of them received treatment. One reason people are reluctant to seek help is because of the stigma surrounding mental health. Often, that stigma comes from a lack of understanding and fear. Unfortunately, stigma doesn’t only impact those with mental illnesses, but it also affects…

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Materializing safe, on-demand living therapeutics

Jessica Leff — Thu, 14 May 2026 17:55:55 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Patient recovery from many debilitating conditions and diseases could be sped up significantly and be more effective if drugs and therapeutic molecules were delivered right to where they are needed in the body, over the entire regenerative process, and in doses finely tuned to therapeutic needs. An intriguing way to achieve this is the use of implantable…

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Bioengineering a world beyond plastics

Jessica Leff — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:00:06 +0000

By Seth Kroll (BOSTON) — In fewer than 200 years, plastic has become so deeply embedded in everyday life that it is impossible to envision society without it. Inexpensive, adaptable, and durable, plastics are indispensable from food packaging and textiles to medical and electronic devices. But this durability and ubiquity have made plastic dependency a growing global challenge…

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