Focus Area: Living Cellular Devices

Technologies 9

View all

• AminoX: Making Biologics Safer with Synthetic Biology and Advanced Chemistry
  AminoX enables protein drugs to only become active in the tumor microenvironment and not elsewhere in the body to avoid immune-related adverse effects in the body. By designing and building non-standard amino acids into strategic positions of protein drugs, AminoX provides tumor-specific, and longer-lasting target inhibition.
• Sugar-to-Fiber Enzyme for Healthier Food
  In collaboration with Kraft Heinz, our sugar-to-fiber product can convert sugar in food products into prebiotic fiber in the human gut, reducing the amount of sugar absorbed into the bloodstream without altering the amount of sugar in existing food product recipes.
• Sparkle: Instant Biosensors for Real-Time Imaging
  Sparkle is revolutionizing the binder assay industry by harnessing novel chemistry to create instant fluorescent biosensors for a wide variety of uses.
• Engineered Live Biotherapeutic Product (eLBP) to Protect the Microbiome from Antibiotics
  eLBP is a safe and cost-effective therapeutic for patients treated with beta-lactam antibiotics that safeguards against the loss of health-essential microbes while preventing the development and spread of antibiotic resistance.
• INSPECTR™: Direct-to-Consumer Molecular Diagnostic
  INSPECTR™ is a molecular diagnostic platform that combines freeze-dried synthetic gene networks with cell-free expression systems to create novel biosensors that detect and report the presence of a target DNA or RNA molecule without the need for power or lab equipment. This technology was licensed by Wyss startup Sherlock Biosciences in 2019.
• Wearable stochastic resonance technology for supporting neurological function
  Accelera has licensed the Wyss Institute’s stochastic resonance technology to develop fully wearable medical devices that support neurological function in patients with cerebral palsy and other conditions.

Collaborations 1

• Kraft Heinz Partnership
  The Kraft Heinz company approached the Wyss Institute for help to achieve its ambitious goal to make its food products healthier, resulting in a novel technology that is ripe for commercialization.

News 82

View all

• Press Release
  
  Now, every biologist can use machine learning
  June 21, 2023
• Press Release
  
  DART VADAR harnesses the force of enzymes for better RNA drugs
  March 20, 2023
• Research Spotlights
  
  Kraft Heinz partners with Wyss Institute to make sugar healthier
  December 20, 2022

Multimedia 22

View all

• 

  Video/Animation
  Peter Nguyen: Biology Engineering, Bigfoot Hunting, and Better Climate Technology
  Wyss Senior Scientist Peter Nguyen received a B.S. in Biochemistry and B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Texas, his M.Bs. from the Keck Graduate Institute, and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Rice University. At the Wyss Institute, Peter currently works on programmable probiotics and freeze-dried cell-free manufacturing technology across multiple platforms. His research interests...

• 

  Video/Animation
  NucleoTide – CRISPR-based biosensors for rapidly detecting harmful marine microbes
  The warming of the oceans due to climate change has increased the frequency and potency of harmful algal blooms. These algae species produce toxins that can harm or even kill people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds. Researchers at the Wyss Institute are working to develop inexpensive sensors that could detect dangerous algae species earlier...

• 

  Video/Animation
  eToehold: an RNA-detecting control element for use in RNA therapeutics, diagnostics and cell therapies
  This animation shows an example of an eToehold that detects and signals the presence of a specific viral RNA in a human cell. After the virus has injected its RNA into a host cell, the RNA acts as a “trigger RNA” by binding to a complementary sequence within the eToehold specifically engineered for its detection....

• 

  Video/Animation
  miSherlock – Detecting COVID-19 Variants from Saliva
  Despite increasing vaccination rates, new, more-infectious variants of SARS-CoV-2 could prolong the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and MIT have created a low-cost, CRISPR-based diagnostic platform that can detect SARS-CoV-2 variants in a patient’s saliva without the need for any additional equipment. The team hopes their device will enable more...

• 

  Video/Animation
  Beating Back the Coronavirus
  When the coronavirus pandemic forced Harvard University to ramp down almost all on-site operations, members of the Wyss Institute community refocused their teams, and formed new ones, in order to fight COVID-19 on its multiple fronts. These efforts include building new pieces of personal protective equipment that were delivered to frontline healthcare workers, developing new...

• 

  Video/Animation
  Engineered Cross-feeding in Bacterial Consortia
  Through engineered amino acid cross-feeding, researchers at the Wyss Institute and Harvard Medical School modified multiple bacterial strains to reverse antagonistic interactions and develop symbiotic relationships, resulting in a more balanced consortium and paving the way for future bacteria-based therapeutics. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University