Focus Area: Living Cellular Devices

Technologies 6

• 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.
• Cell-Free Biomolecule Manufacturing
  Wyss Institute researchers have developed a biomolecular manufacturing method that can quickly and easily produce a wide range of vaccines, antimicrobial peptides and antibody conjugates while doing so anywhere, even in places without access to electrical power or refrigeration. The breakthrough could provide a life-saving workaround for making modern interventions available in remote areas. Today...
• Project Abbie
  Over 15 million Americans are at risk of anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction triggered by exposure to certain foods, materials, medications, and insect bites. Every three minutes, a food reaction sends someone to the emergency room. In most individuals, anaphylactic shock can be prevented by administering the counteracting drug epinephrine, as soon as an attack...
• Paper-Based Diagnostics
  With the imminent threat of new pandemics and frequent disease outbreaks exemplified by the recent Ebola and Zika epidemics, there is a growing need for low-cost, easily deployable and simple-to-use diagnostic tools. The Wyss Institute has developed paper-based synthetic gene networks as a next generation diagnostic technology for use in global healthcare crises and patient...

News 73

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• Press Release
  
  Protecting the human intestinal microbiome with synthetic biology
  April 11, 2022
• Video/​Animation
  
  Biohybrid fish made from human cardiac cells swims like the heart beats
  February 11, 2022
• Press Release
  
  Creating a new toehold for RNA therapeutics, cell therapies, and diagnostics
  October 28, 2021

Multimedia 20

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  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....

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  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...

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  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...

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  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

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  Video/Animation
  Self-regenerating bacterial hydrogels as intestinal wound patches
  This animation explains how self-regenerating bacterial hydrogels could be used as adhesive patches to help intestinal wounds heal. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University.

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  Audio/Podcast
  From the Old Chemistry Set to the New ‘BioBits,’ Cutting-Edge Kit to Teach Biology
  From the Old Chemistry Set to the New ‘BioBits,’ Cutting-Edge Kit to Teach Biology was originally broadcast on WBUR on November 23, 2018. This story features Wyss Core Faculty member James Collins. The original broadcast story can be found here.