Technologies

DNA nanoswitch calipers are a first-of-their-kind research tool that leverage DNA’s unique molecular qualities to study post-translational modifications on proteins to unlock a new frontier of medicine.

Personalized cancer and infectious disease vaccine platform harnessing DNA nanotechnology to control the co-delivery and co-presentation of tumor antigen and adjuvant ligands to immune cells with nanoscale precision. This approach has potential to trigger enhanced immune responses against tumors and infectious pathogens.

A synthetic biology-based molecular diagnostics platform that enables the creation of low-cost, highly accurate tests for non-clinical settings.

Through a simple and effective metabolic labeling approach, patient-derived T cells engineered to carry immune-enhancing cytokines on their surfaces could help expand adoptive T cell therapies to treatment of solid tumors and improve blood cancer therapies.

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.

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.

MyoExo is a diagnostic technology based on strain sensors that can accurately detect muscle rigidity in patients with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders. Data obtained with the device continuously from patients could improve the monitoring of treatments, and therapeutic interventions.

Ichor is addressing multiple age-related diseases by identifying genetic interventions that reprogram old cells to a younger state. Therapies based on these interventions could improve survival for cancer patients and long-term cardiovascular and neurological health.

ReConstruct is a platform for growing, vascularizing, and implanting patient-derived tissues that enable safer breast reconstruction after cancer surgery.

NodeTX is a novel immunotherapy that leverages the human body's innate ability to grow lymph nodes to fight tumors.

This nanotech-based diagnostic platform uses a unique nucleation mechanism that assembles a DNA "nanoseed" in the presence of a pathogen-derived biomarker that then is amplified within 15 minutes to create a signal for easy detection. It is highly robust, and cost-effective, and can be adapted to detect a variety of biomarkers.

Globally, more than 2 billion people are forced to use a drinking water source that is contaminated with bacteria, parasites, and other pathogens, and an estimated 502,000 people die each year from diarrhea as a result of unsafe water. While a majority of the world has access to improved water sources, many are often contaminated;...

Our novel dsRNAs stimulate the immune system to inhibit cancer, bacterial, and viral infections including SARS-CoV-2 and multiple influenza strains.

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...

Macrophages are very malleable immune cells, but that also means that they can be influenced by cancerous tumors and inflammatory processes. Our cellular "backpacks" stick to macrophages and can deliver molecules that keep them in their desired state for cell therapy and more.

Our catalytic materials are inspired by the nanostructure of butterfly wings and enable affordable air purification for a variety of applications.

Handheld electrochemical sensors have revolutionized at-home medical testing for diabetics, but they have not yet been successfully applied to diagnosing other conditions. These sensors are based on the activity of an enzyme, and there are only a limited number of enzymes that can be used to detect biomarkers of human disease. An alternative, much more...

Researchers at the Wyss Institute have developed two methods for building arbitrarily shaped nanostructures using DNA, with a focus on translating the technology towards nanofabrication and drug delivery applications. One proprietary nanofabrication technique, called “DNA-brick self-assembly,” uses short, synthetic strands of DNA that work like interlocking Lego® bricks. It capitalizes on the ability to program...

The Lab-on-a-Molecule platform leverages the Wyss Institute’s DNA nanotechnology technology for the high-throughput, low-cost screening of a wide range of chemical and biologic compounds to enable the discovery of first-in-class therapeutics for various conditions.

A non-invasive method to identify biomarkers of disease across cell types and develop diagnostics and monitoring systems.

Lactation Biologics is developing a long-lasting, self-injectable treatment to help nursing mothers feed their babies naturally, helping them get the best nutrition possible in the face of climate disasters and supply chain disruptions.

Passive directional valves enable smaller and more complex microfluidics applications across of broad spectrum of future technologies, including diagnostics, drug development, and tissue engineering.

Tunable hydrogels that enhance the efficacies of adoptively transferred immune cells during their manufacturing by mimicking target tissue biomechanics.

Our eco-friendly air conditioning technology is a low-carbon-footprint evaporative cooling system that reduces indoor air temperature without adding humidity.

Soft, conductive hydrogels match the physical properties of the human brain, enabling the creation of electrodes and implantable devices that can improve brain-machine interfaces while reducing the risk of injury.

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.

FeCILL is novel delivery vehicle for antifungal drugs that targets them right to the infection site and reduces harmful side effects in patients with severe fungal infections.

Sparkle is revolutionizing the binder assay industry by harnessing novel chemistry to create instant fluorescent biosensors for a wide variety of uses.

First disease-modifying therapy that can be systemically applied to safely and effectively treat patients with different forms of pancreatitis.

The HarborSite next-generation gene therapy platform enables integration of therapeutic genes into genomic safe harbors using highly specific and efficient recombinases to enable more predictable, safe and durable gene therapies.

CircaVent is a novel drug discovery platform that combines predictive algorithms, high-throughput preclinical models, and human organoids to identify and test drugs that could treat mental health conditions like bipolar disorder.

Electrochemical biosensors using a novel surface chemistry offer new opportunities for portable diagnostics with the potential to detect many disease biomarkers in animals and beyond.

Origami-inspired Radiant Cooling devices for a broad range of building interiors use microfluidic water-circuits and foldable designs that increase their surface area to achieve more effective cooling.

The Problem Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are valued for their ability to secrete compounds that modulate the body’s immune system, making them an attractive solution for existing problems with cell therapies including host-vs-graft disease and organ transplant rejections. However, MSCs are rapidly cleared from the body and can come under fire from the immune system....

The Problem The COVID-19 pandemic has made it starkly clear that the world lacks rapid, accurate diagnostic tests for pathogens. When patients arrive in a medical facility for treatment, the triage process is hindered by diagnostic tests that are inaccurate or take a long time to produce results. In addition, patients who are asymptomatic and...

SomaCode is solving the problem of cell therapy delivery by identifying unique molecular “zip codes” for disease and engineering cells to home to those zip codes, making cell therapies safer and more effective.

The next-generation gene therapy for molecular skin rejuvenation combines a comprehensive target gene prediction with a novel transdermal delivery approach for therapeutic adenovirus-associated viruses. The platform targets monogenic disease indications in the skin, and extends the same targets to the treatment of common skin aging conditions.

A Band-Aid® adhesive bandage is an effective treatment for stopping external bleeding from skin wounds, but an equally viable option for internal bleeding does not yet exist. Surgical glues are often used inside the body instead of traditional wound closure techniques like stitches, staples, and clips because they reduce the patient’s time in the hospital...

Endoscopy has proven extremely useful in many areas of medicine because it can be carried out with relatively few risks in a short time, and be used to diagnose and treat numerous diseases. In gastroenterology, endoscopies of the upper gastrointestinal tract (esophagus, stomach, first part of the small intestine; upper GI endoscopies) and lower gastrointestinal...

In emergency medicine, blood lactate levels are a reliable real-time indicator of the severity and mortality risk of conditions that occur as a result of poor blood circulation and oxygen supply to organs and tissues (hypoperfusion), such as in patients with sepsis, cardiac arrest, stroke, major trauma, cystic fibrosis and other conditions. Lactate levels also...

A suite of diverse, multifunctional DNA nanotechnological tools with unique capabilities and potential for a broad range of clinical and biomedical research areas. Our DNA nanotechnology devices were engineered to overcome specific bottlenecks in the development of new therapies and diagnostics, and to help further our understanding of molecular structures.

OMNIVAX is an immuno-material-based vaccine platform technology able to create safe and effective therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines against viral and bacterial threats. Its modular approach enables the rapid creation of vaccines for pathogens using known and unknown antigens. Current approaches include vaccines against some viral diseases.

An implantable bone marrow cryogel to accelerate the full reconstitution of the immune system, including T cell immunity, in patients that received chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. This could provide an off-the-shelf, material-based solution for patients with severe blood disorders whose immunity is recovering only slowly after treatment.

Age-related medical conditions are responsible for most cases of blindness and visual impairment worldwide. In 2015, there were an estimated 36 million blind people in the world, with an additional 217 million suffering from moderate to severe vision impairment. Over 80% of the visually impaired were older than 50, and this percentage is expected to...

3D printers are revolutionizing manufacturing by allowing users to create any physical shape they can imagine on-demand. However, most extrusion-based printers available commercially are only able to build objects from a single nozzle at a time. Those that can deposit multiple inks are even slower due to the additional time required to switch between materials....

Surgeons can use up to 250 different tools during a surgical procedure to perform tasks like cutting, grasping, cauterizing, suturing, suctioning, and reducing bleeding. Each tool must be manually counted by hospital staff both before and after surgery to ensure that none of them have gone missing, which is a tedious and time-consuming process. This...

Soft robots, similar to living organisms, are made from compliant materials that allow them great flexibility and adaptability for tasks at the human-robot interface and elsewhere. To enable soft robotic missions in different industrial, exploratory, and medical settings, engineers are trying to equip them with artificial muscles that could enable them to move smoothly, efficiently...

One of the biggest challenges in medicine is getting a drug to the right part of the body at the right time. Even when the target site in the body is known, like a pain-causing injury or a cancerous tumor, most drugs are given as oral pills or intravenous infusions, which limits their effectiveness. In...

Novel ear tubes coated with proprietary liquid-infused medical-grade polymers that form a frictionless, biofouling-resistant layer inside the tube, dramatically reducing the adhesion of biofluids, human cells, and common ear infection-causing bacterial strains by about 99% when compared with conventional tympanostomy tubes.

CogniXense is a target-agnostic drug discovery platform that enables the repurposing of drugs for rare genetic diseases in record time. By combining human data-based computational drug prediction with on-demand animal model development, we can mimic the diversity of symptoms of patient populations and begin drug screening on new diseases within a month.

The molecule histamine plays a primary role in the anaphylaxis reaction, which is a major cause of illness and death in people with severe allergies. Histamine is a very small molecule composed of only seventeen atoms, making it a challenging target to detect. To date, no diagnostic test exists that can measure histamine levels accurately...

The burgeoning field of synthetic biology is designing artificial gene circuits that recognize molecules in their environment and respond by regulating genes with desired activities. In the future, such capabilities could allow the engineering of cells as diagnostic or therapeutic devices, factories for the production of clinically or industrially coveted molecules, and as specialized devices...

As robots have gotten smaller, softer, and more maneuverable, they’ve opened up myriad possibilities for interacting with objects on a tiny scale, including on and in the human body. However, human hands still have a major advantage over robots: the ability to feel. Researchers at the Wyss Institute are using the Pop-Up MEMS manufacturing technique...

Endoscopes are a standard device in gastrointestinal medicine, used by surgeons to noninvasively see and take biopsies from tissues along the entire digestive tract. However, endoscopes themselves amount to hollow tubes with a camera and light attached, through which different instruments are threaded to the procedure site, and are rigid and not very maneuverable. Two...

Delta robots are deployed in many industrial processes, including pick-and-place assemblies, machining, welding, and food packaging. Three individually controlled lightweight arms enable fast and accurate motion of an output platform in three directions. Roboticists have reduced the size of Delta robots for tasks in limited workspaces, but so far, using conventional manufacturing techniques and components,...

Small or difficult-to-access spaces such as areas covered with rubble, or narrow pipes and engines can pose obstacles to search-and-rescue missions, repair works, or environmental and industrial monitoring. One solution for these problems could be small-sized robots that are able to navigate such spaces, transport payload, sense, and communicate. Wyss Institute researchers have developed a...

The majority of stroke survivors have difficulty using their affected arm in everyday life. Commercial rehabilitation robots exist, but most are expensive, rigid, non-portable exoskeletons that can only be used in clinical rehabilitation settings. Portable devices could considerably increase the frequency and amount of robotic therapy, maximizing the recovery possible for patients with arm impairments....

The ability to derive and manipulate pluripotent stem cells has opened up new avenues for modeling biological systems in both healthy and diseased conditions. In order to more fully recapitulate the tissue microenvironment with its cell-cell, cell-extracellular matrix, and cell-niche interactions, it is essential to transition stem-cell culturing from monolayers to 3D structures. Self-organization of...

Since the 1940s, researchers have thought of using gene drives to eradicate populations of pests and disease vectors, and to reduce or eliminate invasive species that wreak havoc on natural ecosystems. The idea of a gene drive stems from nature itself, where in sexually reproducing organisms a certain version of a gene is preferentially passed...

Because of their large molecular sizes and properties, biologic drugs, be it in the form of monoclonal antibodies that target disease-associated molecules or active proteins and enzymes that may correct deficiencies in the human body, have proven difficult to deploy in many cases. Their therapeutic effects on target cells and tissues often require high and...