Wyss InstituteMicrofluidics – Wyss Institute

Wyss Institute technologies enable breakthrough in astronaut health research aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission

Jessica Leff — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:55:20 +0000

By Alexandra Jirstrand (BOSTON) – Launched on April 1, 2026, Artemis II is a historic, approximately 10-day lunar flyby mission that is sending four astronauts farther into space than any humans have traveled since the Apollo era, marking a critical step toward sustained lunar exploration and future missions to Mars. The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard…

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AVATARs for Astronaut Health Are Heading to Space!

Jessica Leff — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 15:04:20 +0000

NASA’s AVATAR experiment is flying aboard Artemis II to study how deep space affects human health. Using Organ Chips containing astronaut cells, Emulate and Wyss Institute researchers will examine how radiation and microgravity impact human tissue. This research will help inform medical strategies for future long-duration missions to Mars and beyond. The findings could also contribute to…

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Transforming cancer treatments through bioinspired engineering and translation

Jessica Leff — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 14:59:03 +0000

Despite major advances in personalized medicine, targeted drugs, and immunotherapies, many cancers remain difficult – or impossible – to treat. Even when therapies work, they can trigger serious secondary health risks that may themselves become life-threatening. Wyss Institute researchers are tackling these challenges head-on by developing new therapies that more powerfully activate the immune…

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Organs on Chips: Using Science, Art, and Design to Understand the Human Body – Talking About Blood

Jessica Leff — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:41:34 +0000

In this episode, Wyss Founding Director Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., talks with Helen Osborne about: How organ-on-chip and “human body on chips” technologies are built and how they realistically mimic human organ function by combining living cells, blood flow, and mechanical forces like breathing and stretch; The implications of these chips for hematology and clinical care…

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Human Organ Chip technology sets stage for pan-influenza A CRISPR RNA therapies

Jessica Leff — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 13:55:54 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) – The Influenza A virus (IAV) has been the cause of six major flu pandemics, responsible for 50 to 100 million deaths globally. In the U.S. alone, it is estimated that, despite seasonally updated vaccines, IAV infections still lead to 140,000 to 710,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 to 52,000 deaths annually. The development of antiviral treatments against IAV…

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Wyss Institute receives Wellcome Leap funding to develop first Human Organ Chip model for heavy menstrual bleeding

Jessica Leff — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 13:55:11 +0000

By Alexandra Jirstrand (BOSTON) – The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has been awarded funding from Wellcome Leap’s $50 million The Missed Vital Sign program, which seeks to transform how menstruation is understood and treated in healthcare. The Wyss will use its pioneering Organ Chip technology to create the first human model of heavy menstrual…

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Human cervix modeled in microfluidic organ chip fills key women’s health gap

Jessica Leff — Fri, 31 May 2024 14:55:29 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) has been identified as one of the many unmet needs in women’s health and affects more than 25% of reproductive-aged women. It is caused by pathogenic bacteria that push the healthy microbiomes in the female vagina and cervix – the small gatekeeper canal that connects the uteruns and vagina – into a state of imbalance known as dysbiosis.

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Mice Don’t Menstruate: Reimagining Women’s Health Using Organ Chips with Dr. Donald Ingber

Jessica Leff — Wed, 08 May 2024 13:05:03 +0000

In this episode, host Sharon Kedar, Co-Founder of Northpond Ventures, is joined by Dr. Donald Ingber, Founding Director at Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. Dr. Ingber’s commitment to following his passion has led him to countless medical and technological breakthroughs, including Organ Chip technology. These incredible chips recreate the structure and…

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HydroPEF: Portable Off-the-Grid Water Purification

admin — Wed, 01 May 2024 05:48:43 +0000

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; thus, a need for effective water treatment at the point of…

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Passive Directional Valve Technology: Towards More User-friendly and Accessible Microfluidic Devices for Diagnostic and Research Applications

Jessica Leff — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 17:42:46 +0000

Automated fluid-transporting and processing systems that function on the scale of micrometers (microfluidic systems) are becoming increasingly important for advancing various diagnostic, drug fabrication and delivery, and tissue engineering applications. Efforts to create smaller microfluidic devices with functionalities realized at larger scales rely heavily on valves to enable the regulated…

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