Wyss InstituteRobots – Wyss Institute

Toward autonomous self-organizing biological robots with a nervous system

Mariel Schoen — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 18:30:42 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Biobots, whose growing line of variants started with Xenobots, are fascinating tiny self-powered living robots built exclusively using frog embryonic cells. Originally developed in the laboratories of Wyss Institute Associate Faculty member and Tufts University Professor Michael Levin, Ph.D. and his collaborators at University of Vermont…

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When Matter Makes Decisions: Michael Levin on the Intelligence of Form

Jessica Leff — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 18:39:49 +0000

In this episode of Grow Everything, hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan have a conversation with Professor Michael Levin, Ph.D., Wyss Associate Faculty member and the Director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University. He reveals how cells make decisions without brains, store memories without DNA, and navigate anatomical space like we navigate physical space. Discover how his team…

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MyoExo: Wearable Muscle-Centric Sensors for Improved Assessment of Neurological Disorders

Jessica Leff — Wed, 01 May 2024 14:00:27 +0000

Abnormal changes in muscle function are hallmarks of a collection of neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s Disease (PD), essential tremor, epilepsy, certain sleep disorders, and others. For example, patients with PD can have slowed movements (bradykinesia), tremors, and muscle stiffness (rigidity) – doctors need to detect at least two of the three signs for a positive diagnosis.

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DNA Nanoswitches: “Lab-on-a-Molecule” Drug Discovery

Mariel Schoen — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 12:55:42 +0000

Current approaches in compound screening are often limited in either throughput – the simultaneous investigation of large numbers of chemical or biological compounds for a specific biological target – or in the ability to screen for the complex ways disease-relevant molecules can be functionally affected by drugs. This can make it challenging to discover new therapeutics that modulate proteins’…

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Soft robotic, wearable device improves walking for individual with Parkinson’s disease

Jessica Leff — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 14:21:45 +0000

By Leah Burrows / SEAS Communications (CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — Freezing is one of the most common and debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than 9 million people worldwide. When individuals with Parkinson’s disease freeze, they suddenly lose the ability to move their feet, often mid-stride, resulting in a series of staccato stutter steps that…

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Scientists build tiny biological robots from human cells

Jessica Leff — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 20:00:32 +0000

Mike Silver / Tufts University Communications (MEDFORD, Mass.) – Researchers have created tiny biological robots, called Anthrobots, from adult human tracheal cells that can move across a surface and encourage the growth of neurons in a lab dish. The multicellular assemblies, ranging in size from the width of a human hair to the point of a sharpened pencil, are designed to carry out tasks…

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Wyss Institute’s Lab-on-a-Molecule Drug Discovery Project Receives Funding from Northpond Labs

Jessica Leff — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 12:57:31 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) – The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Northpond Labs, the research-and-development affiliate of Northpond Ventures, entered into an agreement today, whereby Northpond Labs will support the Institute’s “Lab-on-a-Molecule” project. This is the third Wyss project to which Northpond Labs has…

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Clearing a path for non-invasive muscle therapy for the elderly

Jessica Leff — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 17:57:17 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Mechanotherapy, the concept of using mechanical forces to stimulate tissue healing, has been used for decades as a form of physical therapy to help heal injured muscles. However, the biological basis and optimal settings for mechanotherapies are still poorly understood, especially with respect to elderly patients. Given the well-known decline in healing ability…

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Manufacturing Mini Surgical Robots

Jessica Leff — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 15:29:21 +0000

Surgical robots have revolutionized procedures for patients around the world, making them more precise and less invasive than earlier tools. But most surgical robots are massive devices that can take up an entire room and cost millions of dollars. And the surgical tools themselves that enter the patient’s body are currently too large to access certain organs and tissues.

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Wasting muscles built back better

Mariel Schoen — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 15:55:28 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Muscles waste as a result of not being exercised enough, as happens quickly with a broken limb that has been immobilized in a cast, and more slowly in people reaching an advanced age. Muscle atrophy, how clinicians refer to the phenomenon, is also a debilitating symptom in patients suffering from neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)…

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