Wyss InstituteFundamental Research – Wyss Institute

The Dish Live with special guest George Church

Jessica Leff — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 15:24:53 +0000

In this very special live taping of “The Dish,” host Johannes Fruehauf sits down with renowned geneticist and Wyss Core Faculty member, George Church, Ph.D. Widely known for discovering the first direct genomic sequencing method, Church has reshaped the world of genetics. A professor at Harvard and MIT and a founding professor at the Wyss Institute, Church has co-founded over 50 startups—15+ of…

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Researchers call for global discussion about possible risks from “mirror bacteria”

Jessica Leff — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 14:27:15 +0000

A group of researchers including Wyss Core Faculty member George Church, Ph.D. has published new findings in Science on potential risks from the development of mirror bacteria — synthetic organisms in which all molecules have reversed chirality (i.e. are ‘mirrored’). Scientists had begun early work toward creating mirror bacteria, and while the capability is at least a decade away…

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SeqVerify: A New Easily Accessible Tool for Comprehensive Cell Line Quality Assessment – The Stem Cell Report

Jessica Leff — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 16:54:17 +0000

During the last decade, advances in genome editing and pluripotent stem cell (PSC) culture have let researchers generate edited PSC lines to study a wide variety of biological questions. However, abnormalities in cell lines such as aneuploidy, mutations, on-target and off-target editing errors, and microbial contamination can arise during PSC culture or due to undesired editing outcomes.

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Closing in on Parkinson’s Disease proteins in extracellular vesicles in the blood

Jessica Leff — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 13:20:38 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Brain disorders like Parkinson’s (PD) or Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) start to develop in patients much earlier than when their first clinical symptoms appear. Treating patients at these early stages could slow or even stop their disease, but there is currently no way to diagnose brain disorders at those pre-symptomatic stages. Thus far, the specific brain lesions…

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Newly discovered cyanobacteria could help sequester carbon from oceans and factories

Jessica Leff — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 12:58:56 +0000

By Lindsay Brownell (BOSTON) — An international coalition of researchers from the United States and Italy has discovered a novel strain of cyanobacteria, or algae, isolated from volcanic ocean vents that is especially adept at growing rapidly in the presence of CO2 and readily sinks in water, making it a prime candidate for biologically-based carbon sequestration projects and bioproduction of…

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DNA Nanoswitch Calipers for Single-Molecule Proteomics

Jessica Leff — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 16:48:31 +0000

Proteins are well known as essential orchestrators of life, but what is less well-understood is their post-translational modifications (PTMs). These modifications can include the attachment of chemical groups, carbohydrates, or lipids to the proteins, which affect their folding, stability, and functions. Certain protein PTMs have been linked to diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative disease…

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“Suspended animation” drug could aid organ transplantation and survival from traumatic injury

Jessica Leff — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 14:50:33 +0000

(CAMBRIDGE, UK) – Researchers have shown that a non-addictive pain relief drug could be used to preserve cells and organs quickly and safely for transplantation, removing the need for static cold storage. The research, published today in eLife, was described by the editors as an important study providing solid evidence that the existing drug, SNC80, can rapidly and reversibly slow biochemical…

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Starting a fluorescent biosensor revolution

Mariel Schoen — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Biosensors – devices that use biological molecules to detect the presence of a target substance – have enormous potential for detecting disease biomarkers, molecules-in-action in diverse biological processes, or toxins and other harmful substances in the environment. One of the more common types, fluorescent biosensors, consists of a target-binding biomolecule…

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Vinny Chandran Suja on Making Backpacks More Reliable and Predictable

Jessica Leff — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 13:10:41 +0000

The Humans of the Wyss (HOW) series features members of the Wyss community discussing their work, the influences that shape them as professionals, and their collaborations at the Wyss Institute and beyond. As a kid, Vinny Chandran Suja had no interest in biology. Instead, his math and science acumen led him to pursue degrees in mechanical and chemical engineering, studying non-living systems.

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ACE-ing protein detection in single cells

Jessica Leff — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 14:55:40 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Since the 1950s, researchers have used a famous method invented by Wallace Coulter known as “flow cytometry” to characterize different types of immune cells in research studies and in blood samples from human individuals. This has enabled a much deeper understanding of immune cell development as well as new ways to assess human health and diagnose various blood…

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