Wyss InstituteCell Biology – Wyss Institute

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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Plastic in our blood? That’s a problem. – Harvard Thinking

Jessica Leff — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 14:31:34 +0000

Our planet is filled with plastic. On average, we produce 430 million tons every year, most of which is used only for a short period of time and then discarded. But plastic isn’t just in the environment: it’s now in our bodies. Microplastics have been found in our bloodstreams, lungs, and other organs, and we’re only recently beginning to understand how this affects our health.

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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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Wyss Institute team selected by DARPA-SHIELD program to develop first-of-its-kind biologically engineered broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapeutic

Jessica Leff — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 13:25:50 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University received a contract for up to $12M from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)’s new SHIELD program. The SHIELD (Synthetic Hemo-technologies to Locate and Disinfect) program aims to develop a prophylactic treatment that can be broadly administered to…

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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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Boosting CAR-T cell therapies from under the skin

Jessica Leff — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 13:15:07 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — CAR-T cell therapies are transforming the treatment of previously incurable blood cancers. Six approved CAR-T products have been administered to more than 20,000 people, and more than 500 clinical trials are underway. However, according to a recent study out of the Massachusetts General Hospital, among 100 patients suffering from lymphomas, myelomas or B-cell…

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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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Expanding a lymph node, boosting a vaccine

Jessica Leff — Mon, 06 May 2024 09:15:39 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Each one of us has around 600 lymph nodes (LNs) – small, bean-shaped organs that house various types of blood cells and filter lymph fluid – scattered throughout our bodies. Many of us have also experienced some of our LNs to temporarily swelling during infections with viruses or other pathogens. This LN expansion and subsequent contraction can also result from…

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Metabolically Labeled CAR-T Cells Against Cancer

Jessica Leff — Wed, 01 May 2024 17:03:45 +0000

In recent years, adoptive T cell therapies like CAR-T cell therapy – in which T cells are obtained from a patient, genetically enhanced ex vivo, and infused back into the same patient – have shown spectacular success in the treatment of blood cancers, including leukemias, lymphomas, and more lately multiple myelomas. However, not all patients with a given blood cancer benefit equally from this…

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Ichor: Reversing Aging

Jessica Leff — Wed, 01 May 2024 10:47:33 +0000

More than 150,000 people die each day across the globe, about two-thirds of them from age-related causes like cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and cardiovascular disease. If the process of aging could be slowed or reversed, the incidence of these conditions would be dramatically reduced, and more humans would live longer, healthier lives. However, aging is a complex process involving multiple…

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