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Linzixuan (Rhoda) Zhang holding the medal she won in the 2024 Collegiate Inventors Competition

Rhoda Zhang Wins 2024 Collegiate Inventors Competition

MIT News

November 5, 2024

Graduate student Linzixuan (Rhoda) Zhang has won the 2024 Collegiate Inventors Competition in both the Graduate and People's Choice categories. With advisors Robert Langer and Ana Jaklenec, Zhang and KI postdoc Xin Yang are developing metal-organic frameworks and other safe, sustainable nutrient stabilizing materials to address global micronutrient deficiencies. They are also launching MOFe™ Coffee, the first iron-fortified coffee.

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Showing 131–140 of 582 stories

Which Switch Is Which?

MIT Koch Institute

May 8, 2023

A new approach from the Yaffe Lab and published in Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences identifies the specific protein kinases, or biochemical ‘switches,’ that control interactions with 14-3-3 proteins. This class of proteins controls cellular response to stress and DNA damage, as well as other key mechanisms that play critical roles in cancer development, progression and treatment response.

This work was supported in part by the Charles and Marjorie Holloway Foundation and a fellowship from the S. Leslie Misrock (1949) Frontier Research Fund for Cancer Nanotechnology.

Zooming in on Genome Structure

MIT News

May 8, 2023

Hansen Lab researchers have developed a technique that maps the genome’s 3D organization at a resolution 100 times higher than possible before. The new method reveals interactions between genes and the potentially distant regions of the genome that control their expression—brought together via loops in genetic material. By identifying the target genes of disease-associated regulatory regions, researchers could better understand and treat many diseases, including cancer. 

This research was supported in part by the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program.

Promising Clinical Data for Cima Lab Pretzel

Endpoints News

May 1, 2023

Johnson and Johnson reported a complete response for 16 of 22 patients in their Phase II trial of a new approach for bladder cancer—the most expensive malignancy to treat over the lifetime of patients. The trial used TAR-200, an implantable pretzel-shaped device originally developed in the Cima Lab, to replace standard regimens with continuously administered gemcitabine in the bladder.

The Measuring Tape Heard Round the World

MIT News

May 1, 2023

Nancy Hopkins joined author and New York Times journalist Kate Zernike for a discussion of The Exceptions. The book tells the story of Hopkins' life and career, and of the 15 “exceptional” female scientists on the MIT faculty who joined Hopkins to document gender discrimination at MIT and fight for equality. Armed with a measuring tape, Hopkins began by quantifying the inequitable distribution of lab space among male and female faculty. Her findings would catalyze the  landmark 1999  report, "A Study on the Status of Women Faculty on Science at MIT," detailing the barriers standing in the way of women who want to pursue degrees and careers in science.

Elicio Doses First Patient

BioSpace

April 27, 2023

Elicio Therapeutics, which is developing the Irvine Lab’s lymph node targeting vaccine technology, has dosed its first patient of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of a treatment of KRAS/NRAS mutated solid tumors in pancreatic and colorectal cancer patients. 

What’s Next for Alejandro Aguilera Castrejón

MIT Koch Institute

April 26, 2023

Catch up with Alejandro Aguilera Castrejón, an inaugural winner of the Angelika Amon Young Scientist Award in 2022. Aguilera talks about his plans for building on his doctoral work in embryogenesis and starting a new lab when he begins his new role as a group leader at HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus in March 2024.

Stimulating Hunger

MIT News

April 26, 2023

An ingestible capsule that delivers an electrical current can stimulate the release of the hormone ghrelin. Developed in the lab of KI alum Giovanni Traverso, the capsule could prove useful for treating diseases that involve nausea or loss of appetite, such as anorexia or cachexia (loss of body mass that can occur in patients with cancer or other chronic diseases).

Raising the Barcode for Cancer Detection

MIT News

April 25, 2023

The Bhatia Lab designed a new nanoparticle sensor that, like its previous sensors, could enable early, affordable, and accessible diagnosis of cancer with a simple urine test. As described in Nature Nanotechnology, when the nanoparticles encounter a tumor, they shed DNA “barcodes” into the urine, which can be read on a simple paper strip and analyzed in a medical lab to detect cancer, distinguish between tumor types, or monitor response to treatment.

The research was supported in part by the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine and the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program via the Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund.

Neel Bardhan Named Break Through Cancer Scientist

Break Through Cancer

April 25, 2023

Congratulations to Neelkanth Bardhan on being named a Break Through Cancer Scientist! Professional scientists in the role cooperate on and lead projects, lending their skill, knowledge and insight to maximize the impact of Break Through Cancer's cross-institutional collaborations. Bardhan works with the Intercepting Ovarian Cancer TeamLab, helping design an optical imaging system for highly sensitive detection of early precursor lesions in ovarian cancer.

Printable Vaccines

MIT News

April 24, 2023

Researchers in the Jaklenec and Langer labs have designed a mobile vaccine printer that could be scaled up to produce hundreds of vaccine doses in a day. This kind of printer, which can fit on a tabletop, could be deployed anywhere vaccines are needed, no cold storage required. The printer produces patches with hundreds of microneedles containing vaccine. The patch can be attached to the skin, allowing the vaccine to dissolve without the need for a traditional injection. In a study appearing in Nature Biotechnology, the researchers showed they could use the printer to produce thermostable Covid-19 RNA vaccines that could induce a comparable immune response to that generated by injected RNA vaccines, in mice.