Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard

09/03/2026

StataDX is using Wyss-developed eRapid’s portable electrochemical sensing technology to develop point-of-care diagnostics for neurological, cardiovascular, and renal diseases. Their primary focus right now is detecting neurological disorders.

StataDX licensed the eRapid portable electrochemical sensing technology to develop diagnostics for neurological, cardiovascular, and renal diseases with a first focus on building a point-of-care platform for difficult-to-detect neurological disorders.

09/02/2026

From microscopic worlds to larger-than-life landscapes, take a look at what our community sees in and out of the lab.

To celebrate the convergence of science and art, we held our fifth image contest, "Visions of the Wyss 2026."

Check out the absolutely stunning winners and runners-up.

At the Wyss, we are committed to breaking down silos and barriers between disciplines and industries, enabling unique collaborations between researchers and clinicians, mechanical engineers and cell biologists, chemists and nanotechnologists, and more. By leveraging their unique expertise and Nature...

09/01/2026

80% of ovarian cancer cases are metastatic at the time of detection, and for those patients, the five-year survival rate is less than 50%. What do the ones who beat the odds have in common? They develop lymph node-like structures called tertiary lymphoid organs, with autoimmune memory to reduce the risk of recurrence.

Wyss researchers are developing iNodes, injectable immune organs, to boost immune responses and enable the formation of these lymphoid organs to improve ovarian cancer survival rates by at least 50%.

Learn more in honor of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

Over 12,000 women die of ovarian cancer every year, yet ovarian cancer receives less than 1% of research funding compared to other solid tumors. Early symptoms can often mimic less serious conditions, and delayed diagnoses mean that 80% of ovarian cancer cases are metastatic at the time of detection...

08/31/2026

Jen Bays loves building things. At home, that might mean assembling LEGO bricks or IKEA furniture. At work, it means transforming an observation into a complete scientific story concluding with patient impact.

Right now, as part of the THRIVE Validation Project, she’s studying vascular barriers and developing a therapeutic to repair damaged blood vessels to treat diseases like sepsis.

Learn more about Jen and her work in this month’s Humans of the Wyss.

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. Jen Bays loves building things. At home, that might mean assembling LEGO bricks or IKEA furnit...

08/30/2026

Learn more about Core Faculty member Jim Collins in this episode of The Pulse Podcast by the Harvard Griffin GSAS Biotech Club. He shares his experiences, including growing up in a technical family, transitioning from neuromechanics to synthetic biology, working on diagnostics for infectious diseases, and enjoying his hobbies of running, reading, and spending time with family and friends.

James J. Collins is a founding Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute and the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering & Science and Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT. Jim serves as a director at the MIT Jameel Clinic, a member of the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences & Technology Faculty, and...

08/29/2026

The Wyss Translational AI Catalyst is an institute-wide effort designed to enable and accelerate innovation through effective and responsible application of new computational approaches while leveraging machine learning algorithms to generate unique biological datasets.

Learn more about the Catalyst, how it is applying AI to enhance application-driven science and address challenges in healthcare, and how you can get involved.

By Seth Kroll (BOSTON) – Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly permeating the modern technological landscape. While its rise often sparks debate and caution in broader society, many in the life sciences view AI as a wellspring of opportunity. Researchers and innovators are increasingly eager to ...

08/28/2026

Could rock weathering be accelerated to pull excess CO2 out of the atmosphere?

Rock weathering, the breakdown and dissolving of rocks and minerals caused by their exposure to water, air, and biological life, is a major regulator of Earth’s atmospheric CO2 levels and climate. Current efforts to accelerate rock weathering are still too slow to affect the global carbon balance or to be economically viable at industrial scale.

To address this, researchers at the Wyss, Harvard Medical School’s Department of Systems Biology, and the Stanford University Doerr School of Sustainability showed that an engineered marine bacterium sped up the weathering of a silicate mineral in customized bioreactors with a continuous flow of seawater, boosting the amount of CO2 that was removed from the air.

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Rock weathering, the breakdown and dissolving of rocks and minerals caused by their exposure to water, air, and biological life, is a major regulator of Earth’s atmospheric CO2 levels and climate. Throughout Earth’s history, rock weathering has been faster durin...

08/27/2026

By bringing its innovative gas-transfer technology to market, Wyss-enabled startup FluxBio will help biomanufacturers increase production while lowering their costs and environmental impact.

The engineered microporous crystals that are dispersed in water to create a stable colloidal system with water-loving exteriors and water-repelling internal pores that absorb and concentrate gas were developed by Associate Faculty member Jarad Mason at the Wyss and Harvard’s Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

To realize the technology's full potential for biomanufacturing, Mason teamed up with Wyss Senior Scientist Marika Ziesack, Core Faculty member Pam Silver, and Principal Scientist Emily Stoler.

As part of the REFINE Validation Project, they scaled the dispersible gas carrier from grams to kilograms and extended their findings to a larger scale. Introducing the dispersible gas carrier more than doubled biomass output while reducing airflow by 70%, lowering stirring energy consumption by 55%, and eliminating the need for antifoam agents.

Now, FluxBio will be commercializing this exciting technology.

08/26/2026

In celebration of National Dog Day, enjoy this video of a Lab in a lab*. 🐶🥼

(*not filmed in a real lab)

08/26/2026

Researchers from Core Faculty member George Church's lab at the Wyss and Harvard Medical School devised a simpler, faster, safer, and larger-scale method to make new proteins without requiring genome recoding or even any organisms, called AGENTEX.

This work, published in Nature, promises to expand the development of novel protein-based medicines and other materials.

AGENTEX arises from a discovery that overturns decades of understanding of how transfer RNAs (tRNAs) help turn the genetic code into proteins.

By STEPHANIE DUTCHEN / Harvard Medical School Communications At a glance: A new tool allows researchers to design and produce synthetic proteins faster, more safely, and at larger scale than previously possible. Each protein can contain up to 34 custom amino acids rather than the naturally occurring...