Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

The origami gripper can lift a wide range of objects, from apples and soup cans to wine glasses and drones.

Robot hand is soft and strong

Gripper device inspired by “origami magic ball” can grasp wide array of delicate and heavy objects.

March 15, 2019

By integrating conductive wires along with microfluidic channels in long fibers, the researchers were able to demonstrate the ability to sort cells — in this case, separating living cells from dead ones, because the cells respond differently to an electric field. The live cells, shown in green, are pulled toward the outside edge of the channels, while the dead cells (red) are pulled toward the c...

Inside these fibers, droplets are on the move

Fibers containing systems for mixing, separating, and testing fluids may open up new possibilities for medical screening.

October 29, 2018

MIT biological engineers have devised a way to regulate the expression of RNA once it gets into cells, giving them precise control over the dose of protein that a patient receives, as shown in this conceptual image.

This RNA-based technique could make gene therapy more effective

Biological engineers design RNA circuits that enable precise control over the dose of therapeutic protein a patient receives.

October 16, 2018

MIT chemical engineers have devised a new desktop machine that can be easily reconfigured to manufacture small amounts of different biopharmaceutical drugs.

A new way to manufacture small batches of biopharmaceuticals on demand

System can be rapidly reconfigured to produce a variety of protein drugs.

October 1, 2018

MIT researchers have developed an automated chemical synthesis system that can take over many of the more tedious aspects of chemical experimentation, freeing up chemists to spend more time on the more analytical and creative aspects of their research.

Plug-and-play technology automates chemical synthesis

System makes it easier to produce new molecules for myriad applications.

September 20, 2018

Chemical engineering graduate student Connor Coley is researching ways to improve automation and computer assistance in synthesis planning and reaction optimization with medicinal chemistry applications.

Connor Coley named 2018 DARPA Riser

Chemical engineering graduate student is invited to participate in the agency's 60th anniversary symposium in September.

July 16, 2018

MIT researchers have designed nanoparticles that can deliver messenger RNA to specific organs. In this image, lung cells expressing the synthetic mRNA show up as red.

New materials improve delivery of therapeutic messenger RNA

Polymeric nanoparticles can efficiently administer mRNA to cells of the lungs, liver, and other organs.

July 16, 2018

Zachary P. Gates (left) and Brad Pentelute with their ‘Xenoprotein’ etching.

Chemists synthesize millions of proteins not found in nature

New technology could lead to development of novel “xenoprotein” drugs against infectious diseases.

May 21, 2018

Scanning Electron Microscope image shows a few of the carefully designed shaped of the chalcogenide glass deposited on a clear substrate. The shapes, which the researchers call “meta-atoms,” determine how mid-infrared light is bent when passing through the material.

Improving mid-infrared imaging and sensing

Artificial optical materials could allow cheaper, flatter, more efficient detectors for night vision and other uses.

April 26, 2018

New software identified five different families of microstructures, each defined by a shared “skeleton” (blue), that optimally traded off three mechanical properties.

Automating materials design

With new approach, researchers specify desired properties of a material, and a computer system generates a structure accordingly.

February 2, 2018

MIT neuroscientists have discovered that making decisions, especially when choosing between two options that have both positive and negative elements, can be dramatically affected by chronic stress.

Stress can lead to risky decisions

Neuroscientists find chronic stress skews decisions toward higher-risk options.

November 16, 2017

MIT researchers have devised a way to control single neurons using optogenetics. To help achieve this, they developed an opsin, or light-sensitive protein, that can be targeted to neuron cell bodies (bottom row). Neurons in the top row have traditional opsins that are distributed throughout their axons.

Next-generation optogenetic molecules control single neurons

Focused laser beam could help scientists map connections among neurons that underlie behavior.

November 13, 2017

A new system from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory works by analyzing light at the edge of walls, which is impacted by the reflections of objects around the corner from the camera.

An algorithm for your blind spot

Using smartphone cameras, system for seeing around corners could help with self-driving cars and search-and-rescue.

October 9, 2017

Researchers have come up with a new approach to network monitoring that provides great flexibility in data collection while keeping both the circuit complexity of the router and the number of external analytic servers low.

Monitoring network traffic more efficiently

Programming language plus simple circuit design could let routers report on their own operation.

August 23, 2017

Engineers at MIT can predict how beds of tiny, soft hair, such as those that line surfaces inside the human body, will bend in response to fluid flow.

Our hairy insides

Engineers predict how flowing fluid will bend tiny hairs that line blood vessels and intestines.

August 21, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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