Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard

10/16/2026

"If our innovations help keep patients out of the hospital, they will have a long-term positive environmental impact. In the short term, we can make a difference by reducing lab waste through lab recycling programs," explains Lab Safety Advisor Hannah Morrissey.

Learn more about the Wyss lab recycling program, what makes it unique, what the team sees for the future, and why Hannah's excited about it: https://bit.ly/47ptcbS

10/15/2026

Is hitchhiking the answer to the decades-old problem of delivering therapeutics to the brain?

Scientists developing drugs to treat brain diseases face a major challenge: how to get treatments across the blood-brain barrier, the body's defense that protects the brain from unwanted substances.

Years ago, researchers proposed that drugs could hitch a ride on laboratory-engineered antibodies to reach the brain. Now, it's finally coming to fruition with two treatments for Hunter syndrome, and an experimental Alzheimer's therapy is being tested in multiple Phase III clinical trials.

In this National Geographic story, Wyss Senior Director of Translational R&D James Gorman explains, "This is huge validation for the shuttle field."

Gorman is the Principal Investigator of the Wyss Brain Targeting Program, which is also developing shuttles for precision delivery of drugs to the brain. Their lead panels of shuttles increase drug transport by 10- to 20-fold.

Scientists have spent decades trying to get medicine across the blood-brain barrier. Two treatments for a rare genetic disorder have already made it through. Now an experimental Alzheimer’s drug is putting the same strategy to a much bigger test.

10/14/2026

What if we could slow the aging process by reprogramming the gene expression networks that control how our cells age?

In new research published in Nature Aging, a team led by Wyss Institute Core Faculty member George Church developed a machine learning-powered platform to identify genes with rejuvenation potential. The team found that SRSF1 reduced multiple hallmarks of aging and extended median lifespan in mice by 14%, offering a promising new direction for aging research.

By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Every organ and tissue progressively loses function and integrity as it ages. In fact, researchers have identified “hallmarks of aging” that not only present specific processes impacted by age, but are also thought of as levers that, if successfully targeted, co...

10/13/2026

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, learn about how our ReConstruct project aims to help patients feel whole again more safely by creating living tissue implants from a patient’s own cells for reconstruction surgery.

Most women diagnosed with breast cancer undergo some kind of mastectomy as part of their treatment.

Afterward, in order to feel whole again, 40% choose to have reconstruction surgery. Right now, they have two options: artificial implants, which require frequent safety monitoring and must be replaced within 10-15 years, or, if they have a donor site available, autologous tissue flaps, where the procedure could lead to additional complications.

ReConstruct uses patients' own cells to minimize rejection and other complications and produces better outcomes than existing options.

ReConstruct is a platform for growing, vascularizing, and implanting patient-derived tissues that enable safer breast reconstruction after cancer surgery.

10/12/2026

At the Wyss, we know the health of people and our planet are inextricably linked, which is why we're developing solutions for both.

Air pollution causes and worsens respiratory illness. Climate stressors increase the risk of foodborne illnesses. And now, according to a new survey of 1,000 health professionals, extreme heat is putting pregnant people and newborns at risk.

Learn more about the link between women's health and planetary health:

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with epidemiologist Rupa Basu about a new survey of 1,000 health professionals, which found that extreme heat is posing a growing threat to pregnant people and newborns.

10/11/2026

As we near the end of Hispanic Heritage Month, learn more about the histories, cultures, and contributions of Harvard’s Spanish, Mexican, Caribbean, Central, and South American communities.

Read about remarkable individuals in STEM, such as Jean Andino, one of the first Hispanic women in the U.S. to become a tenured engineering faculty member, and Raquel Eidelman Cohen, a graduate of the first co-educational class at Harvard Medical School.

This month we celebrate the histories, cultures, and contributions of Harvard's Spanish, Mexican, Caribbean, Central and South American communities.

10/10/2026

"I could see the struggles in the small things better than anyone else. It's very hard to see someone you love having a difficult time just living their life," explains Maria Carolina Bittencourt Gonçalves, a Wyss postdoctoral fellow.

Maria's experiences dating someone with bipolar disorder and volunteering for a Brazilian organization that supports patients with bipolar disorder and their caregivers inspire her work on the CircaVent Team.

CircaVent is a high-throughput drug screening platform that combines predictive algorithms, preclinical models, and human brain organoids to understand mental health disorders and identify and test drugs that could treat the underlying causes of those conditions, starting with bipolar disorder.

In honor of World Mental Health Day, read and listen to Maria's story, including what motivates her to Reimagine the World and how she's contributing to that vision.

By Jessica Leff Listen to Maria tell her story | Wyss Institute · Maria C. B. Gonçalves – Reimagine the WorldMaria Carolina Bittencourt Gonçalves, Ph.D., grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, the largest city by population in South America. It’s comparable to New York, but with a tropical climate. ....

10/09/2026

"The possibility of designing DNA megastructures on the scale of micrometers with features that can be arranged with nanoscale precision could potentially open up paths for sophisticated applications," explains Core Faculty member William Shih.

"These include optical devices that can modulate light at visible wavelengths, cell-DNA interfaces that function as ‘cell mimics’ to program, for example, the behavior of certain immune cells in disease, or molds and scaffolds for assembling tissues with programmable shapes and functions."

His team has recently published a computational framework that standardizes the design and fabrication of crisscross megastructures to make the nanotechnology more broadly accessible: https://bit.ly/4hPcc3o

10/08/2026

Last weekend, Wyss researchers co-hosted a booth with our friends at ECHO at the Cambridge Science Carnival, a family-friendly science event with activities for innovation enthusiasts of all ages.

They taught the visitors about Organ Chips, microfluidic devices lined with living human cells that mimic human organs. Guests learned about the AVATAR Project, where Organ Chips traveled aboard the Artemis II mission and are being used to study the impact of deep-space radiation and microgravity. Booth visitors also got to see real Organ Chips under Echo microscopes.

10/07/2026

From developing plastics that actually break down to adhesive gels for surgery, the Wyss Institute’s materials scientists are working to save the future.

Four Wyss researchers, Emily Stoler, Peter Nguyen, Benjamin Freedman, and Namrata Ramani, speak with host Ashley Christine to discuss how they’re using materials science to make a positive impact on patients and our planet.