Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering Archives

A new mechanically active adhesive fights muscle atrophy

Mechanically active gel-elastomer-nitinol tissue adhesive (MAGENTA) device prototypes made with a nitinol spring and elastomer insulation, with a penny for scale [Photo courtesy of the Wyss Institute at Harvard University]

Harvard bioengineers have created a mechanically active adhesive that can prevent muscle wasting and support atrophy recovery.

They call it MAGENTA, an acronym for mechanically active gel–elastomer–nitinol tissue adhesive. Researchers from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences successfully tested MAGENTA in an animal model and published their study in Nature Materials.

“With MAGENTA, we developed a new integrated multi-component system for the mechanostimulation of muscle that can be directly placed on muscle tissue to trigger key molecular pathways for growth,” senior au…

Startup licenses Harvard tech to develop ultra-sensitive COVID antibody assay

This colorized scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects), the virus that causes COVID-19, emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. [Image courtesy of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases]

New startup Spear Bio plans to commercialize ultrasensitive protein-detection technology from Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

Boston-based Spear Bio licensed the DNA nanotechnology-driven Successive Proximity Extension Amplification Reaction (SPEAR) in a worldwide exclusive agreement with Harvard’s Office of Technology Development.

Spear Bio will develop a reagent-based platform for ultrasensitive protein detection in small-volume samples with an initial focus on research-use-only applications, Harvard said in a news release.

RELATED: Here’s where Harvard’s engineering dean sees medtech research going Read more

Harvard researchers are closer to human heart fabrication

A biohybrid model of a four-chambered heart engineered with focused rotary jet spinning (FRJS) technology [Image courtesy of Harvard SEAS]

Harvard University researchers used focused rotary jet spinning (FRJS) technology to fabricate polymer fibers that mimic the helical structure of heart muscles.

They created ventricle structures with the method and then seeded them with rat cardiomyocyte or human stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte cells, according to a news release from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. Roughly a week later, they had several thin layers of beating tissue covering the scaffold. The cells in the beating tissue followed the same helical alignment as the fibers underneath.

The bioengineers, who were from the Wyss Institue and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), were then able to run experiments that comp…

How an airway-on-a-chip model can help identify promising antivirals for COVID-19

One of the first focuses of organ-chip specialist Emulate (Boston) was to reduce the need for animal testing over time. Its technology can simulate tissue-tissue interfaces within organs using human cells.

But the potential of the organ chips to yield mechanistic insights for drug discovery and understanding toxicities has become more evident over time.

The pandemic has underscored that promise, highlighting the potential of Emulate’s technology for drug discovery and vaccine testing.

A spinout of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Emulate’s human airway chip culture was highlighted earlier this year in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Created with microchip manufacturing techniques and microfluidic culture technology, Emulate’s organ chips contain living human cells that simulate organ-level functions. The organ chips can “recreate tissue-tissue interfaces, which is what defines an organ,” said Dr. D…

As organs-on-chips advance, their potential for drug discovery grows

Cortical neuron staining in the Emulate Brain-Chip. Image courtesy of Emulate Inc.

Engineered microchips with living human cells have the potential to accelerate drug development and replace animal testing, said Dr. Donald Ingber, the founding director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.

The organ-on-a-chip technology could also enable the industry to rethink its business model, Ingber said in a webinar from the Boston-based startup Emulate. While critics routinely criticize the pharmaceutical industry for price gouging, the blockbuster business model’s demise has threatened many firms’ profitability in the sector. R&D costs are another pressure. “It costs over $3 billion to go from the bench to the clinic at this point,” said Dr. Donald Ingber, the founding director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.

An…

Harvard’s Wyss Institute wants to create a COVID-19 antibody test strip

[Image courtesy of The iQ Group Global]

The iQ Group Global announced today that it has inked a collaboration with Harvard’s Wyss Institute to develop a printable point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 antibody test with real-time results.

Life Science Biosensor Diagnostics, the iQ Group’s development company, has been working on the Australian-invented Biosensor Platform, a printable organic thin-film transistor “strip” that has the potential to provide a variety of medical tests — and even potentially replace blood glucose finger stick tests for diabetics. The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has meanwhile created a special coating that can detect IgM and/or IgG antibodies.

Get the full story on our sister site Medical Design & Outsourcing.

Harvard’s Wyss Institute wants to create a COVID-19 antibody test strip

[Image courtesy of The iQ Group Global]

The iQ Group Global announced today that it has inked a collaboration with Harvard’s Wyss Institute to develop a printable point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 antibody test with real-time results.

Life Science Biosensor Diagnostics, the iQ Group’s development company, has been working on the Australian-invented Biosensor Platform, a printable organic thin-film transistor “strip” that has the potential to provide a variety of medical tests — and even potentially replace blood glucose finger stick tests for diabetics. The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has meanwhile created a special coating that can detect IgM and/or IgG antibodies.

A new pilot study will test the integration of the Biosensor Platform with the Wyss coating for spotting COVID-19 antibodies. The eventual goal is a chewing-gum-sized diagnostic &…