Explore more about: Synthetic Biological Systems

With an eye toward early disease detection, synthetic biology engineers at the University of Wisconsin have designed and engineered bacteria that find and detect fragments of DNA shed from infectious pathogens.

Two years ago, Sangeeta Bhatia and Christopher Chen founded a biotech company that on Wednesday officially launched as Satellite Bio in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company aims to translate the work of Bhatia, Chen and their cofounder Arnav Chhabra into "tissue therapeutics" — regenerative medicines built from bioengineered tissue structures, or "satellites," that can be implanted into patients. Source: BiopharmaDive

In a new study published in Science Translational Medicine, researchers demonstrated that human kidney organoids are useful models to identify the point of permanent and reversible kidney cell damage and they also discovered a drug candidate that could potentially prevent chronic disease before reaching that point. Read more at STAT.

NIBIB-funded researchers are developing a robotic pill that, after swallowing, can deliver biologic drugs into the stomach, which could provide an alternative method for self-injection for a wide range of therapies.

NIBIB-funded researchers have found a way to model the human neuromuscular junction by growing these synapses in a lab, which could accelerate novel treatments for neuromuscular diseases.

With a new $1.3 million grant from the NIBIB, researchers led by University of Florida associate professor Zhoumeng Lin are building a tool that can offer drug researchers insight into how well a new nanoparticle-based cancer therapy will work, even before a drug enters animal testing. Source: Nano Magazine.

Engineers developed a way to grow tiny replicas of the pancreas, using either healthy or cancerous pancreatic cells. Their models could help researchers develop and test potential drugs for pancreatic cancer.

Researchers have developed a capsule that can carry large protein drugs, such as monoclonal antibodies, and inject them directly into the lining of the stomach.

The human body can be genetically inclined to attack its own cells, destroying the beta cells in the pancreas that make insulin, which helps convert sugar into energy. Called Type 1 diabetes, this disorder can occur at any age and can be fatal if not carefully managed with insulin shots or an insulin pump to balance the body's sugar levels.

A Rice University bioengineer and her Brown School of Engineering team were awarded an NIH grant to create gene activity sensors and activators that hold unmatched potential for the treatment of infectious diseases, diabetes, genetic disorders, and cancer. Source: AZO Life Sciences