An interdisciplinary team of engineers, biologists, and geneticists has developed a new way of studying the heart: they’ve built a miniature replica of a heart chamber from a combination of nanoengineered parts and human heart tissue. There are no springs or external power sources—like the real thing, it just beats by itself, driven by the live heart tissue grown from stem cells. The device could give researchers a more accurate view of how the organ works, allowing them to track how the heart grows in the embryo, study the impact of disease, and test the potential effectiveness and side effects of new treatments—all at zero risk to patients and without leaving a lab.

The Boston University–led team behind the gadget—nicknamed miniPUMP, and officially known as the cardiac miniaturized Precision-enabled Unidirectional Microfluidic Pump—says the technology could also pave the way for building lab-based versions of other organs, from lungs to kidneys. Their findings have been published in Science Advances.

At just 3 square centimeters, the miniPUMP isn’t much bigger than a postage stamp. Built to act like a human heart ventricle—or muscular lower chamber—its custom-made components are fitted onto a thin piece of 3D-printed plastic. There are miniature acrylic valves, opening and closing to control the flow of liquid—water, in this case, rather than blood—and small tubes, funneling that fluid just like arteries and veins. And beating away in one corner, the muscle cells that make heart tissue contract, cardiomyocytes, made using stem cell technology.

To make the cardiomyocyte, researchers take a cell from an adult—it could be a skin cell, blood cell, or just about any other cell—reprogram it into an embryonic-like stem cell, then transform that into the heart cell. In addition to giving the device literal heart, the cardiomyocytes also give the system enormous potential in helping pioneer personalized medicines. Researchers could place a diseased tissue in the device, for instance, then test a drug on that tissue and watch to see how its pumping ability is impacted.

“With this system, if I take cells from you, I can see how the drug would react in you, because these are your cells,” says Michas. “This system replicates better some of the function of the heart, but at the same time, gives us the flexibility of having different humans that it replicates. It’s a more predictive model to see what would happen in humans—without actually getting into humans.”

One of the key parts of the miniPUMP is an acrylic scaffold that supports, and moves with, the heart tissue as it contracts. A series of superfine concentric spirals—thinner than a human hair—connected by horizontal rings, the scaffold looks like an artsy piston. It’s an essential piece of the puzzle, giving structure to the heart cells—which would just be a formless blob without it—but not exerting any active force on them.

To print each of the tiny components, the team used a process called two-photon direct laser writing—a more precise version of 3D printing. When light is beamed into a liquid resin, the areas it touches turn solid; because the light can be aimed with such accuracy—focused to a tiny spot—many of the components in the miniPUMP are measured in microns, smaller than a dust particle.

The breakthrough is possible because of the range of experts on CELL-MET’s research team, which included not just mechanical, biomedical, and materials engineers, but also geneticist and cardiovascular medicine specialists.

The next immediate goal for the miniPUMP team? To refine the technology. They also plan to test ways to manufacture the device without compromising its reliability.

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A study of nearly 14,000 women with an average age of 61 found that those who had greater exposure to green spaces had higher cognitive function and better mental processing speed and attention. Cognitive function in middle age has been tied to dementia risk. How does living near lots of green spaces keep our gray matter in good shape? According to researchers, it may be because a splash of nature helps us recover from stress and encourages us to socialize—boosting overall mental health.

Neuroscientists can now watch a memory firing, pinpoint where it lives in the brain—and even tell if it’s a good or bad one. In the Ramirez Lab, researchers found that emotional memories are physically distinct from other types of brain cells—and distinct from each other. Positive and negative memories are stored in different parts of the hippocampus, communicate differently, and have distinct molecular machinery. The lab’s team also discovered it’s possible to rewrite negative memories by artificially activating happier ones. They hope their work will eventually lay the foundations for new treatments for mental health disorders like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

With sidewalks cramping them and cars throwing fumes their way, you’d imagine trees at the outskirts of forests would have a tough time. But BU researchers found edge trees grow twice as fast as those tucked away deep in the woods—likely because they get more light. The good news for us? The bigger a tree gets, the more carbon dioxide it takes in.

More than a millennium after someone dug two holes into the corner of a home in central Guatemala, archaeologists are sifting through the ancient pits to discover the secrets of the long-dead inhabitants’ lives, including their diet and health. Researchers, including John M. Marston, a CAS associate professor of archaeology and of anthropology, found the pits were full of the microscopic byproducts of a cooking process used to turn corn kernels into tamales. They think those byproducts help show the holes were latrines, with the ancient Maya using the water left over from making the traditional masa dish to flush indoor toilets. The findings are “the earliest evidence for toilets in the Maya world,” says Marston.

When you sniff something, cells in your nose, called olfactory sensory neurons, pick up the scent and send a coded message to your brain, which translates the signal into a distinctive smell, whether fresh apple pie, newly cut grass—or rotting garbage. Mosquitoes are wired differently. Their olfactory neurons each pack multiple sensory receptors, potentially giving them a stronger sense of smell—and a better chance of tracking you down.