Inside the report, discover research on self-amplifying RNA, engineered cells, plant synthetic biology, and microscale technologies; meet the trainees building careers through BDC’s interdisciplinary programs; and see how initiatives such as STEM Pathways and iGEM are extending the impact of biological design beyond the lab. Read the 2025 Impact Report and explore the people, ideas, […]
ARPA-H Leaders Visit Boston University to Support Development of the POSEIDON Program: Boston University recently welcomed representatives from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) for a strategic visit that focused on Boston University’s role in the development of the innovative POSEIDON (Platform Optimizing SynBio for Early Intervention and Detection in Oncology) program. Led […]
Long before she began developing new tools and methods to detect disease, Dr. Liangliang Hao was drawn to the overlap between different fields; where biology and engineering intersect. Dr. Liangliang Hao grew up in Henan, China, a region shaped by the Yellow River and thousands of years of history, often described as the cradle of […]
A novel cancer cell therapy out of a Boston University lab might lead to safer, faster, less costly and more effective treatments for some of the toughest types of cancer. This immunotherapy, developed by a team of researchers under Professor Wilson Wong (BME), is a new form of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology that more […]
It’s not his first breakthrough to make it to clinical trials or to help patients. The holder of more than 10 patents and author of over 100 peer-reviewed research papers, Wong is cofounder of three biotech companies that are pursuing new vaccines, autoimmune disorder therapies, and advanced cancer medicines. It’s the kind of track record […]
Inside the Dunlop Lab at BU’s Biological Design Center At Boston University’s Biological Design Center, researchers are rethinking how engineering biology can illuminate—and ultimately help solve—some of today’s most pressing challenges. Among them is Biomedical Engineering Professor Mary Dunlop , whose work is uncovering the subtle but powerful differences in how microbes behave—differences that could […]
In his graduate school program, Ezira Yimer‘s doctoral work centers on the HT-Evolver, a high-throughput evolution system for cellular and molecular engineering. But his path to this platform wasn’t straightforward. Before landing on tool development, Ezira worked for a startup focused on microbiome therapeutics, and explored ways to evolve receptors to influence the microbiome environment.
The team, going by the name FloraSynse, developed FloraDX, an at-home diagnostic tool for monitoring bacterial vaginosis (BV), a condition that affects nearly one in three women. Unlike current diagnostics, which offer only a single snapshot of the vaginal microbiome, the BU team’s approach uses daily sampling and continuous monitoring to better reflect the complex, […]