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Newsletter
Stay connected with the latest breakthroughs in biological design with The Biodesign Bulletin. This recurring digest highlights new research, major publications, center updates, and upcoming opportunities.
Current Edition
Three BU Researchers Win National Honor for Early-Career Scientists and Engineers
White House’s presidential award recognizes BU researchers studying special education, lasers, and genes and DNA It’s one of the highest honors the United States government can bestow on scientists and engineers—and now it’s been conferred on three Boston University researchers: Elizabeth Bettini, Michelle Sander, and Zeba Wunderlich. They’ve each received a... More
Scaling Up Synthetic Biology. $1.5 million for Khalil and colleagues to realize dream of human artificial chromosomes
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) today announced that a joint BU-NYU team will receive nearly $1.5 million over two years to develop a technology that would streamline the engineering of mammalian cells, potentially leading to improvements in cell therapies and functional genomics studies.
Dean Announces First Faculty to Earn New Awards for Lab Equipment
Boston University College of Engineering Dean ad interim Elise Morgan has announced the inaugural recipients of the Dean’s Research Infrastructure Awards (DRIA). Six faculty members, along with collaborators they identified, will receive funds under a program that aims to support innovative, high-impact research by enabling the upgrade, repair, or acquisition... More
Innovative Tissue Engineering: A Pioneering New Method Explained
Now, Professor Christopher Chen (BME, MSE) and his team at the Boston University College of Engineering and the Harvard University Wyss Institute have invented a new approach to solve this complex problem. It’s called engineered sacrificial capillary pumps for evacuation, or ESCAPE for short. In new research published in Nature, More
BU Students Head to Paris to Compete in International Synthetic Biology Competition
Aiming to keep heavy metals out of the food we eat, a team of Boston University undergrads has traveled to Paris this week to pitch a soil monitor they invented, as part of the annual International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Grand Jamboree.
2024 Kilachand Fund Awards Boost Projects Building Antivirus Platform, Improving Brain Imaging, and Fighting Antibiotic Resistance
Messenger RNA (or mRNA) vaccines showed their potential as critical virus response tools during the COVID-19 pandemic. But mRNA vaccines come with limitations, including a lack of immediate antiviral immunity and high dosage requirements. Another antivirus tool, antibodies, can provide immediate protection against viral infection (from Ebola, for example), but... More
These Plants Aren’t for Decoration—They’re for Science
BU researchers are testing new genetic engineering techniques to better understand how plants adapt to their environments: “Plants are masters of gene regulation and epigenetics. Because of their unique life cycle, they have evolved and use many different mechanisms to respond to their environment and remember cues,” Khalil says. “Our... More
BU Biomedical Engineer Wins a 2024 National Institutes of Health Director’s Transformative Research Award
Honor for Alexander A. Green will support high-risk project that could lead to improved cancer treatments and other therapies: Before a new car rolls onto the road, engineers measure how it reacts to different forces, from passengers plonking into the seats to jarring collisions. Understanding the impact of these forces... More
Career Development Professorships Awarded to Five BU Researchers
This year’s recipients are rising stars in the study of Latin American literature, molecular and cellular processes, religious history, chemistry, and physics-inspired computing:They’re scholars of Latin American literature and Asian history, experts in biomedical engineering and computing, organic chemistry, and biology—and now, five rising star Boston University faculty are also... More
New BU Postdoctoral Awards Celebrate Excellence in Mentorship and Research
"Postdocs bring a wealth of experience to the table. My role is to provide them with the freedom to explore their ideas while also offering support for everyday challenges, from breaking down paper writing into manageable tasks to cheering them on during tough times." Mary Dunlop