Using tissue scaffolds, KI researchers have established a more efficient way of creating "humanized" livers that can also be rapidly implanted into mice. The resulting engineered tissues hold promise for fast-tracking drug development. read more

The Boston Globe reports that a drug-filled patch created by KI researchers may one day replace some of the need for conventional needles to administer injected drugs. The patch, which attaches to the skin, would provide. small doses of medication over time in place of frequent office visits or bolus injections and may prove particularly helpful in treatment of chronic diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and hepatitis C.  Clinical trials could begin late next year.  read more
 

Turning on a particular gene (a transcription factor, NTD80) in aged yeast cells, researchers in the Amon lab have doubled the cells’ usual lifespan. It could offer a new approach to rejuvenating human cells or creating pluripotent stem cells. “There’s a true rejuvenation going on.  It took an old cell and made it young again,” says KI Professor Angelika Amon. read more

Measuring a cell's physical properties, such as density, buoyancy, or weight may soon provide useful insight into diverse fundamental cellular processes and might also be useful for identifying diseased cells or drug treatment response. KI researchers explain the process of measuring single cells in a microfluidics-based suspended microchannel resonator (SMR).  read more

KI researchers have developed a “two wave” interactive nanoparticle drug delivery system.   The first wave of particles zeroes in on a tumor, then attracts the second wave of nanoparticles, which carry and dispense a drug payload. This communication between nanoparticles, enabled by the body’s own biochemistry, boosted drug delivery to tumors more than 40 times over in a mouse study. 

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