MIT School of Science has world-class expertise to catalyze discovery, innovation, and impact for human health. Faculty and researchers in the school participate in initiatives such as the MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative (MIT HEALS) that support the convergence of talent and resources. Drawing on the Institute’s strengths in life sciences and other fields, our leading experts will form new, cross-disciplinary ventures—and build on existing successes—that connect MIT to industry leaders in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and hospitals.

Engineered “natural killer” cells could help fight cancer

A human natural killer cell

One of the newest weapons that scientists have developed against cancer is a type of engineered immune cell known as CAR-NK (natural killer) cells. Similar to CAR-T cells, these cells can be programmed to attack cancer cells. MIT and Harvard Medical School researchers have now come up with a new way to engineer CAR-NK cells that makes them much less likely to be rejected by the patient’s immune system, which is a common drawback of this type of treatment.

Read it at MIT News →

“Bottlebrush” particles deliver big chemotherapy payloads directly to cancer cells

Chemotherapy drugs carried by a bottlebrush polymer

MIT researchers including chemistry professor Jeremiah Johnson have shown that chemotherapy drugs carried by a bottlebrush polymer (green and blue molecule) can be attached to an antibody, which guides the molecule to a tumor. This approach could avoid many of the side effects of systemic chemotherapy delivery.

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Federal funding rarely supports the kind of bold, early-stage research that has the potential to transform our understanding of psychiatric illness.

James Poitras ’63

James Poitras ’63 have committed $8 million to the Poitras Center for Psychiatric Disorders Research to launch pioneering research initiatives aimed at uncovering the brain basis of major mental illness and accelerating the development of novel treatments.

MIT and Mass General Brigham launch joint seed program to accelerate innovations in health

Alex Shalek speaks in front of seated audience

Leveraging the strengths of two world-class research institutions, MIT and Mass General Brigham (MGB) recently celebrated the launch of the MIT-MGB Seed Program. The new initiative, which is supported by Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), will fund joint research projects led by researchers at MIT and Mass General Brigham. These collaborative projects will advance research in human health, with the goal of developing next-generation therapies, diagnostics, and digital tools that can improve lives at scale.

Read it at MIT News →

MIT chemists boost the efficiency of a key enzyme in photosynthesis

A growing plant in front of the sun.

MIT chemists, including chemistry professor Matthew Shoulders, have shown that they can greatly boost the efficiency of a bacterial version of rubisco, a key enzyme in photosynthesis. They identified mutations that could boost its catalytic efficiency by up to 25 percent.

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Introducing MIT HEALS, a life sciences initiative to address pressing health challenges

Phillip Sharp speaks at the podium

At MIT, collaboration between researchers working in the life sciences and engineering is a frequent occurrence. Under a new initiative launched last week, the Institute plans to strengthen and expand those collaborations to take on some of the most pressing health challenges facing the world. The new MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative, or MIT HEALS, will bring together researchers from all over the Institute to find new solutions to challenges in health care. HEALS will draw on MIT’s strengths in life sciences and other fields, including artificial intelligence and chemical and biological engineering, to accelerate progress in improving patient care

Read it at MIT News →

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Editing Ourselves

With the CRISPR system, researchers can diagnose, detect, and potentially treat a host of diseases within the body using gene editing.