New way to target an old foe: malaria
Although malaria has been eradicated in many countries, including the United States, it still infects more than 200 million people worldwide, killing nearly a million every year. In regions where...
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Why tumors become drug-resistant
Cancer drugs known as ErbB inhibitors have shown great success in treating many patients with lung, breast, colon and other types of cancer. However, ErbB drug resistance means that many other patients...
View ArticleNanoparticle vaccine offers better protection
Many viruses and bacteria infect humans through mucosal surfaces, such as those in the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and reproductive tract. To help fight these pathogens, scientists are working on...
View ArticleNew view of dengue fever
Dengue fever, an infectious tropical disease found in more than 100 countries, has no cure and no vaccine. One reason why it has been difficult to develop new drugs for dengue fever is that there are...
View ArticleFinding blood clots before they wreak havoc
Life-threatening blood clots can form in anyone who sits on a plane for a long time, is confined to bed while recovering from surgery, or takes certain medications.There is no fast and easy way to...
View ArticleOne-two punch knocks out aggressive tumors
An aggressive form of breast cancer known as “triple negative” is very difficult to treat: Chemotherapy can shrink such tumors for a while, but in many patients they grow back and gain resistance to...
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Military medicine
Focus, confidence, and precision: Are we talking about sports or surgery? With MIT senior Laura Lu, both.A top gymnast from Rockville, Md., who dreamt of competing at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing...
View ArticleResistance is futile
Cisplatin is a chemotherapy drug given to more than half of all cancer patients. The drug kills cells very effectively by damaging nuclear DNA, but if tumors become resistant to cisplatin they often...
View ArticleBetter batteries through biology?
Lithium-air batteries have become a hot research area in recent years: They hold the promise of drastically increasing power per battery weight, which could lead, for example, to electric cars with a...
View ArticleBiologists ID new cancer weakness
About half of all cancer patients have a mutation in a gene called p53, which allows tumors to survive and continue growing even after chemotherapy severely damages their DNA. A new study from MIT...
View ArticleFive from MIT named AAAS fellows
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently awarded the distinction of fellow to 388 scientists, including five members of the MIT professors.Fellows are recognized by their...
View ArticlePills of the future: nanoparticles
Drugs delivered by nanoparticles hold promise for targeted treatment of many diseases, including cancer. However, the particles have to be injected into patients, which has limited their usefulness so...
View ArticleResearchers unlock a new means of growing intestinal stem cells
Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have shown that they can grow unlimited quantities of intestinal stem cells, then stimulate them to develop into nearly pure populations of different...
View ArticleLudwig Cancer Research gives $90 million to MIT
MIT has received $90 million from Ludwig Cancer Research, on behalf of its founder Daniel K. Ludwig, a gift that aims to transform basic research on metastasis, the process by which cancer cells spread...
View ArticleHow the immune system fights off malaria
The parasites that cause malaria are exquisitely adapted to the various hosts they infect — so studying the disease in mice doesn’t necessarily reveal information that could lead to drugs effective...
View ArticleRobert Langer wins 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
Institute Professor Robert Langer was one of six scientists honored with the 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, which recognizes excellence in research aimed at curing intractable diseases and...
View ArticleNew weapon fights drug-resistant tumors
Cancer drugs that recruit antibodies from the body’s own immune system to help kill tumors have shown much promise in treating several types of cancer. However, after initial success, the tumors often...
View ArticleHitchhiking vaccines boost immunity
Many vaccines, including those for influenza, polio, and measles, consist of a killed or disabled version of a virus. However, for certain diseases, this type of vaccine is ineffective, or just too...
View ArticleA paper diagnostic for cancer
Cancer rates in developing nations have climbed sharply in recent years, and now account for 70 percent of cancer mortality worldwide. Early detection has been proven to improve outcomes, but screening...
View ArticleHow tumors escape
About 90 percent of cancer deaths are caused by tumors that have spread from their original locations. This process, known as metastasis, requires cancer cells to break loose from their neighbors and...
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Precision attack on cancer
Most cancer patients receive one or more of the frontline chemotherapy drugs that have been discovered over the past 50 years. These drugs are often effective but have major drawbacks, including severe...
View ArticleNew view of tumors’ evolution
Cancer cells undergo extensive genetic alterations as they grow and spread through the body. Some of these mutations, known as “drivers,” help spur cells to grow out of control, while others...
View ArticleHow to build a biotech renaissance: MIT in Kendall Square
In the 1970s, if you stood at the corner of Main and Vassar streets and looked out from the edge of the MIT campus, you would see nothing but a vacant lot. Kendall Square had been vacated by the...
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