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AI finds hundreds of potential antibiotics in snake and spider venom
Venom on the Fang of a Diamondback Rattlesnake

Image: McDonald Wildlife Photography Inc. via Getty Images

AI finds hundreds of potential antibiotics in snake and spider venom

Research from the lab of César de la Fuente on an AI-powered screen of global venom libraries uncovers dozens of promising drug candidates.

Eric Horvath

2 min. read

$2.6M NIH grant backs search for genetic cure in deadly heart disease

$2.6M NIH grant backs search for genetic cure in deadly heart disease

Sherry Gao, Presidential Penn Compact Associate Professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering and in bioengineering at Penn Engineering is the co-recipient of a $2.6 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to develop new gene editing tools that could address one of the underlying mutations that causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic disease that thickens the heart’s walls, making it harder for the organ to pump blood.

‘Leukemia-on-a-chip’ could transform CAR T blood cancer treatments
The actual chip of human leukemia bone marrow where chambers and channels were filled with food dyes.

The actual chip of human leukemia bone marrow where chambers and channels were filled with food dyes.

(Image: NYU Tandon Applied Micro-Bioengineering Laboratory/Courtesy of Weiqiang Chen)

‘Leukemia-on-a-chip’ could transform CAR T blood cancer treatments

In a collaborative effort with NYU, Penn researchers have helped pioneer a novel 3D platform that mimics the human bone marrow and immune environment, enabling more predictive testing of cancer immunotherapy success in patients, including CAR T cell therapies.

3 min. read

Penn engineers turn toxic fungus into anti-cancer drug
Qiuyue Nie and Maria Zotova, from left, purify samples of the fungus in a lab.

First author Qiuyue Nie (left) and coauthor Maria Zotova purify samples of the fungus.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

Penn engineers turn toxic fungus into anti-cancer drug

Penn-led researchers have isolated a new class of molecules from Aspergillus flavus, a toxic crop fungus, and modified it into a promising cancer-killing compound

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Decoding ancient immunity networks
Hand holding a blood vial that reads "complement (C3 + C4)"

A collaborative team from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Perelman School of Medicine have unraveled the mathematics of a 500-million-year-old protein network that acts like the body’s bouncer, “deciding” which foreign materials get degraded by immune cells and which are allowed entry.

(Image / iStock Md Saiful Islam Khan)

Decoding ancient immunity networks

A collaborative team from Penn Medicine and Penn Engineering have  unraveled the mathematics of a 500-million-year-old protein network that “decides” which foreign materials are friend or foe.

Nathi Magubane , Ian Scheffler , Holly Wojcik , Matt Toal

5 min. read