Bioengineering | Penn Today

Qiuyue Nie and Maria Zotova, from left, purify samples of the fungus in a lab.

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

2 min. read

Researchers turn a toxic fungus into cancer-fighting drug

A study by Xue (Sherry) Gao of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues found potent cancer-killing effects in the deadly Aspergillus flavus fungus, which was linked to rumors of a “pharaoh’s curse.”

Hand holding a blood vial that reads "complement (C3 + C4)"

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.

5 min. read

Climate and environment updates: Accidental breakthrough creates water from thin air

Daeyeon Lee led a team in the School of Engineering and Applied Science that discovered a method of harvesting water from the air.

Penn spinout that replicates human tissue for drug testing raises $40 million investment

Vivodyne, a Penn spinout that creates human tissue to replace animal testing in drug development, has raised $40 million in a second round of venture capital investment.

Rakesh Krishnan sits at a computer staring at a 3D rendering of a protein.

Delivering a one-two punch to superbugs to fight infections

Penn researchers create mirror-image molecules that both kill pathogens outright and rally the immune system—an advance aimed at the growing crisis of antimicrobial resistance.

3 min. read

AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellowship

Bhuvnesh Jain and René Vidal have teamed up to create the AI x Science Fellowship, which builds on the thriving postdoctoral program of the Data Driven Discovery Initiative to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration among researchers across the University.

6 min. read

Performer, biomedical engineer, and soon-to-be graduate

A performer and dancer, fourth-year Jordyn Harris has been a work-study student for the Platt House and managed tech for myriad student shows, while also advising engineering first-years and working as a researcher at a hospital.

5 min. read

Cesar de law Fuente, middle, between two researchers from his team, standing in their lab.

New AI technique can uncover antiviral compounds using limited data

AI algorithms, when combined with traditional laboratory methods, can uncover promising drug leads against human enterovirus 71.

1 min. read

Microrobots navigate diverse oral environments to deliver therapies

Penn Engineers and clinicians at the Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry are developing shapeshifting microrobots capable of navigating the complex environments of the mouth to deliver targeted treatments.

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