News from

Bioengineering

Reset All Filters
194 Results
Centuries after discovery, red blood cells still hold surprises
Four microscopic views of red blood cells.

In these microscopic close-ups, samples of red blood cells aggregate from left to right, becoming more compact despite the absence of platelets, long thought essential to clotting.

(Image: Rustem Litvinov)

Centuries after discovery, red blood cells still hold surprises

In a new collaborative study, researchers at Penn turned to mechanical engineering to understand how blood clots can compact, even without platelets.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

A nature-inspired leap in water harvesting technology

A nature-inspired leap in water harvesting technology

Penn Engineering’s Shu Yang and postdoctoral fellow Yunchan Lee are working to develop a new material and device that imitate raspberries and sunflowers. Together, these bio-inspired forms make clean, sustainable water harvesting possible by using just the moisture in the air and the heat of the sun.

What ever-growing incisors can teach us about genetic disease
Microscopic view of a mouse incisor.

An image taken through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows a polished sagittal section through a mouse mandibular incisor, showing the different mineralized tissue layers.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering Today)

What ever-growing incisors can teach us about genetic disease

An interdisciplinary team of researchers approaches the question ‘How do teeth mineralize?’ by analyzing the physical, biological, and genetic properties of teeth for real-world clinical applications in the future.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

AI-driven discovery of hundreds of potential antibiotics
Venom on the Fang of a Diamondback Rattlesnake

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

(Image: McDonald Wildlife Photography Inc. via Getty Images)

AI-driven discovery of hundreds of potential antibiotics

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.

Transforming CAR T treatment: ‘Leukemia-on-a-chip’
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)

Transforming CAR T treatment: ‘Leukemia-on-a-chip’

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