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Bioengineering

Penn Libraries dedicates Holman Biotech Commons
From left, Wayne Holman and Wendy Commins Holman, Liz Magill, Constantia Constantinou, and Hannah Rutledge.

From left, Wayne Holman and Wendy Commins Holman, President Liz Magill, director of the Penn Libraries Constantia Constantinou, and Hannah Rutledge, director of Biotech Commons. (Image: Kait Privitera)

Penn Libraries dedicates Holman Biotech Commons

The Commons serves as a collaborative resource for researchers in the health sciences, providing the latest tools and technologies to further health care research and equality.
Deconstructing the mechanics of bone marrow disease
microscopic image of an immune cell labeled purple against a gray background

Acollaborative team developed an alginate-based hydrogel system that mimics the viscoelasticity of the natural extracellular matrix in bone marrow. By tweaking the balance between elastic and viscous properties in these artificial ECMs, they could recapitulate the viscoelasticity of healthy and scarred fibrotic bone marrow, and study the effects on human monocytes placed into these artificial ECMs. (Image: Adam Graham/Harvard CNS/Wyss Institute at Harvard University)

Deconstructing the mechanics of bone marrow disease

A new understanding of how mechanical features of bone marrow affect resident immune cells in a fibrotic cancer points to future therapeutic strategies for cancers and fibrotic diseases.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Shapeshifting microrobots can brush and floss teeth
Graphic shows how nanoparticle-based microrobots can remove dental plaque from teeth with their motion and the activity of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to kill microbes

Shapeshifting microrobots can brush and floss teeth

In a proof-of-concept study, researchers from the School of Dental Medicine and School of Engineering and Applied Science shows that a hands-free system could effectively automate the treatment and removal of tooth-decay-causing bacteria and dental plaque.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Bioengineering technology keeps track of living cells and tissues
Fluorescent markers highlighting individual cells.

A new chemistry technique developed by Jina Ko introduces a method for multiplexed temporospatial imaging of living cells with immunofluorescence. (Image: Penn Engineering Today)

Bioengineering technology keeps track of living cells and tissues

A new chemistry technique developed by Jina Ko, assistant bioengineering professor, and colleagues allows for a wider range of fluorescent markers to be added to individual cells without damaging them in the process.

From Penn Engineering Today

Making chemical separation more eco-friendly with nanotechnology
Microscopic view of a membrane wall.

Making chemical separation more eco-friendly with nanotechnology

Chemical separation processes are essential to manufacturing, but also consume high levels of energy. Penn Engineers are developing new membranes for energy-efficient membrane-based separations on a nanoscale level.

From Penn Engineering Today

Five Penn students are 2022 Goldwater Scholars
five students

Five undergraduates have received 2022 Goldwater Scholarships, awarded to sophomores or juniors planning research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. Penn’s newest Goldwater Scholars are (from left) juniors Joshua Chen, Allison Chou, Shriya Karam, Laila Barakat Norford, and Andrew Sontag.

Five Penn students are 2022 Goldwater Scholars

Five juniors have received 2022 Goldwater Scholarships to pursue research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. Penn's newest Goldwater Scholars are Joshua Chen, Allison Chou, Shriya Karam, Laila Barakat Norford, and Andrew Sontag.
Protein controlled by both light and temperature can inform cell signal pathways
Microscopic view of cells illuminated by light.

Protein controlled by both light and temperature can inform cell signal pathways

Penn Engineering researchers have described a new type of optogenetic protein that can be controlled not only by light, but also by temperature, allowing for a higher degree of control in the manipulation of cellular pathways.

From Penn Engineering Today