Bioengineering | Penn Today

A low-cost, eco-friendly COVID test

César de la Fuente and a team of Penn engineers work on creative ways to create faster and cheaper testing for COVID-19. Their latest innovation incorporates speed and cost-effectiveness with eco-friendly materials.

The physics of fat droplets reveal DNA danger

Penn Engineers are the first to discover fat-filled lipid droplets’ surprising capability to indent and puncture the nucleus, the organelle which contains and regulates a cell’s DNA.

For a new generation of antibiotics, scientists are bringing extinct molecules back to life

Marrying artificial intelligence with advanced experimental methods, Penn Engineering’s Machine Biology Group has mined the ancient past for future medical breakthroughs, bringing extinct molecules back to life.

Silicon wafer with chips lightinhg in neon light.

SCALAR: A microchip designed to transform the production of mRNA therapeutics and vaccines

Researchers have developed a platform that could rapidly accelerate the development of mRNA-based lipid nanoparticle vaccines and therapeutics at both the small and largescale, SCALAR.

Microscopic view of a DNA chain disintegrating.

QR code for cancer cells

Researchers from Penn Engineering have created a new synthetic biology approach to uncover why some cells become resistant to anti-cancer therapies.

Scientists turn to human ancestors’ DNA in search for new antibiotics

A study co-authored by César de la Fuente of the School of Engineering & Applied Science recreated molecules from ancient humans that could be potential candidates for antimicrobial treatments.

AI search of Neanderthal proteins resurrects ‘extinct’ antibiotics

A study co-authored by César de la Fuente of the Perelman School of Medicine used artificial intelligence to identify new antibiotic protein snippets produced by ancient humans.

close up image of the laser cutter at the biotech commons

Holman Biotech Commons meets the evolving needs of campus

Resources at the Penn Libraries’ Holman Biotech Commons are available to the entire Penn community to support research, collaboration, and innovation.

Camila Irabien and Dionne Yeung working in a lab side-by-side.

The art and science of ‘living-like’ architecture

Collaborators from Penn Engineering and the Stuart Weitzman School of Design have created “living-like” bioactive interior architecture designed to one day protect us from hidden airborne threats.

Microscopic view of bone marrow slide showing multiple myeloma, a type of bone marrow cancer.

RNA nanoparticle therapy stops the spread of incurable bone marrow cancer

By creating a roadblock in cancer’s commute through the body, researchers removed a longstanding barrier in the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Filters