Pursuing grand challenges at CBA
Pursuing grand challenges at CBA
Neil Gershenfeld is director of the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms
Reaching the goal of the Star Trek replicator
Reaching the goal of the Star Trek replicator
Neil Gershenfeld is director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms
The future of digital fabrication
The future of digital fabrication
Neil Gershenfeld is director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms
Conversation with the President: Transforming MIT's ...
Conversation with the President: Transforming MIT's educational experience
MIT President L. Rafael Reif discussed reinventing the residential research university for the future in light of rising costs and emerging online alternatives.
4D Printing: Self-Folding Strand
4D Printing: Self-Folding Strand
A collaboration between Stratasys & The Self-Assembly Lab at MIT, which is headed by Skylar Tibbits, a lecturer in the Department of Architecture.
Treating Diseases by Using RNAi Technology
Treating Diseases by Using RNAi Technology
RNA interference (RNAi) is a process in which small pieces of silencing RNA (siRNA) bind to cellular RNA, thereby shutting down the production of the encoded protein.
Nozomi Ando's Personal Story
Nozomi Ando's Personal Story
Nozomi, a self-described artist and comic book lover, describes how her training to become a scientist was akin to that of a ninja.
Targeting Ulcer-Causing H. Pylori Bacteria
Targeting Ulcer-Causing H. Pylori Bacteria
Dr. Sarah Bowman studies a protein from a pathogenic bacterium that is found in the stomach and is known to cause ulcers. She explains how the bacterium survives in the low pH environment of the stomach by using a nickel-dependent protein to buffer the acidity of its ...
Understanding Chemotherapeutic Drug Targets
Understanding Chemotherapeutic Drug Targets
Dr. Nozomi Ando conducts research on a protein that is essential for DNA synthesis, repair and replication. She explains how this protein is in equilibrium between an active and an inactive form, and how discovering strategies to lock the protein in the inactive ...
Darcy Wanger's Personal Story
Darcy Wanger's Personal Story
Darcy describes her realization that science is not something "done — in the past tense" by people long ago, but rather an exciting pursuit that requires social interactions to solve current real-world questions.
Exploring the Molecular World with X-ray Diffraction
Exploring the Molecular World with X-ray Diffraction
Professor Cathy Drennan explains how she and her lab apply the principles of constructive/destructive interference, and other characteristics of light (including energy, frequency, and intensity) in their research.
Imaging Viruses with Nanoscale MRI
Imaging Viruses with Nanoscale MRI
Ben Ofori-Okai discusses the concept of orbital degeneracy (two orbitals with the same energy) in relation to his research on nanoscale MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
Harnessing Microbes for Carbon Dioxide Sequestration
Harnessing Microbes for Carbon Dioxide Sequestration
Hector Hernandez, assistant professor in chemical engineering, describes how Le Chatelier's principle and the effects of pressure on solubility relate to his research on harnessing microbes to remove carbon dioxide from the environment. Hector envisions that his ...
Hector Hernandez's Personal Story
Hector Hernandez's Personal Story
Hector initially worked in construction, but at age 29, he realized he wanted to use his mind instead of his back in his career.
John Essigmann's Personal Story
John Essigmann's Personal Story
Professor John Essigmann describes how an early industry experience doing real science pushed him to pursue a career as a professor and professional scientist.
Labeling Tumors with Quantum Dots
Labeling Tumors with Quantum Dots
Quantum dots are tiny semiconductor crystals with vivid colors that can be used as visual labels in biology and medicine. Quantum dots excited by UV radiation emit light with an energy and color that is determined by the size of the quantum dot. Darcy Wanger describes how the characteristics ...
Engineering Enzyme Pathways for Biofuel Development
Engineering Enzyme Pathways for Biofuel Development
Jingnan Lu's research focuses on converting carbon dioxide, an environmental pollutant, into biofuel. Here she explains how she engineers a carbon-storing microorganism into a biofuel production pathway.
Jingnan Lu's Personal Story
Jingnan Lu's Personal Story
Jingnan Lu describes how she overcame the challenge of learning English as a teenager when she moved to the United States from China, and how a research experience showed her that she can use science to help people.
Linking Oxidation to DNA Damage
Linking Oxidation to DNA Damage
Professor John Essigmann describes how oxidation reactions in our bodies are both essential for life and responsible for cell damage that can potentially lead to cancer.
Designing Probes to Image Proteins Inside Living Cells
Designing Probes to Image Proteins Inside Living Cells
Samuel Thompson discusses his research on designing new tools to track the movement of proteins within cells.