Article Research

Experts debate research at the heart of lab leak theory. Who won?

Kevin Esvelt and Gigi Gronvall join Ryan Grim and Emily Jashinky to discuss Gain of Function research, and Covid Origin Theory.
Publication Research

Electronic Textile Sensors for Decoding Vital Body Signals: State-of-the-Art Review on Characterizations and Recommendations

Shuvo, I. I., Shah, A., Dagdeviren, C.†, “Electronic Textile Sensors for Decoding Vital Body Signals: State-of-the-art Review on Characterizations and Recommendations”, https://doi.org/10.1002/aisy.202100223, Advanced Intelligent Systems, 4, 2100223, 2022.
Article Research

The Three Questions: In Conversation with Neri Oxman

Neri Oxman talks about the Nature x Humanity exhibit at SFMOMA, which features current and past research from the Mediated Matter group
Article Research

Volta Labs grabs $20 million to address a growing genomics bottleneck

Volta Labs, co-founded by alumni Udayan Umapathi and Will Langford, has announced a $20 million Series A funding round.
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Glass II

Optically transparent and structurally sound, glass has played a significant role in the evolution of product and architectural design acro…
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Glass I

Ancient yet modern, enclosing yet invisible, glass was first created in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt 4,500 years ago. Precise recipes for…
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Archived
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Wanderers

The Wanderers were unveiled as part of the exhibition: ‘The Sixth Element: Exploring the Natural Beauty of 3D Printing' on display a…
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Archived
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Vespers III

Vespers is a collection of masks exploring what it means to design (with) life. From the relic of the death mask to a contemporary living d…
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Archived
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Totems

Biodiversity on planet Earth is under momentous threat, with extinction rates estimated between 100 and 1,000 times their pre-human level. …
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Emma Chory wins 2022 SLAS Innovation Award

The SLAS Innovation Award is a $10,000 cash prize recognizing the work behind one exceptional podium presentation.
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MAS.S64. Real-world Evaluation of Artificial Intelligence and Genome Editing Technologies

MAS.S64 Real-world Evaluation of Artificial Intelligence and Genome Editing Technologies - Fall 2020 Online CourseWhen: Tuesdays, 3-4 …
Course Research

Decoders 1.8: Project Realization in Cleanroom

Style: Teamwork; Collective This class is graded P/D/F. To pass, you must: (i) attend all the cleanroom sessions, (ii) work in a team setti…
Article Research

Speeding up directed evolution of molecules in the lab

Using a new robotic platform, researchers can simultaneously track hundreds of microbial populations as they evolve new proteins.
Article Research

MIT's Spectrum highlights Dr. Canan Dagdeviren in an article titled "Better Conforming Medical Devices"

By John Pavlus Imagine you're a patient being treated for Parkinson's Disease, which causes tremors. The disorder kills brain cells th…
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Culture Biosciences raises $80M Series B to tackle demand for large-scale biomanufacturing

Spinoff Culture Biosciences, co-founded by Mediated Matter alum Will Patrick, recently raised $80 million in Series B funding.
Publication Research

On-Body Energy Harvesters through Innovative Designs and Conformable Structures

Fernandez, S. V., Cai, F., Chen, S., Suh, E., Tiepelt, J., McIntosh, R., Marcus, C., Acosta, D., Mejorado, D., Dagdeviren, C.†, “On-Body Energy Harvesters Through Innovative Designs and Conformable Structures”, ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.1c00800, 2021. [Invited Review Paper for Special Issue].
Article Research

Power Shift: MIT scientists use machine learning to boost basil flavour

Caleb Harper discusses how machine learning-enabled "food computers" were used to find the optimal conditions to grow basil.
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Optimizing plants for flavor, nutrition, and pharmaceutical content

Note: On Oct. 25, 2021, the PLOS journal reporting the research associated with this project retracted the publication.Flavor, in addi…
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Agonist-antagonist Myoneural Interface (AMI)

Humans can accurately sense the position, speed, and torque of their limbs, even with their eyes shut. This sense, known as proprioception,…
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Opinion: Manipulating viruses and risking pandemics is too dangerous. It’s time to stop.

Kevin Esvelt calls on the research community to build defenses against future pandemics, not attempt to discover viruses that cause them.
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Gravity Proof: Speculating Cosmic Futures

Gravity Proof is a performance and mission to prepare and cook bread in space. Inspired by ancient recipes and archaeological bread re…
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Publication Research

Combinatorial hydrogel library enables identification of materials that mitigate the foreign body response in primates.

Vegas, A., et al. Combinatorial hydrogel library enables identification of materials that mitigate the foreign body response in primates., Nature Biotechnology, 34: 345-352, 2016. PMCID: PMC4904301
Course Research

Decoders 1.7: Introduction to Microfabrication

Style: Individual; PersonalThis class is graded P/D/F. To pass, you must: (i) attend all the cleanroom sessions, (ii) complete the sections…
Publication Research

Experimentally Verified Finite Element Modeling and Analysis of a Conformable Piezoelectric Sensor

Amiri, N., Tasnim, F., Tavakkoli Anbarani, M., Dagdeviren, C.†, Karami, A.†, “Experimentally Verified Finite Element Modeling and Analysis of a Conformable Piezoelectric Sensor”, Smart Materials and Structures, 30 085017, 2021.
Project Research

Bio-Digital Wearables or Space Health Enhancement

Living in space could have significant physical and mental impacts on astronauts. Wearables have the potential to play a critical role in m…
Article Research

Life in space: Preparing for an increasingly tangible reality

The Space Exploration Initiative supports research across and beyond MIT in two microgravity flights this spring.
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Aguahoja

Programmable Water-Based Biocomposites for Digital Design and Fabrication across ScalesAguahoja is an exploration of nature’s design space.…
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Silk Pavilion II

What are radically sustainable methods for knitting, making and building in the age of the Anthropocene? How can humankind and members of o…
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Vespers II

Novel technologies for additive manufacturing are enabling design and production at nature’s scale. We can seamlessly vary the physical pro…
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Archived
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Silk Pavilion

The Silk Pavilion explores the relationship between digital and biological fabrication on product and architectural scales.The primary st…
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Beast

Beast is an organic-like entity created synthetically by the incorporation of physical parameters into digital form-generation protocols. A…
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Monocoque

French for "single shell," Monocoque stands for a construction technique that supports structural load using an object's external skin. Con…
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Raycounting

Raycounting is a method for generating customized light-shading constructions by registering the intensity and orientation of light rays wi…
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Post Research

Sojourner 2020 | An international art payload to ISS

Nine groups of artists are selected to be on board Sojourner 2020, which will be launched into low Earth orbit for about 30 days.
Article Research

Supercomputers help researchers speed drug discovery for Covid-19

An MIT research team is using supercomputers to help develop a drug to treat the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Article Research

Information Hazards

MIT biologist Kevin Esvelt discusses the biology of the pandemic and how gain-of-function research jeopardizes public safety.
Article Research

Experimental peptide targets Covid-19

Computational modeling yields a protein fragment that could bind to coronavirus spike proteins and destroy them.
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Andrea Ling's "Design by Decay, Decay by Design" receives STARTS Grand Prize at Ars Electronica '20

Andrea Ling, an alum of the Mediated Matter group, has won the Grand Prize in Artistic Exploration at this year's festival.
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Canadian architect wins €20,000 STARTS prize

Canadian architect and installation artist Andrea Ling has received the 2020 STARTS Grand Prize in the category of Artistic Exploration.
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Research
Design Fiction

Sparking discussion about the social, cultural, and ethical implications of emerging technologies through design and storytelling
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Research
Synthetic Neurobiology

Revealing insights into the human condition and repairing brain disorders via novel tools for mapping and fixing brain computations
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Tools for mapping the molecular architecture and wiring of the brain

Complex biological systems such as brain circuits are extended 3-D structures made out of nanoscale building blocks such as proteins, RNAs,…
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Algorithmic Justice League

www.ajl.orgAn unseen force is rising—helping to determine who is hired, granted a loan, or even how long someone spends in prison. This for…
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Neri Oxman’s “Material Ecology” | Bio Art and Design

The exhibition has now become a part of the MoMA's ‘Virtual Views’ program due to the pandemic.
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Living Bits

Living Bits : Opportunities and Challenges for Integrating Living Microorganisms in Human-Computer InteractionThere are trillions of living…
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bioLogic—Science Advances

Cells’ biomechanical responses to external stimuli have been intensively studied but rarely implemented into devices that interact wit…
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Article Research

This crazy sculpture is made by an MIT-engineered machine that 3D prints biopolymers to replace plastic

Aguahoja—a winner of Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards—rethinks the paradigm of recycling.
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Designer molecular mops: Water-soluble cytokine receptors fused with Fc domain of IgG may be therapeutic for cytokine storms

In April 2019, Shuguang Zhang's lab started to use the QTY code to design a class of water-soluble cytokine receptors, including interferon…
Project Research

QTY code designs for water-soluble beta-barrel transmembrane proteins

In collaboration with Prof. Tao Fei’s lab (Shanghai Jiaotong University, China)In addition to a large number of membrane proteins that comp…
Project Research

QTY CXCR4 becomes more hydrophilic and retains cell signaling activity

In collaboration with Prof. Horst Vogel and Dr. Horst Pick (EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland).G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are vital for …
Project Research

The QTY code: A simple tool for protein design

Structure and function studies of membrane proteins, particularly G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and multipass transmembrane proteins,…
Article Research

Proteins may halt the severe cytokine storms seen in Covid-19 patients

Team designs antibody-like receptor proteins that can bind to cytokines, as possible strategy for treating coronavirus and other infections.
Article Research

Gene drives could stop the world's oldest problems. Kevin Esvelt wants to make sure they don't start any.

Esvelt's career has gone from straight science into ethics and safety.
Article Research

If you care about the future of Earth, you must care about the human species

How biologist Kevin Esvelt came to know the planet, in his own words.
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Fluid Interfaces researchers and David Kong win Best Paper Award at Augmented Humans International Conference

Congratulations to Pat Pataranutaporn, Angela Vujic, David Kong, Pattie Maes, and Misha Sra!
Article Research

Neri Oxman grows tools for the future at new MoMA retrospective

“My team and I stand in the crossroads, challenging some of the processes that designers face at the intersection of biology and technology"
Article Research

Neri Oxman and Sir Norman Foster on the future of design

The venturesome Oxman talks experimental materials and lunar habitation with the renowned architect.
Article Research

The most futuristic building in New York—currently on view at MoMA—wasn’t made by humans

To build a new pavilion in midtown Manhattan, the architect Neri Oxman employed 17,000 silkworms.
Article Research

How emerging technologies can help us fight the new coronavirus

Sculpting Evolution head Kevin Esvelt shares how emerging technologies can help us fight the new coronavirus.
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Fukushima 2100

“[The wild boars] look at me like I am a visitor. It's like they’re the owners and I’m the guest. Wild animals that normally live in nature…
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Article Research

Could plants be the future of interface design?

Core77 reports on the Fluid Interfaces group’s work in cyborg botany.
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Elowan: A plant-robot hybrid

Elowan is a cybernetic lifeform, a plant in direct dialogue with a machine. Using its own internal electrical signals, the plant is interfa…
Article Research

Decay by design: These 3D-printed organic plastics naturally decompose

A group at MIT created polymers derived from organic matter, printed by a robot, and shaped by water.
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Cyborg Botany: Augmented plants as sensors, displays, and actuators

Plants can sense the environment, other living entities and regenerate, actuate or grow in response. Our interaction and communication…
Article Research

We can change the DNA of an entire species—in the wild

On Should This Exist?, Sculpting Evolution head Kevin Esvelt grapples with the potential benefits and consequences of gene drive.
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Studying the evolution of gene drive systems

How will gene drive systems evolve once released into the wild? Can they be reliably overwritten and blocked by immunizing reversal drives?…
Project Research

Daisy Drives

Who should decide whether, when, and how to alter the environment? These are hard questions, especially when the decisions will impact peop…
Article Research

The whiz kid building a better cyborg

Because old-school surgical amputation hasn’t kept up with modern-day medicine.
Article Research

Aguahoja—Programmable water-based biocomposites for digital design and fabrication

How the Mediated Matter group’s Aguahoja project transforms some of the most abundant materials on the planet into structural art.
Article Research

The data is in. Frogs don’t boil. But we might.

The metaphor of the frog in water that is heated slowly has long been used to describe the potential risk of climate change.