Mariana Matus Garcia
Alm Lab
Date: Monday June 4, 2018
Time: 10AM
Location: Building 68 room 121
Title: Analysis of fecal biomarkers to impact clinical care and public health
Abstract:
Precision Medicine and Medical Genomics
Image Credit: Xinchen Wang
Research in Precision Medicine and Medical Genomics at MIT seeks to use genomic data and modern high-throughput experimental and computational approaches to interrogate disease mechanisms, generate molecular subclassifications of disease and work towards precision targeted therapies.
Ingestible"bacteria on a chip" could help diagnose disease
Ultra-low power sensors carrying genetically engineered bacteria can detect gastric bleeding.
MIT researchers have built an ingestible sensor equipped with genetically engineered bacteria that can diagnose bleeding in the stomach or other gastrointestinal problems.
Protecting confidentiality in genomic studies
Cryptographic system could enable "crowdsourced" genomics, with volunteers contributing information to privacy-protected databases.
Researchers identify important role for gene in 16p11.2 deletion autism
Study finds that major vault protein is needed for homeostatic plasticity.
In a new study of one of the most common genetic causes of autism, neuroscientists at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have identified a molecular mechanism that appears to undermine the ability of neurons in affected mice to properly incorporate changes driven by experience. The findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggest that a particular gene, MVP, is likely consequential in people with 16p11.2 deletion syndrome.
Timothy Lu seeks to combat disease by reprogramming biological systems
Synthetic Biologist hopes to develop treatments for cancer and other diseases.
In high school and college, Timothy Lu spent a lot of time programming computers. But as his college graduation approached, he turned his attention toward programming biological systems. The field of synthetic biology was just beginning to emerge, and he wanted to be part of it.
$3.2 Million Grant to JAX Scientist for Epigenetic Studies to Advance Precision Medicine
CSB Alum in the News
Biologists' new peptide could fight many cancers
Drug that targets a key cancer protein could combat leukemia and other types of cancer.
MIT biologists have designed a new peptide that can disrupt a key protein that many types of cancers, including some forms of lymphoma, leukemia, and breast cancer, need to survive.
The new peptide targets a protein called Mcl-1, which helps cancer cells avoid the cellular suicide that is usually induced by DNA damage. By blocking Mcl-1, the peptide can force cancer cells to undergo programmed cell death.
Cell-weighing method could help doctors choose cancer drugs
Technique may predict which therapies a patient is most sensitive or resistant to.
Doctors have many drugs available to treat multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. However, there is no way to predict, by genetic markers or other means, how a patient will respond to a particular drug. This can lead to months of treatment with a drug that isn’t working.