Category Archives: BioEngineering

Over the past several years, gene editing has become a powerful tool for creating cellular models of human diseases, particularly with the emergence of technologies like CRISPR-Cas9.

But one concern with gene editing tools like CRISPR which allows scientists to cut and paste genetic sequences into a genome to correct errors or introduce changes is precision, says Krishanu Saha, a bioengineering professor at the University of WisconsinMadison. That is, editing genes sometimes introduces errors that could have unintended consequences.

Saha is using CRISPR to reprogram human pluripotent stem cells and immune cells to study diseases like Fragile X syndrome, to discover new drugs and develop cell therapies, and to ask fundamental questions about human biology. On Wednesday, April 19, he will present the strategies his lab has developed to make gene editing more precise at the 12th Annual Wisconsin Stem Cell Symposium.

My talk is focused on genome-level engineering of human cells, Saha says. I will cover ongoing work in my lab that engineers human pluripotent stem cells and T cells from cancer patients.

The strategies Saha and his research team have developed help correct pathogenic point mutations and introduce transgenes with precision, reducing and in some cases eliminating undesirable genomic effects.

Another UWMadison scientist, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering Eric Shusta, is using stem cells to explore the biology of the blood-brain barrier. This work will be the subject of his talk at the symposium, which is hosted by the UWMadison Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center (SCRMC) and the BioPharmaceutical Technology Center Institute (BTCI).

The blood-brain barrier is an impermeable network of endothelial cells that protects the brain from toxins and other potentially harmful agents that may be circulating in the blood. A healthy blood-brain barrier is essential for well-being, but issues with this security system for the brain can lead to developmental or other types of disease.

Using stem cells, Shusta and his colleagues have been able to reconstruct the blood-brain barrier in the laboratory dish, providing scientists with a potent model for drug discovery and to explore neurological disorders that may be associated with a compromised barrier. The advent of patient-sourced induced pluripotent stem cells means it may be possible to mimic diseases or conditions and possibly devise treatments for disorders that are now untreatable.

The symposium will also gather a handful of national and international speakers, like Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centers Michel Sadelain (New York) and Leiden University Medical Centers Christine Mummery (The Netherlands), focused around the theme: Engineering Cells and Tissues for Discovery and Therapy.

We sought to bring bioengineers together with biologists and clinicians this year, says Saha, who is also a co-organizer of the event with UWMadison Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering Sean Palecek. Because bioengineers are working at many levels the genome, cell and tissue we have invited scientists across these scales.

Talks will focus on emerging strategies to control stem cell behavior in the lab and in the body and include genome and cell engineering; stem cells as models of cell and developmental biology; in vitro maturation of stem-cell derived tissues; tissue engineering and organoid development; biomanufacturing; and treatments utilizing engineered human cell products.

We see great synergy in bringing together techniques of controlling behavior across these scales to generate new research tools and therapeutics, Saha says.

Moderators of the symposium include Timothy Kamp, professor of medicine and co-director of SCRMC ; William Murphy, professor of biomedical engineering, orthopedics and rehabilitation, and co-director of SCRMC; Saha and Palecek. It takes place from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the BioPharmaceutical Technology Center, 5445 E. Cheryl Parkway, Fitchburg, Wisconsin 53711.

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12th Annual Wisconsin Stem Cell Symposium to focus on bioengineering - University of Wisconsin-Madison

Bioengineers without borders team David Peeler, Timmy Lee, Philip Walczak, Conner Pitts, Eric Swanson, and Gabrielle Pang (center).

By Taylor McAvoy

Eric Swanson wasnt planning to be so involved in Bioengineers Without Borders (BWB) when he first joined. Now, as president of the organization, hes pretty much as involved as he could possibly be.

BWB is a student organization at the University of Washington that focuses on creating medical technologies for places that may not have access to quality health care resources. BWB focuses on creating low-cost, quality medical equipment while also learning skills useful to bioengineering and related career fields. The teams that comprise BWB do consist of many bioenginnering (BIOE) majors or intended majors, but the team is home to members from other fields as well.

There are currently eight active teams in BWB. Swanson is the graduate leader of one team focusing on building a low-cost anesthesia delivery device. The team is built of current undergraduates Philip Walczak, Timmy Lee, Gabby Pang, Conner Pitts, Ajeet Dhaliwal, Ross Boitano, and Kaleb Smith.

The idea for the project came about approximately three years ago when Walczak was taking the Introduction to Bioengineering Problem Solving class at the UW. He brought his idea to BWB and wanted to turn it into actual functioning technology people could use.

Theres this lack of access to basic surgery in low-resource settings and theres a lot of reasons for that lack of training for anesthesiologists on it, said Swanson, a bioengineering Ph.D student at the UW. Another major component is a lot of what is required for surgery [isnt] available because of the lack of access.

Along with fellow Ph.D student David Peeler, Swanson has been leading a team to create the anesthetic device. The difference between this medical technology and others available is its portability, which allows doctors to carry it with them for surgery, making it ideal for low-resource settings. Although there are other portable anesthetic devices available, many are not of good quality and can make it a challenge for doctors to apply the accurate doses they need.

Along the way, the BWB team ended up finding and working with BIOE associate professor Wendy Thomas and Anthony Roche, a professor of anesthesiology in the UW School of Public Health. Both have helped advise the team while keeping a hands-off approach to the building of the project itself.

My role is two-fold, Thomas explained. One of my roles is that I provide a lab space, and the other role is that I provide bioengineering expertise and help them to bounce ideas off when it comes to their project and give them feedback.

The team is currently working on a draw-over vaporizer, one type of portable anesthetic device. A draw-over vaporizer is different than a plenum vaporizer because a plenum version requires a power source to make it functional. If there is a power outage, there is no way to use a plenum vaporizer in an emergency medical situation.

During surgery, the anesthetic chamber that contains the general anesthesia or inhaled anesthesia needs to be kept at a constant temperature. That is a problem for draw-over vaporizers because its hard to maintain the constant temperature needed for surgery.

The anesthetic device team recruited UW MBA student Aaron Boswell to help present the project at a business competition, specifically aimed at highlighting how to market the anesthetic device after the project is completed and ready for medical professionals to use. With his help, the team won second place and a grant of $10,000 at the Holloman Health Innovation Challenge on March 3, 2017.

Another BWB team is focusing its efforts on building a hydration monitor, a device that measures hydration levels for communities where people may not be able to diagnose themselves properly. The goal is to create a quality monitor to use in developing countries most in need. The device this team is creating is unique because there is a lack of competitors attempting to address the same issue.

The focus is on infants and children ages zero to five who cannot speak for themselves, whereas adults can say whether they are dehydrated or not, co-project manager and BIOE undergraduate Micaela Everitt said.

In addition to Everitt, this team is made up of Annapurni Sriram, Barbie Varghese, Caleb Perez, Devin Garg, Emily Chun, Jocelyn Ma, and Vidhi Singh. BIOE Ph.D student and mentor Hal Holmes serves as an advisor because of the core members who were working on the project at the time. Holmes said he was impressed by their passion and drive for the project, and he has stayed on as the team has added more members to the project.

The faculty advisor for the hydration team is Matthew Bruce, a principal scientist/engineer at the UWs Applied Physics Laboratory. He aids the team with technical direction and advises them on other mechanical aspects of the project.

For people in a place without immediate access to healthcare or doctors, they will need to use a device like this to try to diagnose whether or not their child is dehydrated and by how much, Sriram said.

BWB welcomes anyone who is passionate and willing to learn the skills needed for various projects, and the organization is also currently looking for any upperclassmen in a technology-related major to get involved. The best candidates will be passionate and driven to create technology that can make meaningful change around the globe.

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Bioengineers Without Borders brings medical technology where it's ... - The Daily Princetonian

The Hindu

IIT Bombay uses mango leaves to make fluorescent graphene quantum dots The Hindu Using mice fibroblast cells, a team led by Rohit Srivastava from the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering at IIT Bombay evaluated the potential of quantum dots for bioimaging and temperature-sensing applications. In mice cell in vitro studies ...

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IIT Bombay uses mango leaves to make fluorescent graphene quantum dots - The Hindu

UCR researchers used glass tubing and off-the-shelf electronics to create an inexpensive sensor that can weigh microgram-sized biological samples in fluids

By Sarah Nightingale on April 5, 2017

A glass tube sensor developed by engineers at the University of California, Riverside will allow scientists to weigh tiny biological samples in their native liquid environments.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have found an innovative new use for a simple piece of glass tubing: weighing things. Their glass tube sensor will help speed up chemical toxicity tests, shed light on plant growth, and develop new biomaterials, among many other applications.

The research, led by William Grover, assistant professor of bioengineering in UC Riversides Bourns College of Engineering, and Shirin Mesbah Oskui, a doctoral student in Grovers lab who recently graduated, was published today in the journal PLOS ONE. The paper describes the development of a simple, inexpensive sensor to measure the mass, volume, and density of microgram-sized biological samples in fluid. The research has important applications in toxicity research as well as many other areas, including developmental biology, plant sciences, and biomaterials engineering.

While weight is one of the most fundamental and important measures of an object, weighing tiny biological samples in their native liquid environments is not possible with conventional scales. To change that, Mesbah Oskui developed a sensor comprising a small piece of glass tubing bent into a U shape and attached to an inexpensive speaker. The speaker vibrates the glass at its resonance frequency, which is a function of the overall mass of the tube. When a sample is pumped into the tube, the resonance frequency changes, allowing the samples mass, density and volume to be calculated. The research expands a technique originally developed at MIT for weighing single cells. By opening this technique to larger samples, the research vastly increases its applications.

As proof of concept, the researchers turned to an important research area: toxicology. Many chemicals in use today are yet to be fully evaluated for their risk to human health and the environment, primarily because toxicology tests on traditional animal models are expensive, time consuming and labor-intensive. While the introduction of tests using tiny, fast-developing zebrafish embryos is speeding things up, until now, scientists havent been able to weigh the embryos in their native fluid environment. In the paper, the researchers used the sensors to measure mass changes in zebrafish embryos as they reacted to toxic silver nanoparticles.

Left to right: William Grover, assistant professor of bioengineering at UCR, Shirin Mesbah Oskui, who recently completed her Ph.D. in bioengineering, and Heran Bhakta, a graduate student in bioengineering.

Zebrafish embryos are becoming an important toxicological model species, but until now scientists have not been able to include a very simple measure of healththe organisms weightin their panel of measurements. Our research changes that, which will further expand the use of this model in helping protect human health and the environment, Mesbah Oskui said.

Also in the paper, the researchers described using the sensor to measure density changes in seeds undergoing rehydration and germination, and degradation rates of biomaterials used in medical implants. Heran Bhakta, a graduate student in bioengineering, led the work on biomaterials degradation.

Biodegradable materials can be used to cover a wound after surgery, but if they degrade too quickly they can leave an open wound and if they dont degrade quickly enough they can cause complications, Bhakta said. Previously, tracking the degradation of biomaterials in a fluid environment has been a painstaking and error-prone process in which the biomaterial sample must be removed, cleaned, weighed and replaced on an ongoing basis. In contrast, our sensors enable us to measure the degradation of even the tiniest biomaterials samples continuously as they break down in a biological fluid, Bhakta said.

Grover said the automation, portability and low cost of the technique make the sensors well suited for applications in the field or in resource-limited settings.

Our technique is so versatile because all objects have fundamental properties like weight. I am excited to see how the sensors will be used by other researchers to address scientific problems in many other fields, he said.

In addition to Grover, Mesbah Oskui and Bhakta, other contributors included Graciel Diamante, a graduate student in environmental sciences; Huinan Liu, associate professor of bioengineering; and Daniel Schlenk, professor of aquatic ecotoxicology, all at UC Riverside.

Archived under: Science/Technology, bioengineering, Bourns College of Engineering, Department of Bioengineering, press release, William Grover

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Innovative Sensor Can Screen Toxic Drugs, Help Develop Biomaterials, and Much More - UCR Today (press release)

University of Canterbury researchers at the Rose Centre for Stroke Recovery and Research have revealed an innovative new treatment for people with swallowing impairments.

Swallowing impairments, also known as dysphagia, impact on people affected by stroke or other neurological disorders. The new treatment will make a big difference to potentially thousands of lives, says Professor Maggie-Lee Huckabee, Director of the Rose Centre.

Food and drink sustain us physiologically, nutritionally, socially and culturally. They are critical to maintaining health, but equally valued for the human engagement that emerges from sharing a drink with a friend, or a meal with family.

Individuals who struggle with eating and drinking can develop chest infections or require feeding through a tube, and consequently experience exclusion from many social engagements.

New thinking brings solution

Historically, swallowing has been considered a reflex, and thus amenable only to rehabilitation programmes that focus on increasing strength of muscles in the throat. More recent research suggests that the cortex the thinking part of the brain plays a significant role in modulating this pseudo-reflex.

This new understanding led UCs researchers to approach the problem differently, using bioengineering application to facilitate recovery. Bioengineering applies engineering principles to biological systems, and can include elements of electrical and mechanical engineering, computer science, chemistry and biology. This approach is central to the Rose Centres clinical research programme.

The Biofeedback in Strength and Skill Training (BiSSkiT) software-driven treatment protocol was developed through a collaboration between clinical researchers and medical bioengineers; including Professor Huckabee and Esther Guiu Hernandez at the Rose Centre, and Associate Professor Paul Gaynor and Adjunct Professor Richard Jones, in UCs Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Rather than focusing on strengthening, the innovative skill training protocol in the BiSSkiT software takes a different approach.

Swallowing relies on precision and speed in movement, not strength, says Professor Huckabee.

With BiSSkiT, a small device that measures the electrical activity of muscles involved in swallowing displays that information through the software as a waveform on a computer screen. When patients see what is happening, they can then improve precision in motor control of swallowing by using the waveform to hit a randomly placed target on the computer screen.

Research at the Rose Centre suggests very positive outcomes following two weeks of skill training in patients with Parkinsons disease. Significant improvements were seen across a small group of ten patients in speed and efficiency of swallowing, which carried over to improvement on quality of life measures. Further research is under way, which supports the research education of four UC PhD students.

Approved for clinical use

The end of 2016 marked a major step in development of the software, thanks in part to UCs global connections. Considered a Class 1 medical device, the software has recently received CE mark approval, so is now approved for sale to the European market for clinical use. Further approvals have been granted for sales in New Zealand and in the coming year, approvals will be sought for Australasian and North American markets, potentially helping thousands of people with swallowing disorders.

This development offers people with swallowing disorders a completely new opportunity to improve their quality of life, Professor Huckabee says.

The skill training protocol is being evaluated through international trials in a larger group of patients with Parkinsons disease, as well as others with motor neurone disease and Huntingtons disease. In addition to the novel skill training approach, there is also a strengthening protocol if the traditional approach to muscle strengthening is required. Other UC students are developing a test based on the software that will help clinicians determine which type of training is required.

Changing brains, changing lives

Housed at St Georges Medical Centre, the Rose Centre sees patients from around Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and the United States of America, and integrates clinical diagnostic and rehabilitation services for swallowing impairment with the development and execution of translational research. Professor Huckabee says the keystone of translational research at the centre is patient engagement.

The brain is a remarkably adaptable organ and because of the way swallowing is controlled by the brain, there is great potential for rehabilitation.

The key to recovery is finding a way for patients to visualise the very abstract task of swallowing, which is exactly what the BiSSkiT software does. If they can see it, they are much more likely to be able to change it.

The focus on patient engagement has recently been formalised with the development of the PERC programme Patients, Engineers, Researchers and Clinicians. Funded by the Farina Thompson Charitable Trust, this unique programme brings together all partners in the collaborative development of translational research, which applies findings from basic science to enhance human health and wellbeing. The PERC programme at the Rose Centre will provide a platform for development of several other projects that provide visual feedback of other aspects of swallowing.

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Bioengineering aids recovery for swallowing disorders | Scoop News - Scoop.co.nz (press release)

Salt Lake CityBy the time someone realizes they damaged a ligament, tendon or cartilage from too much exercise or other types of physical activity, its too late. The tissue is stretched and torn and the person is writhing in pain.

But a team of researchers led by University of Utah bioengineering professors Jeffrey Weiss and Michael Yu has discovered that damage to collagen, the main building block of all human tissue, can occur much earlier at a molecular level from too much physical stress, alerting doctors and scientists that a patient is on the path to major tissue damage and pain.

This could be especially helpful for some who want to know earlier if they are developing diseases such as arthritis or for athletes who want to know if repeated stress on their bodies is taking a toll.

The scientific value of this is high because collagen is everywhere, Yu said. When we are talking about this mechanical damage, were talking about cartilage and tendons and even heart valves that move all the time. There are so many tissues which involve collagen that can go bad mechanically. This issue is important for understanding many injuries and diseases.

The teams research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was published this week in the latest issue of Nature Communications. The paper can be viewed here.

Before, scientists thought collagenwhich are strands of protein braided into a ropelike structure that give tissue its strength and stiffnesswould just stretch or slide by each other during repeated stress and never knew if they actually got damaged. As a result, patients who put repeated stress on their body would not know if they were on the road to something worse from tough physical activity.

But now the team discovered that the collagen molecule does in fact get unraveled at a molecular level before complete failure of the tissue occurs. This type of minor damage, called subfailure damage, is associated with common injuries to connective tissues such as ligament and meniscus tears and various types of tendinitis such as tennis elbow and rotator cuff tendinopathy.

Accumulation of subfailure damage can go on for a long time with no catastrophic failure, but repeated damage results in inflammation, said Weiss. So this vicious cycle continues, the inflammation breaks down the tissue, making it more susceptible to damage, which then can result in a massive tear.

The team used a new probe called collagen hybridizing peptide (CHP), a tiny version of collagen that binds to unraveled strands of damaged collagen, to figure out where and how much damage has occurred in overloaded tendons.

This paves the way for medical researchers to use CHP probes in the future as a way of diagnosing if a person has damaged collagen and if so, how much and where, before a massive tear happens. Weiss and Yu also believe it can be used as a way to deliver drugs straight to the damaged tissue because the CHP targets only the damaged collagen. Finally, it will tell doctors even more about what happens to our bodies during repeated physical activity.

A fundamental understanding of the loads and strain that cause molecular damage has eluded us until now, said Weiss. Our findings can translate into recommendations for athletes on how to train or what rehabilitation protocols people who are injured can use.

Co-authors include researchers in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Utah (Jared Zitnay, Yang Li, Boi Hoa San and Shawn Reese) and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Markus Buehler, Zhao Qin and Baptiste DePalle. The CHP probe has been commercialized by 3Helix, Inc, based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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U of U Bioengineers Detect Early Signs of Tendon, Ligament Damage - Utah Business