Bioinstrumentation

Recent news:

photo of microfluidic channel

Single-cell studies offer new view of how HIV infections persist

August 8, 2022

Professor Iain Clark, in partnership with graduate program faculty member Adam Abate, was able to analyze single cells harboring latent HIV using a technique that isolates single, infected cells as tiny amounts of blood move through their microfluidic devices. Their work was featured in Science news.

flying bat Photo by Yuval Barkai @bats.tlv

Researchers resolve riddle of mammalian brain’s navigation system

May 16, 2022

In a study published in Nature, a team of researchers in the lab of Professor Michael Yartsev studied neural activity in the hippocampus of freely flying bats and found that the neural codes remained unchanged over days and weeks. The discovery that these GPS-like neural codes remain stable over time has upended previous research and may further our understanding of diseases like Alzheimer’s.

illustration of nanoknife in use

NHS begins use of BioE-pioneered Nanoknife

January 6, 2022

Non Thermal Irreversible Electroporation treatment, developed by Bioenginering and Mechanical Engineering professor Boris Rubinsky, is now the technology behind the Nanoknife. Licensed from Berkeley by AngioDynamics, the Nanoknife uses electric currents to quickly and easily reach remote tumors in prostate cancer. University College London Hospital was recently the first hospital to use the treatment in…

CRISPR-Chip named 2021 Top 10 Innovation by The Scientist

December 2, 2021

Developed by former BioE postdoc Kiana Aran, the CRISPR-Chip now in use in Cardea Bio’s CRISPR-SNP-Chip has been named one of 2021’s Top 10 Innovations by The Scientist magazine. The new chip is the first device capable of detecting single base differences in DNA without generating millions of copies of the DNA first.

drawing of apparatus

Supercooling technique advances preservation of human tissue

September 22, 2021

Researchers led by Professor Emeritus Boris Rubinsky successfully revived human heart tissue after it had been preserved in a subfreezing, supercooled state for 1 to 3 days.

Artwork courtesy of Margaret L. Liu, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine

Using two CRISPR enzymes, a COVID diagnostic in only 20 minutes

August 5, 2021

Patrick Hsu, Liana Lareau and Daniel Fletcher have collaborated on a new rapid COVID test that rivals the sensitivity of the gold-standard qRT-PCR testing, with results in less than an hour.

cala health logo

Cala Health named one of 52 Women-Led Startups Driving The Future Of HealthTech And FemTech

June 29, 2021

Congratulations to BioE PhD alumna Kate Rosenbluth, founder of Cala Health, named to Forbes’ list of “52 Women-Led Startups Driving The Future Of HealthTech And FemTech”. Cala Health creates non-invasive wearable neuromodulation therapies for patients living with chronic diseases.

research illustration from publication

Clark lab’s technique IDs new therapeutic targets for inflammatory autoimmunity

April 27, 2021

Cell interactions contribute to central nervous system pathology, but techniques to define these interactions are limited. In a publication in Science, Professor Iain Clark’s lab describes a new method that determines the molecular phenotypes and connections between cells in vivo. This technique allows them to identify new therapeutic targets that disrupt inflammatory crosstalk in experimental autoimmunity, and potentially, in neurologic disorders like Multiple Sclerosis. 

CRISPR SNP Chip device

CRISPR-Chip advance streamlines genetic testing for medical diagnostics and research

April 6, 2021

Former BioE postdoc Kiana Aran, now a professor at KGI, along with Professor Irina Conboy and other collaborators, have demonstrated new disease-detection capabilities of a hand-held device based on CRISPR gene editing technology, a development that could lead to faster, portable genetic testing for diagnostics and research.