To our immune system, a potentially lifesaving gene therapy can look a lot like a dangerous infection. That's because most genetic medicine uses viruses or double-stranded DNA to deliver genetic information to target cells. DNA in its traditional double helix form can lead to toxic immune stimulation and be difficult to package into cellular delivery vehicles. As a result, the reach of genetic medicine is limited today. Kano Therapeutics is taking a different approach to genetic therapies. The company is developing gene-editing technologies using circular single-stranded DNA (cssDNA), a biomolecule that is less toxic than double stranded DNA and more stable than RNA, and could be delivered more efficiently to many parts of the body to treat genetic diseases, cancers, and more. The company, which was founded by former MIT postdoc Floris Engelhardt, professor of biological engineering Mark Bathe, and John Vroom MBA '22, is developing a platform for manufacturing cssDNA of customized lengths and sequences, which could deliver genetic material to fix or replace faulty genes....
Capturing carbon dioxide from industrial plants is an important strategy in the efforts to reduce the impact of global climate change. It's used in many industries, including the production of petrochemicals, cement, and fertilizers. MIT chemical engineers have now discovered a simple way to make carbon capture more efficient and affordable, by adding a common chemical compound to capture solutions. The innovation could cut costs significantly and enable the technology to run on waste heat or even sunlight, instead of energy-intensive heating. Their new approach uses a chemical called tris ' short for tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane ' to stabilize the pH of the solution used to capture CO2, allowing the system to absorb more of the gas at relatively low temperature. The system can release CO2 at just 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) ' a dramatic improvement over conventional methods, which require temperatures exceeding 120 C to release captured carbon. 'It's something that could be implemented almost immediately in fairly standard types of equipment,' says T. Alan Hatton, the Ralph Landau Professor of Chemical Engineering Practice at MIT and the senior author of the study....
'Can we make tissues that are made from you, for you'' asked Jennifer Lewis ScD '91 at the 2025 Mildred S. Dresselhaus Lecture, organized by MIT.nano, on Nov. 3. 'The grand challenge goal is to create these tissues for therapeutic use and, ultimately, at the whole organ scale.' Lewis, the Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, is pursuing that challenge through advances in 3D printing. In her talk presented to a combined in-person and virtual audience of over 500 attendees, Lewis shared work from her lab that focuses on enhanced function in 3D printed components for use in soft electronics, robotics, and life sciences. 'How you make a material affects its structure, and it affects its properties,' said Lewis. 'This perspective was a light bulb moment for me, to think about 3D printing beyond just prototyping and making shapes, but really being able to control local composition, structure, and properties across multiple scales.' A trained materials scientist, Lewis reflected on learning to speak the language of biologists when she joined Harvard to start her own lab focused on bioprinting and biological engineering. How does one compare particles and polymers to stem cells and extracellular matrices' A key commonality, she explained, is the need for a material that can be embedded and then erased, leaving behind open channels. To meet this need, Lewis' lab developed new 3D printing methods, sophisticated printhead designs, and viscoelastic inks ' meaning the ink can go back and forth between liquid and solid form....
Sameer Bharadwaj is CEO of Orbia, a global company focused on water and food security, the transition to renewable energy, and connectivity infrastructure. In an interview, Bharadwaj discusses leading teams through volatility and maintaining fiscal discipline while pursuing the company's core mission. He also explains how having a controlling owner enables long-term thinking, how the company optimizes operations during downturns, and why Orbia is well positioned for AI-driven energy storage. Sameer Bharadwaj is CEO of Orbia, a global sustainable solutions company. After earning a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota, Bharadwaj worked at Dow Chemical, Boston Consulting Group, and Cabot Corp. He joined Orbia, then known as Mexichem, in 2016 and became CEO in 2021, leading its transformation from a regional chemicals company to a global provider of sustainability solutions. MIT Sloan Management Review spoke with Bharadwaj about how the company has navigated volatility while maintaining its focus on water and food security, the energy transition, and connectivity infrastructure. This interview has been edited for clarity and length....
