Featured series 
Tag: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard
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Nation & World
Cutting surgical robots down to size
In a collaboration between Harvard and Sony, engineers have brought surgical robotics down to the microscale by creating a new, origami-inspired miniature manipulator to improve precision and control.
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Nation & World
Filtering liquids with liquids
Liquid-gated membranes filter nanoclay particles out of water with twofold higher efficiency and nearly threefold longer time to foul, and reduce the pressure required for filtration over conventional membranes.
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Nation & World
How, not why, the human brain folds
Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, collaborating with scientists in Finland and France, have shown what ultimately causes the brain to fold — a simple mechanical instability associated with buckling.
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Nation & World
Robotic insect mimics nature’s extreme moves
A team of researchers from Harvard and Seoul National University has unveiled a novel robotic insect that can jump off the surface of water. In doing so, they have revealed new insights into the natural mechanics that allow water striders to jump from rigid ground or fluid water with the same amount of power and…
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Nation & World
Programming genetic code can lead to better designer genes
The key to programming bacteria to follow orders has been found in its protein production. Researchers have learned that by using more rare words, or codons, near the start of a gene, they can remove roadblocks to protein production. The knowledge may mean new drugs and biofuels.
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Nation & World
Giving slime the slip
A team of Harvard scientists has developed a slick way to prevent the troublesome biofilms from ever forming on a surface.
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Nation & World
Artificial jellyfish swims in a heartbeat
A team of researchers at Harvard University and the California Institute of Technology has turned inanimate silicon and living cardiac muscle cells into a freely swimming “jellyfish.”
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Nation & World
Wood to receive Alan T. Waterman Award
Harvard engineer Robert J. Wood has been named one of two recipients of the Alan T. Waterman Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
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Nation & World
‘Pop!’ goes the robot
A production method inspired by children’s pop-up books enables rapid fabrication of tiny, complex devices. Devised by engineers at Harvard, the ingenious layering and folding process will enable the creation of a broad range of electromechanical devices.
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Nation & World
Tailored to fit
The dramatic diversity of columbine flowers can be explained by a simple change in cell shape. To match the pollinators’ probing tongues, the flowers’ cells in floral spurs elongate, driving rapid speciation.
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Nation & World
Wyss Institute project targets sepsis
The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard has been awarded a $12.3 million, four-year grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop a treatment for sepsis, a commonly fatal bloodstream infection.
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Nation & World
What’s in a liquid
New 3-D nanostructured chip identifies unknown liquids instantly, offering a litmus test for surface tension.
