{"id":116133,"date":"2012-08-26T13:00:24","date_gmt":"2012-08-26T17:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"\/gazette\/?p=116133"},"modified":"2019-06-14T17:08:54","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T21:08:54","slug":"merging-the-biological-electronic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/","title":{"rendered":"Merging the biological, electronic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t
\"\"

Charles M. Lieber: "With this technology, for the first time, we can work at the same scale as the unit of biological system without interrupting it. Ultimately, this is about merging tissue with electronics in a way that it becomes difficult to determine where the tissue ends and the electronics begin.\u201d<\/p>

File photo by Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tScience & Tech\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tMerging the biological, electronic\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\tPeter Reuell\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tResearchers grow cyborg tissues with embedded nanoelectronics\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\t\t

Harvard<\/a> scientists have created a type of \u201ccyborg\u201d tissue for the first time by embedding a three-dimensional network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.<\/p>\n

As described in a paper published Aug. 26 in the journal Nature Materials<\/a>, a research team led by Charles M. Lieber<\/a>, the Mark Hyman Jr. Professor of Chemistry at Harvard, and Daniel Kohane, a Harvard Medical School<\/a> professor in the Department of Anesthesia at Children’s Hospital Boston<\/a>, developed a system for creating nanoscale \u201cscaffolds\u201d that can be seeded with cells that grow into tissue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current methods we have for monitoring or interacting with living systems are limited,\u201d said Lieber. \u201cWe can use electrodes to measure activity in cells or tissue, but that damages them. With this technology, for the first time, we can work at the same scale as the unit of biological system without interrupting it. Ultimately, this is about merging tissue with electronics in a way that it becomes difficult to determine where the tissue ends and the electronics begin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contributing to the work were Robert Langer<\/a>, from the Koch Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a>, and Zhigang Suo<\/a>, the Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett Professor of Mechanics and Materials at Harvard\u2019s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The research addresses a concern that has long been associated with work on bioengineered tissue: how to create systems capable of sensing chemical or electrical changes in the tissue after it has been grown and implanted. The system might also represent a solution to researchers\u2019 struggles in developing methods to directly stimulate engineered tissues and measure cellular reactions.<\/p>\n

“In the body, the autonomic nervous system keeps track of pH, chemistry, oxygen, and other factors, and triggers responses as needed,” Kohane said. “We need to be able to mimic the kind of intrinsic feedback loops the body has evolved in order to maintain fine control at the cellular and tissue level.”<\/p>\n

Using the autonomic nervous system as inspiration, Bozhi Tian, a former doctoral student under Lieber and a former postdoctoral fellow in the Kohane and Langer labs, joined with\u00a0Harvard graduate student Jia Liu in Lieber\u2019s Harvard lab\u00a0to build meshlike networks of nanoscale silicon wires.<\/p>\n

The process of building the networks, Lieber said, is similar to that used to etch microchips.<\/p>\n

Beginning with a two-dimensional substrate, researchers laid out a mesh of organic polymer around nanoscale wires, which serve as the critical sensing elements. Nanoscale electrodes, which connect the nanowire elements, were then built within the mesh to enable nanowire transistors to measure the activity in cells without damaging them. Once completed, the substrate was dissolved, leaving researchers with a netlike sponge, or a mesh, that can be folded or rolled into a host of three-dimensional shapes.<\/p>\n

Once complete, the networks were porous enough to allow the team to seed them with cells and encourage those cells to grow in 3-D cultures.<\/p>\n

“Previous efforts to create bioengineered sensing networks have focused on two-dimensional layouts, where culture cells grow on top of electronic components, or on conformal layouts, where probes are placed on tissue surfaces,” said Tian. “It is desirable to have an accurate picture of cellular behavior within the 3-D structure of a tissue, and it is also important to have nanoscale probes to avoid disruption of either cellular or tissue architecture.”<\/p>\n

Using heart and nerve cells, the team successfully engineered tissues containing embedded nanoscale networks without affecting the cells’ viability or activity. Using the embedded devices, the researchers were then able to detect electrical signals generated by cells deep within the tissue, and to measure changes in those signals in response to cardio- or neuro-stimulating drugs.<\/p>\n

They were also able to construct bioengineered blood vessels, and used the embedded technology to measure pH changes \u2014 as would be seen in response to inflammation, ischemia, and other biochemical or cellular environments \u2014 both inside and outside the vessels.<\/p>\n

Though a number of potential applications exist for the technology, the most near-term use, Lieber said, may come from the pharmaceutical industry, where researchers could use it to more precisely study how newly developed drugs act in three-dimensional tissues, rather than thin layers of cultured cells. The system might also one day be used to monitor changes inside the body and react accordingly, whether through electrical stimulation or the release of a drug.<\/p>\n

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the McKnight Foundation, and Children’s Hospital Boston.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time, Harvard scientists have created a type of cyborg tissue by embedding a 3-D network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105622744,"featured_media":116145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gz_ga_pageviews":14,"gz_ga_lastupdated":"2022-04-26 13:40","document_color_palette":"crimson","author":"Peter Reuell","affiliation":"Harvard Staff Writer","_category_override":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1387],"tags":[2651,7777,7993,9611,9829,12941,13050,16062,20909,23353,24881,24895,24909,24914,25101,25216,27327,29664,36517],"gazette-formats":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-116133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","tag-3-d","tag-charles-lieber","tag-childrens-hospital-boston","tag-cyborg","tag-daniel-kohane","tag-faculty-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-fas","tag-harvard-school-of-engineering-and-applied-sciences","tag-koch-institute-at-the-massachusetts-institute-of-technology","tag-mcknight-foundation","tag-nanoelectronics","tag-nanoscale","tag-nanotechnology","tag-nanowires","tag-national-institutes-of-health","tag-nature-materials","tag-peter-reuell","tag-robert-langer","tag-zhigang-suo"],"yoast_head":"\nMerging the biological, electronic — Harvard Gazette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For the first time, Harvard scientists have created a type of cyborg tissue by embedding a 3-D network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Merging the biological, electronic — Harvard Gazette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the first time, Harvard scientists have created a type of cyborg tissue by embedding a 3-D network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Harvard Gazette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-26T17:00:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-06-14T21:08:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"605\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"403\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"harvardgazette\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"harvardgazette\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/person\/78d028cf624923e92682268709ffbc4b\"},\"headline\":\"Merging the biological, electronic\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-26T17:00:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-14T21:08:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/\"},\"wordCount\":803,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"3-D\",\"Charles Lieber\",\"Children's Hospital Boston\",\"Cyborg\",\"Daniel Kohane\",\"Faculty of Arts and Sciences\",\"FAS\",\"Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences\",\"Koch Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology\",\"McKnight Foundation\",\"Nanoelectronics\",\"Nanoscale\",\"Nanotechnology\",\"Nanowires\",\"National Institutes of Health\",\"Nature Materials\",\"Peter Reuell\",\"Robert Langer\",\"Zhigang Suo\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science & Tech\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2012\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/\",\"name\":\"Merging the biological, electronic — Harvard Gazette\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-26T17:00:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-14T21:08:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"For the first time, Harvard scientists have created a type of cyborg tissue by embedding a 3-D network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg\",\"width\":605,\"height\":403},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/\",\"name\":\"Harvard Gazette\",\"description\":\"Official news from Harvard University covering innovation in teaching, learning, and research\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Harvard Gazette\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Harvard_Gazette_logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Harvard_Gazette_logo.svg\",\"width\":164,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"The Harvard Gazette\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/person\/78d028cf624923e92682268709ffbc4b\",\"name\":\"harvardgazette\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Merging the biological, electronic — Harvard Gazette","description":"For the first time, Harvard scientists have created a type of cyborg tissue by embedding a 3-D network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Merging the biological, electronic — Harvard Gazette","og_description":"For the first time, Harvard scientists have created a type of cyborg tissue by embedding a 3-D network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.","og_url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/","og_site_name":"Harvard Gazette","article_published_time":"2012-08-26T17:00:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-06-14T21:08:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":605,"height":403,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"harvardgazette","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/"},"author":{"name":"harvardgazette","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/person\/78d028cf624923e92682268709ffbc4b"},"headline":"Merging the biological, electronic","datePublished":"2012-08-26T17:00:24+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-14T21:08:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/"},"wordCount":803,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg","keywords":["3-D","Charles Lieber","Children's Hospital Boston","Cyborg","Daniel Kohane","Faculty of Arts and Sciences","FAS","Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences","Koch Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology","McKnight Foundation","Nanoelectronics","Nanoscale","Nanotechnology","Nanowires","National Institutes of Health","Nature Materials","Peter Reuell","Robert Langer","Zhigang Suo"],"articleSection":["Science & Tech"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2012","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/","name":"Merging the biological, electronic — Harvard Gazette","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg","datePublished":"2012-08-26T17:00:24+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-14T21:08:54+00:00","description":"For the first time, Harvard scientists have created a type of cyborg tissue by embedding a 3-D network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg","width":605,"height":403},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/","name":"Harvard Gazette","description":"Official news from Harvard University covering innovation in teaching, learning, and research","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization","name":"The Harvard Gazette","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Harvard_Gazette_logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Harvard_Gazette_logo.svg","width":164,"height":64,"caption":"The Harvard Gazette"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/person\/78d028cf624923e92682268709ffbc4b","name":"harvardgazette"}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Merging the biological, electronic","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2012\/08\/merging-the-biological-electronic\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg?w=150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg"},"articleSection":"Science & Tech","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"harvardgazette"}],"creator":["harvardgazette"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Harvard Gazette","logo":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Harvard_Gazette_logo.svg"},"keywords":["3-d","charles lieber","children's hospital boston","cyborg","daniel kohane","faculty of arts and sciences","fas","harvard school of engineering and applied sciences","koch institute at the massachusetts institute of technology","mcknight foundation","nanoelectronics","nanoscale","nanotechnology","nanowires","national institutes of health","nature materials","peter reuell","robert langer","zhigang suo"],"dateCreated":"2012-08-26T17:00:24Z","datePublished":"2012-08-26T17:00:24Z","dateModified":"2019-06-14T21:08:54Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Merging the biological, electronic\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.harvard.edu\\\/gazette\\\/story\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/merging-the-biological-electronic\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.harvard.edu\\\/gazette\\\/story\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/merging-the-biological-electronic\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.harvard.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/112105_lieber_350.jpg?w=150\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.harvard.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/112105_lieber_350.jpg\"},\"articleSection\":\"Science & Tech\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"harvardgazette\"}],\"creator\":[\"harvardgazette\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Harvard Gazette\",\"logo\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.harvard.edu\\\/gazette\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/Harvard_Gazette_logo.svg\"},\"keywords\":[\"3-d\",\"charles lieber\",\"children's hospital boston\",\"cyborg\",\"daniel kohane\",\"faculty of arts and sciences\",\"fas\",\"harvard school of engineering and applied sciences\",\"koch institute at the massachusetts institute of technology\",\"mcknight foundation\",\"nanoelectronics\",\"nanoscale\",\"nanotechnology\",\"nanowires\",\"national institutes of health\",\"nature materials\",\"peter reuell\",\"robert langer\",\"zhigang suo\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2012-08-26T17:00:24Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-26T17:00:24Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-14T21:08:54Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/news.harvard.edu\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg","has_blocks":true,"block_data":{"0":{"blockName":"harvard-gazette\/article-header","attrs":{"blockColorPalette":"","coloredHeading":"","creditText":"File photo by Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer","displayDetails":"","displayTitle":"","categoryId":1387,"mediaAlt":"","mediaCaption":"Charles M. Lieber: \"With this technology, for the first time, we can work at the same scale as the unit of biological system without interrupting it. Ultimately, this is about merging tissue with electronics in a way that it becomes difficult to determine where the tissue ends and the electronics begin.\u201d","mediaId":116145,"mediaSize":"full","mediaType":"image","mediaUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg","poster":"","title":"Merging the biological, electronic","subheading":"Researchers grow cyborg tissues with embedded nanoelectronics","centeredImage":true,"className":"is-style-full-width-text-below","mediaHeight":403,"mediaWidth":605,"backgroundFixed":false,"backgroundTone":"light","coloredBackground":false,"displayOverlay":true,"fadeInText":false,"isAmbient":false,"mediaLength":"","mediaPosition":"","posterText":"","titleAbove":false,"useUncroppedImage":false,"lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Charles M. Lieber: "With this technology, for the first time, we can work at the same scale as the unit of biological system without interrupting it. Ultimately, this is about merging tissue with electronics in a way that it becomes difficult to determine where the tissue ends and the electronics begin.\u201d<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">File photo by Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","innerContent":["<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Charles M. Lieber: "With this technology, for the first time, we can work at the same scale as the unit of biological system without interrupting it. Ultimately, this is about merging tissue with electronics in a way that it becomes difficult to determine where the tissue ends and the electronics begin.\u201d<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">File photo by Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n"],"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-full-width-text-below centered-image\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/112105_lieber_350.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Charles M. Lieber: "With this technology, for the first time, we can work at the same scale as the unit of biological system without interrupting it. Ultimately, this is about merging tissue with electronics in a way that it becomes difficult to determine where the tissue ends and the electronics begin.\u201d<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">File photo by Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/science-technology\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tScience & Tech\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tMerging the biological, electronic\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tPeter Reuell\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2012-08-26\">\n\t\t\tAugust 26, 2012\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t4 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tResearchers grow cyborg tissues with embedded nanoelectronics\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t<p><a href=\"http:\/\/harvard.edu\/\">Harvard<\/a> scientists have created a type of \u201ccyborg\u201d tissue for the first time by embedding a three-dimensional network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.<\/p>\n<p>As described in a paper published Aug. 26 in the journal <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nmat\/index.html\">Nature Materials<\/a>, a research team led by <a href=\"http:\/\/cmliris.harvard.edu\/\">Charles M. Lieber<\/a>, the Mark Hyman Jr. Professor of Chemistry at Harvard, and Daniel Kohane, a <a href=\"http:\/\/hms.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Medical School<\/a> professor in the Department of Anesthesia at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.childrenshospital.org\/\">Children's Hospital Boston<\/a>, developed a system for creating nanoscale \u201cscaffolds\u201d that can be seeded with cells that grow into tissue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe current methods we have for monitoring or interacting with living systems are limited,\u201d said Lieber. \u201cWe can use electrodes to measure activity in cells or tissue, but that damages them. With this technology, for the first time, we can work at the same scale as the unit of biological system without interrupting it. Ultimately, this is about merging tissue with electronics in a way that it becomes difficult to determine where the tissue ends and the electronics begin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Contributing to the work were <a href=\"http:\/\/web.mit.edu\/langerlab\/\">Robert Langer<\/a>, from the<a href=\"http:\/\/ki.mit.edu\/\"> Koch Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seas.harvard.edu\/suo\/\">Zhigang Suo<\/a>, the Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett Professor of Mechanics and Materials at Harvard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seas.harvard.edu\/\">School of Engineering and Applied Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The research addresses a concern that has long been associated with work on bioengineered tissue: how to create systems capable of sensing chemical or electrical changes in the tissue after it has been grown and implanted. The system might also represent a solution to researchers\u2019 struggles in developing methods to directly stimulate engineered tissues and measure cellular reactions.<\/p>\n<p>\"In the body, the autonomic nervous system keeps track of pH, chemistry, oxygen, and other factors, and triggers responses as needed,\" Kohane said. \"We need to be able to mimic the kind of intrinsic feedback loops the body has evolved in order to maintain fine control at the cellular and tissue level.\"<\/p>\n<p>Using the autonomic nervous system as inspiration, Bozhi Tian, a former doctoral student under Lieber and a former postdoctoral fellow in the Kohane and Langer labs, joined with\u00a0Harvard graduate student Jia Liu in Lieber\u2019s Harvard lab\u00a0to build meshlike networks of nanoscale silicon wires.<\/p>\n<p>The process of building the networks, Lieber said, is similar to that used to etch microchips.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning with a two-dimensional substrate, researchers laid out a mesh of organic polymer around nanoscale wires, which serve as the critical sensing elements. Nanoscale electrodes, which connect the nanowire elements, were then built within the mesh to enable nanowire transistors to measure the activity in cells without damaging them. Once completed, the substrate was dissolved, leaving researchers with a netlike sponge, or a mesh, that can be folded or rolled into a host of three-dimensional shapes.<\/p>\n<p>Once complete, the networks were porous enough to allow the team to seed them with cells and encourage those cells to grow in 3-D cultures.<\/p>\n<p>\"Previous efforts to create bioengineered sensing networks have focused on two-dimensional layouts, where culture cells grow on top of electronic components, or on conformal layouts, where probes are placed on tissue surfaces,\" said Tian. \"It is desirable to have an accurate picture of cellular behavior within the 3-D structure of a tissue, and it is also important to have nanoscale probes to avoid disruption of either cellular or tissue architecture.\"<\/p>\n<p>Using heart and nerve cells, the team successfully engineered tissues containing embedded nanoscale networks without affecting the cells' viability or activity. Using the embedded devices, the researchers were then able to detect electrical signals generated by cells deep within the tissue, and to measure changes in those signals in response to cardio- or neuro-stimulating drugs.<\/p>\n<p>They were also able to construct bioengineered blood vessels, and used the embedded technology to measure pH changes \u2014 as would be seen in response to inflammation, ischemia, and other biochemical or cellular environments \u2014 both inside and outside the vessels.<\/p>\n<p>Though a number of potential applications exist for the technology, the most near-term use, Lieber said, may come from the pharmaceutical industry, where researchers could use it to more precisely study how newly developed drugs act in three-dimensional tissues, rather than thin layers of cultured cells. The system might also one day be used to monitor changes inside the body and react accordingly, whether through electrical stimulation or the release of a drug.<\/p>\n<p>The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the McKnight Foundation, and Children's Hospital Boston.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p><a href=\"http:\/\/harvard.edu\/\">Harvard<\/a> scientists have created a type of \u201ccyborg\u201d tissue for the first time by embedding a three-dimensional network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.<\/p>\n<p>As described in a paper published Aug. 26 in the journal <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nmat\/index.html\">Nature Materials<\/a>, a research team led by <a href=\"http:\/\/cmliris.harvard.edu\/\">Charles M. Lieber<\/a>, the Mark Hyman Jr. Professor of Chemistry at Harvard, and Daniel Kohane, a <a href=\"http:\/\/hms.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Medical School<\/a> professor in the Department of Anesthesia at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.childrenshospital.org\/\">Children's Hospital Boston<\/a>, developed a system for creating nanoscale \u201cscaffolds\u201d that can be seeded with cells that grow into tissue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe current methods we have for monitoring or interacting with living systems are limited,\u201d said Lieber. \u201cWe can use electrodes to measure activity in cells or tissue, but that damages them. With this technology, for the first time, we can work at the same scale as the unit of biological system without interrupting it. Ultimately, this is about merging tissue with electronics in a way that it becomes difficult to determine where the tissue ends and the electronics begin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Contributing to the work were <a href=\"http:\/\/web.mit.edu\/langerlab\/\">Robert Langer<\/a>, from the<a href=\"http:\/\/ki.mit.edu\/\"> Koch Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seas.harvard.edu\/suo\/\">Zhigang Suo<\/a>, the Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett Professor of Mechanics and Materials at Harvard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seas.harvard.edu\/\">School of Engineering and Applied Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The research addresses a concern that has long been associated with work on bioengineered tissue: how to create systems capable of sensing chemical or electrical changes in the tissue after it has been grown and implanted. The system might also represent a solution to researchers\u2019 struggles in developing methods to directly stimulate engineered tissues and measure cellular reactions.<\/p>\n<p>\"In the body, the autonomic nervous system keeps track of pH, chemistry, oxygen, and other factors, and triggers responses as needed,\" Kohane said. \"We need to be able to mimic the kind of intrinsic feedback loops the body has evolved in order to maintain fine control at the cellular and tissue level.\"<\/p>\n<p>Using the autonomic nervous system as inspiration, Bozhi Tian, a former doctoral student under Lieber and a former postdoctoral fellow in the Kohane and Langer labs, joined with\u00a0Harvard graduate student Jia Liu in Lieber\u2019s Harvard lab\u00a0to build meshlike networks of nanoscale silicon wires.<\/p>\n<p>The process of building the networks, Lieber said, is similar to that used to etch microchips.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning with a two-dimensional substrate, researchers laid out a mesh of organic polymer around nanoscale wires, which serve as the critical sensing elements. Nanoscale electrodes, which connect the nanowire elements, were then built within the mesh to enable nanowire transistors to measure the activity in cells without damaging them. Once completed, the substrate was dissolved, leaving researchers with a netlike sponge, or a mesh, that can be folded or rolled into a host of three-dimensional shapes.<\/p>\n<p>Once complete, the networks were porous enough to allow the team to seed them with cells and encourage those cells to grow in 3-D cultures.<\/p>\n<p>\"Previous efforts to create bioengineered sensing networks have focused on two-dimensional layouts, where culture cells grow on top of electronic components, or on conformal layouts, where probes are placed on tissue surfaces,\" said Tian. \"It is desirable to have an accurate picture of cellular behavior within the 3-D structure of a tissue, and it is also important to have nanoscale probes to avoid disruption of either cellular or tissue architecture.\"<\/p>\n<p>Using heart and nerve cells, the team successfully engineered tissues containing embedded nanoscale networks without affecting the cells' viability or activity. Using the embedded devices, the researchers were then able to detect electrical signals generated by cells deep within the tissue, and to measure changes in those signals in response to cardio- or neuro-stimulating drugs.<\/p>\n<p>They were also able to construct bioengineered blood vessels, and used the embedded technology to measure pH changes \u2014 as would be seen in response to inflammation, ischemia, and other biochemical or cellular environments \u2014 both inside and outside the vessels.<\/p>\n<p>Though a number of potential applications exist for the technology, the most near-term use, Lieber said, may come from the pharmaceutical industry, where researchers could use it to more precisely study how newly developed drugs act in three-dimensional tissues, rather than thin layers of cultured cells. The system might also one day be used to monitor changes inside the body and react accordingly, whether through electrical stimulation or the release of a drug.<\/p>\n<p>The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the McKnight Foundation, and Children's Hospital Boston.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p><a href=\"http:\/\/harvard.edu\/\">Harvard<\/a> scientists have created a type of \u201ccyborg\u201d tissue for the first time by embedding a three-dimensional network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.<\/p>\n<p>As described in a paper published Aug. 26 in the journal <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nmat\/index.html\">Nature Materials<\/a>, a research team led by <a href=\"http:\/\/cmliris.harvard.edu\/\">Charles M. Lieber<\/a>, the Mark Hyman Jr. Professor of Chemistry at Harvard, and Daniel Kohane, a <a href=\"http:\/\/hms.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Medical School<\/a> professor in the Department of Anesthesia at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.childrenshospital.org\/\">Children's Hospital Boston<\/a>, developed a system for creating nanoscale \u201cscaffolds\u201d that can be seeded with cells that grow into tissue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe current methods we have for monitoring or interacting with living systems are limited,\u201d said Lieber. \u201cWe can use electrodes to measure activity in cells or tissue, but that damages them. With this technology, for the first time, we can work at the same scale as the unit of biological system without interrupting it. Ultimately, this is about merging tissue with electronics in a way that it becomes difficult to determine where the tissue ends and the electronics begin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Contributing to the work were <a href=\"http:\/\/web.mit.edu\/langerlab\/\">Robert Langer<\/a>, from the<a href=\"http:\/\/ki.mit.edu\/\"> Koch Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seas.harvard.edu\/suo\/\">Zhigang Suo<\/a>, the Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett Professor of Mechanics and Materials at Harvard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seas.harvard.edu\/\">School of Engineering and Applied Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The research addresses a concern that has long been associated with work on bioengineered tissue: how to create systems capable of sensing chemical or electrical changes in the tissue after it has been grown and implanted. The system might also represent a solution to researchers\u2019 struggles in developing methods to directly stimulate engineered tissues and measure cellular reactions.<\/p>\n<p>\"In the body, the autonomic nervous system keeps track of pH, chemistry, oxygen, and other factors, and triggers responses as needed,\" Kohane said. \"We need to be able to mimic the kind of intrinsic feedback loops the body has evolved in order to maintain fine control at the cellular and tissue level.\"<\/p>\n<p>Using the autonomic nervous system as inspiration, Bozhi Tian, a former doctoral student under Lieber and a former postdoctoral fellow in the Kohane and Langer labs, joined with\u00a0Harvard graduate student Jia Liu in Lieber\u2019s Harvard lab\u00a0to build meshlike networks of nanoscale silicon wires.<\/p>\n<p>The process of building the networks, Lieber said, is similar to that used to etch microchips.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning with a two-dimensional substrate, researchers laid out a mesh of organic polymer around nanoscale wires, which serve as the critical sensing elements. Nanoscale electrodes, which connect the nanowire elements, were then built within the mesh to enable nanowire transistors to measure the activity in cells without damaging them. Once completed, the substrate was dissolved, leaving researchers with a netlike sponge, or a mesh, that can be folded or rolled into a host of three-dimensional shapes.<\/p>\n<p>Once complete, the networks were porous enough to allow the team to seed them with cells and encourage those cells to grow in 3-D cultures.<\/p>\n<p>\"Previous efforts to create bioengineered sensing networks have focused on two-dimensional layouts, where culture cells grow on top of electronic components, or on conformal layouts, where probes are placed on tissue surfaces,\" said Tian. \"It is desirable to have an accurate picture of cellular behavior within the 3-D structure of a tissue, and it is also important to have nanoscale probes to avoid disruption of either cellular or tissue architecture.\"<\/p>\n<p>Using heart and nerve cells, the team successfully engineered tissues containing embedded nanoscale networks without affecting the cells' viability or activity. Using the embedded devices, the researchers were then able to detect electrical signals generated by cells deep within the tissue, and to measure changes in those signals in response to cardio- or neuro-stimulating drugs.<\/p>\n<p>They were also able to construct bioengineered blood vessels, and used the embedded technology to measure pH changes \u2014 as would be seen in response to inflammation, ischemia, and other biochemical or cellular environments \u2014 both inside and outside the vessels.<\/p>\n<p>Though a number of potential applications exist for the technology, the most near-term use, Lieber said, may come from the pharmaceutical industry, where researchers could use it to more precisely study how newly developed drugs act in three-dimensional tissues, rather than thin layers of cultured cells. The system might also one day be used to monitor changes inside the body and react accordingly, whether through electrical stimulation or the release of a drug.<\/p>\n<p>The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the McKnight Foundation, and Children's Hospital Boston.<\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p><a href=\"http:\/\/harvard.edu\/\">Harvard<\/a> scientists have created a type of \u201ccyborg\u201d tissue for the first time by embedding a three-dimensional network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.<\/p>\n<p>As described in a paper published Aug. 26 in the journal <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nmat\/index.html\">Nature Materials<\/a>, a research team led by <a href=\"http:\/\/cmliris.harvard.edu\/\">Charles M. Lieber<\/a>, the Mark Hyman Jr. Professor of Chemistry at Harvard, and Daniel Kohane, a <a href=\"http:\/\/hms.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Medical School<\/a> professor in the Department of Anesthesia at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.childrenshospital.org\/\">Children's Hospital Boston<\/a>, developed a system for creating nanoscale \u201cscaffolds\u201d that can be seeded with cells that grow into tissue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe current methods we have for monitoring or interacting with living systems are limited,\u201d said Lieber. \u201cWe can use electrodes to measure activity in cells or tissue, but that damages them. With this technology, for the first time, we can work at the same scale as the unit of biological system without interrupting it. Ultimately, this is about merging tissue with electronics in a way that it becomes difficult to determine where the tissue ends and the electronics begin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Contributing to the work were <a href=\"http:\/\/web.mit.edu\/langerlab\/\">Robert Langer<\/a>, from the<a href=\"http:\/\/ki.mit.edu\/\"> Koch Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seas.harvard.edu\/suo\/\">Zhigang Suo<\/a>, the Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett Professor of Mechanics and Materials at Harvard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seas.harvard.edu\/\">School of Engineering and Applied Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The research addresses a concern that has long been associated with work on bioengineered tissue: how to create systems capable of sensing chemical or electrical changes in the tissue after it has been grown and implanted. The system might also represent a solution to researchers\u2019 struggles in developing methods to directly stimulate engineered tissues and measure cellular reactions.<\/p>\n<p>\"In the body, the autonomic nervous system keeps track of pH, chemistry, oxygen, and other factors, and triggers responses as needed,\" Kohane said. \"We need to be able to mimic the kind of intrinsic feedback loops the body has evolved in order to maintain fine control at the cellular and tissue level.\"<\/p>\n<p>Using the autonomic nervous system as inspiration, Bozhi Tian, a former doctoral student under Lieber and a former postdoctoral fellow in the Kohane and Langer labs, joined with\u00a0Harvard graduate student Jia Liu in Lieber\u2019s Harvard lab\u00a0to build meshlike networks of nanoscale silicon wires.<\/p>\n<p>The process of building the networks, Lieber said, is similar to that used to etch microchips.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning with a two-dimensional substrate, researchers laid out a mesh of organic polymer around nanoscale wires, which serve as the critical sensing elements. Nanoscale electrodes, which connect the nanowire elements, were then built within the mesh to enable nanowire transistors to measure the activity in cells without damaging them. Once completed, the substrate was dissolved, leaving researchers with a netlike sponge, or a mesh, that can be folded or rolled into a host of three-dimensional shapes.<\/p>\n<p>Once complete, the networks were porous enough to allow the team to seed them with cells and encourage those cells to grow in 3-D cultures.<\/p>\n<p>\"Previous efforts to create bioengineered sensing networks have focused on two-dimensional layouts, where culture cells grow on top of electronic components, or on conformal layouts, where probes are placed on tissue surfaces,\" said Tian. \"It is desirable to have an accurate picture of cellular behavior within the 3-D structure of a tissue, and it is also important to have nanoscale probes to avoid disruption of either cellular or tissue architecture.\"<\/p>\n<p>Using heart and nerve cells, the team successfully engineered tissues containing embedded nanoscale networks without affecting the cells' viability or activity. Using the embedded devices, the researchers were then able to detect electrical signals generated by cells deep within the tissue, and to measure changes in those signals in response to cardio- or neuro-stimulating drugs.<\/p>\n<p>They were also able to construct bioengineered blood vessels, and used the embedded technology to measure pH changes \u2014 as would be seen in response to inflammation, ischemia, and other biochemical or cellular environments \u2014 both inside and outside the vessels.<\/p>\n<p>Though a number of potential applications exist for the technology, the most near-term use, Lieber said, may come from the pharmaceutical industry, where researchers could use it to more precisely study how newly developed drugs act in three-dimensional tissues, rather than thin layers of cultured cells. The system might also one day be used to monitor changes inside the body and react accordingly, whether through electrical stimulation or the release of a drug.<\/p>\n<p>The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the McKnight Foundation, and Children's Hospital Boston.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6909,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2009\/06\/frans-spaepen-named-interim-director-of-center-for-nanoscale-systems\/","url_meta":{"origin":116133,"position":0},"title":"Frans Spaepen named interim director of Center for Nanoscale Systems","author":"harvardgazette","date":"June 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Frans Spaepen, director of the Rowland Institute, will serve as interim director of Harvard University\u2019s Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS) starting July 1, upon completion of his term as interim dean of Harvard\u2019s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":283259,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2019\/08\/growing-organoids-uncovers-how-cells-become-organs\/","url_meta":{"origin":116133,"position":1},"title":"Uncovering how cells become organs","author":"Lian Parsons","date":"August 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Tiny sensors are embedded into stretchable, integrated mesh that grows with the developing tissue, allowing scientists to track how cells grow into organs.","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Tech","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/science-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Contraction of cyborg human cardiac organoid","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/CyborgGif.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/CyborgGif.gif?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/CyborgGif.gif?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9958,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2006\/09\/kavli-institute-for-bionano-science-and-technology-established\/","url_meta":{"origin":116133,"position":2},"title":"Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology established","author":"gazetteimport","date":"September 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Kavli Foundation and Harvard University have agreed to establish the Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology (KIBST). The endowment from the Kavli Foundation will help to boost the University's research efforts at the interfaces of biology, engineering, and nanoscale science. In particular, the gift will fund postdoctoral research\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60573,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2007\/11\/harvard-japanese-science-organization-sign-memorandum-of-understanding\/","url_meta":{"origin":116133,"position":3},"title":"Harvard, Japanese science organization sign memorandum of understanding","author":"harvardgazette","date":"November 5, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Officials of Harvard and RIKEN, Japan\u2019s equivalent of the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s National Lanoratories have October 29 signed a Memorandum of Understanding to encourage and facilitate collaborations between Harvard and RIKEN researchers. Michael D. Smith, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Venkstesh Narayanamurti, Dean of the School\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Tech","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/science-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61017,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2008\/08\/samuel-kou-appointed-professor-of-statistics\/","url_meta":{"origin":116133,"position":4},"title":"Samuel Kou appointed professor of statistics","author":"harvardgazette","date":"August 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Samuel Kou, whose modeling of nanoscale processes within molecules has opened up important new frontiers at the intersection of statistics and chemistry, has been appointed professor of statistics in Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, effective July 1, 2008. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kou, 33, was previously John L. Loeb Associate Professor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1558,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2008\/11\/hu-named-professor-of-applied-physics-electrical-engineering\/","url_meta":{"origin":116133,"position":5},"title":"Hu named professor of applied physics, electrical engineering","author":"harvardgazette","date":"November 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Evelyn L. Hu, a pioneer in the fabrication of nanoscale electronic and photonic devices, has been named Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering in Harvard University\u2019s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), effective Jan. 1, 2009.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105622744"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278661,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116133\/revisions\/278661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116133"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=116133"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=116133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}