A patient’s immune system can often react badly to bone marrow transplants. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) may help, but they too can be cleared out by immune cells. Now, a Harvard team has shown that coating MSCs in a thin hydrogel can protect them, making bone marrow transplants more successful.
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Researchers from Harvard have shown that thin layers of silica aerogel could warm the surface of Mars and block UV radiation while still letting visible light through. That could be enough to keep water liquid and let plants photosynthesize within a given region.
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It’s been suggested in the past that life could hitch a ride on asteroids or comets to jump from world to world – a process known as panspermia. Now, a Harvard team has calculated just how likely that scenario would be throughout the Milky Way. In short: extremely.
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We've been following the exploits of Harvard's tiny Robobee for a few years now. Until recently, it's been powered via a wire tether, but researchers have cut the cord by installing teeny solar panels on the little robotic insect.
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Thirty years ago a molecule with incredible anti-cancer properties was discovered. But it was so structurally complex scientists were unable to synthesize it in large quantities. Now a team has made a breakthrough, achieving total synthesis of volumes large enough to proceed to clinical trials.
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An exciting new study has offered the first rigorous description of how a single bacterial species can specifically disrupt the efficacy of a drug used to treat Parkinson's disease.
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The CRISPR gene-editing system is a powerful tool, but sometimes cutting and pasting can have unwanted side effects. Now researchers from MIT and Harvard have developed a new CRISPR-based system that can insert new DNA sequences without cutting, which should make the process safer and more accurate.
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In recent years scientists have been able to correct genetic diseases by removing stem cells, editing their genomes and implanting them back into patients, but that adds complications. Now new research led by Harvard scientists has successfully edited the genes of stem cells while still in the body.
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The world's data has to be stored somewhere, and huge servers take up heaps of physical space and require huge amounts of energy. Now, Harvard researchers have developed a new system for reading and writing information with organic molecules, which could sit stable and secure for thousands of years.
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Researchers have, for the first time, used a semiconductor laser to send and receive radio signals. The hybrid electronic-photonic device uses a laser to extract and transmit microwave signals, providing a data rate that may one day lead to ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi.
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