Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics

Catching Molecular Dances in Slow Motion by Adding White Noise

An atomic force microscope allows scientists to observe molecular interactions important to understanding life processes. Georgia Tech mechanical engineers focusing on biotechnology recently significantly improved AFM's sensitivity by adding electronic white noise. Credit: Georgia Tech / Rob Felt

Nov 21, 2016 - Atlanta

Counterintuitive addition of noise to AFM instrument requiring quiet boosts its performance

Secret Phenotypes: Disease Devils in Invisible Details

Engineering Professor Hang Lu holds up a chip used to immobilize C. elegans roundworms for photographing by a microscope optic connected to a computer. The chip then sorts the worms into one of two channels for either mutants or non-mutants, a status an algorythm determines based on subtle phenotypical differences it recognizes in the microscope photo. Credit: Georgia Tech / Rob Felt

Nov 23, 2016 - Atlanta

Computers viewing tiny traits could reveal previously invisible underpinnings of horrible diseases.

Genomics Technique Could Accelerate Detection of Foodborne Bacterial Outbreaks

A microbiologist uses next-generation sequencing technology to identify a bacterial DNA fingerprint. (Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Nov 30, 2016 - Atlanta, GA

A new testing methodology could accelerate the diagnosis of foodborne bacterial outbreaks.

The Health Informatics Revolution

With support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Georgia Tech is examining death certificate data to determine what can be learned from these records. Shown are May Dongmei Wang, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Paula Braun, entrepreneur-in-residence at the CDC; and Mark Braunstein, M.D., a professor of the practice in Georgia Tech’s College of Computing. (Credit: Rob

Dec 09, 2016 - Atlanta

Georgia Tech is advancing health informatics in ways that will affect the future of health care.

Inside the Effort to Bring Life-Saving Cell Therapies to the Masses

This small-scale bioreactor is the model for how cell manufacturing exists on the industrial scale. (Credit: Rob Felt, Georgia Tech)

Dec 09, 2016 - Atlanta, GA

A new Georgia Tech effort aims at developing technologies for manufacturing therapeutic cells.

Buzzing the Vagus Nerve Just Right to Fight Inflammatory Disease

A vagus nerve implant with two electrodes - one to apply desired stimulation going down into the body, the other to block unwanted stimulation going up to the brain. Georgia Tech / Rob Felt

Jan 05, 2017 - Atlanta, GA

An electric buzz to the vagus can fight chronic inflammation -- this fine-tune makes it even better.

Biophysics Plays Key Role in Immune System Signaling, Response

Understanding the biophysical cues provided by pathogenic particles may help vaccine developers fine tune the signals they already knew were being transmitted by the molecular information presented to the immune system. The research could provide a new tool for vaccine developers, said Krishnendu Roy, the Robert A. Milton Chair and professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. (Credit: Rob Felt, Georgia Tech)

Jan 17, 2017 - Atlanta, GA

Understanding the biophysical cues provided by pathogenic particles may help fine tune vaccines.

Microgel Composite Could Overcome Fibrin Blockade to Accelerate Healing

$Visualization shows the microgel network architecture in fibrin–microgel composite materials. Confocal microscopy images of fluorescently labeled microgels (shown in blue and red) and fibrin (shown in green) demonstrate that at a critical volume fraction, the microgels form an interconnected tunnel network within the fibrous fibrin matrix. Microgels are tightly packed and only slightly jiggle around within the microgel domains. (Credit: Alison Douglas)$