Harvard Office of Technology Development

DNA Destruction Through Novel and Adaptable Enzymes

Bacteria in mixed populations compete for resources and have several strategies on surviving and dominating other bacterial species. One method employs the injection of lethal effectors into adjacent cells. These effectors can disrupt cell membranes…

Investigators

Karine Gibbs

Isolating live cells after high-throughput, long-term, time-lapse microscopy

Researchers led by Johan Paulsson have engineered a high-throughput microfluidic device for multigenerational culturing, imaging, and tracking of single-cell lineages. The platform is highly customizable and is compatible with many cell types,…

Investigators

Johan Paulsson

Cancer Treatment through TRPA1 antagonism

Researchers in Joan Brugge’s lab have identified a new cancer therapeutic target in the ion channel transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1). The lab is seeking collaborations with industry partners to expand on these exciting findings.The…

Investigators

Joan Brugge

Exo-site Enzyme Inhibitor Discovery Platform for Oncology Therapeutics

A startup emerging from David Liu's lab intends to commercialize a small-molecule enzyme inhibitor discovery platform to generate more potent drugs with higher specificity. (Image credit: Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer.)Off-target drug…

Investigators

David Liu

Continuous directed evolution of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases to alter amino acid specificity and enhance activity

DESCRIPTION Functions of various biotherapeutics can often be enhanced by modifying individual amino acid residues. However, the current approaches rely on existing natural amino acid chemistry. Approaches that provide new chemical “handles” will…

Investigators

David Liu

Evolution of Sequence-Defined Highly Functionalized Nucleic Acid Polymers

DESCRIPTION Template-directed synthesis of modified DNA sequences can provide a rich source of material for generating new therapies featuring modified nucleic acid polymers. The Liu lab has previously developed pioneering methods to generate…

Investigators

David Liu

Universal Early Cancer Diagnostic

DescriptionThe methylation of DNA is an important epigenetic modification that regulates gene expression. A variety of disease states, cancer in particular, are thought to originate from defects in this process leading to changes in the DNA…

Investigators

Alexander Meissner

Oral delivery of biologics

Biologics are used to treat a variety of chronic diseases including diabetes and arthritis. Not surprisingly, they command a large share of the therapeutics market. Moreover, a large number of therapeutic proteins are currently in clinical…

Investigators

Samir Mitragotri

Unique artificial intelligence-based platform to guide quantitative pathology analysis and cancer diagnosis

Accurate diagnosis is crucial for developing optimal treatment plans for cancer patients. Dr. Kun Yu at Harvard Medical School has developed a fully-automated image analysis framework that can accurately diagnose non-small cell lung cancer, breast…

Investigators

Kun Zhang
Isaac (Zak) Kohane

Anti-cancer Therapeutic Strategy Targeting Ammonium Metabolism

Cancer has long been recognized as a disease of altered cellular metabolism as cancer cells have an abnormally high demand for nutrients to support their growth and proliferation. However, targeting cancer cell metabolism has not been seriously…

Investigators

Marcia Haigis
Jessica Spinelli