Biotechnology

Moore Foundation Grant will fund development of microscope to zoom in on molecules within cells
Nov. 30, 2023
Author
Written by Wendy Plump, Department of Chemistry

In a funding venture that could be transformational for imaging single molecules within a cell, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has awarded a $3.4M grant to a collaboration between Princeton’s Departments of Chemistry and Molecular Biology.

The four-year grant supports the development of a new microscope that will enable…

How eavesdropping viruses battle it out to infect us
July 26, 2023
Author
Written by Liz Fuller-Wright, Office of Communications

Viruses, like movie villains, operate in one of two ways: chill or kill.

They can lie low, quietly infiltrating the body’s defenses, or go on the attack, making many copies of themselves that explode out of hiding and fire in all directions. Viral attacks are almost always suicide missions, ripping apart the cell that the virus has been…

Major gift from Gilbert Omenn ’61 and Martha Darling *70 names bioengineering institute
July 18, 2023
Author
Written by Advancement Communications

Alumni Gilbert Omenn ’61 and Martha Darling *70 have made a transformational gift, as part of the Venture Forward campaign, to name a new bioengineering institute at Princeton University. The Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute will promote new directions in research, education and innovation at the intersection of engineering and the life…

Illuminating chromatin: Muir and MacMillan labs light the way
April 5, 2023
Author
Written by Wendy Plump, Department of Chemistry

Studying the microbiology of any entity, be it a molecule or a dolphin, ideally means putting a spotlight as close to the source material as possible. That can be especially challenging when you’re investigating the Rube Goldberg environment of a cell’s nucleus.

But in research published this week in Nature, Princeton chemists…

Brangwynne wins the Breakthrough Prize for revolutionary view of living cells
Sept. 22, 2022
Author
Written by Scott Lyon, Office of Engineering Communications

Princeton bioengineer Clifford Brangwynne has won the 2023 Breakthrough Prize for Life Sciences, recognizing his contributions to the study of living cells.

Brangwynne’s research has…

More possible entry points for COVID spike protein identified by Princeton scientists
Sept. 21, 2022
Author
Written by Wendy Plump, Department of Chemistry

One of the essential factors the COVID-19 virus needs to enter a host is a receptor on a human cell — a place where the universally recognized spike protein can latch onto the cell surface, pierce it, disgorge its infectious contents, and replicate.

Without a receptor, there is no replication. Without replication, there is no infection…

BioLEC2 launches with new round of DOE funding
Aug. 25, 2022
Author
Written by Wendy Plump, Department of Chemistry

The Department of Energy has awarded another four years of funding to the Energy Frontier Research Center helmed by Princeton University’s Department of Chemistry: Bio-Inspired Light-Escalated Chemistry (BioLEC). 

The $12.6M in funding was announced today by the DOE’s Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences. …

A fast, accurate, equipment-free diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2 and its variants
Aug. 16, 2022
Author
Written by Caitlin Sedwick for the Department of Molecular Biology

More than two years into the pandemic, the virus that causes COVID—SARS-CoV-2—continues to spread worldwide. Testing for the virus and its variants can help limit transmission and inform treatment decisions, and is therefore an important pillar of the public health response.

Now, a team of researchers from…

Our COVID-19 vaccines would not exist without this unsung Princeton technology
May 2, 2022
Author
Written by Scott Lyon, Office of Engineering Communications

It might not look like much — a plastic box that fits in the hand, with tiny tubes jutting out the top and bottom. Too simple to be cutting edge. Too humble to save so many lives.

But for 20 years, researchers in Robert Prud’homme’s lab have fine-tuned this little box that has revolutionized drug manufacturing, enabling everything…

DataX is funding eight new AI research projects across disciplines
April 4, 2022
Author
Written by Sharon Adarlo, Center for Statistics and Machine Learning

Eight new interdisciplinary research projects have won seed funding from Princeton University’s Schmidt DataX Fund, marking the third round of grants undertaken by the fund since 2019. The fund, supported…