University of Washington and Microsoft researchers develop "nanopore-tal" enabling cells to talk to computers

The research team, which includes MolE graduate student Nicolas Cardozo, introduce a new class of reporter proteins that can be directly read by a commercially available nanopore sensing device. The new system "• dubbed "Nanopore-addressable protein Tags Engineered as Reporters," also known as NanoporeTERs or NTERs for short "• can perform multiplexed detection of protein expression levels from bacterial and human cell cultures far beyond the capacity of existing techniques.

Researchers use lasers and molecular tethers to create perfectly patterned platforms for tissue engineering

Image of a biological scaffold for tissue engineering that has had proteins tethered to it in a specific pattern, in this case the University of Washington's former logo
MolES faculty member Cole DeForest and colleagues have developed a technique to modify naturally occurring biological polymers with protein-based biochemical messages that affect cell behavior. Their approach, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, uses a near-infrared laser to trigger chemical adhesion of protein messages to a scaffold made from biological polymers such as collagen, a connective tissue found throughout our bodies.