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University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science


Cooking up a breakthrough: Penn engineers refine lipid nanoparticles for better mRNA therapies

Researchers at Penn School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a new method to refine ionizable lipids, key ingredients in lipid nanoparticles. This approach combines precision with rapid output, enabling safer and more effective mRNA vaccines and therapeutics.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalNature Biomedical Engineering·TypeExperimental study·DateNov 22, 2024

Breakthrough in energy-efficient avalanche-based amorphization could revolutionize data storage

Researchers developed a new method for amorphizing indium selenide wires, requiring as little as one billion times less power density. The process resembles an avalanche and an earthquake, triggering rapid deformation and linking small areas into larger ones, potentially unlocking wider applications for phase-change memory technology.

Balancing quantity and quality: How X/Twitter's algorithm influences our consumption of news

Researchers found that X/Twitter's algorithm presents users with milder and less polarizing information than chronological timeline news. However, this has implications for the use of these platforms to find trustworthy news, as users question its credibility even when coming from legitimate sources.

The secrets of baseball's magic mud

A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science has confirmed that baseball's 'magic mud' works, providing the right mixture for spreading, gripping, and stickiness. The study also highlights the potential for natural materials like the mud to be used as sustainable lubricants.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences·TypeExperimental study·DateNov 4, 2024

Training medical AI with knowledge, not shortcuts

Researchers develop Knowledge-enhanced Bottlenecks (KnoBo) method to emulate human physicians' education, resulting in more accurate and interpretable AI models for medical image recognition. KnoBo-based models outperform existing best-in-class models on accuracy and robustness, especially in handling confounded data.

Touching the future: Mastering physical contact with new algorithm for robots

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a new consensus complementarity control (C3) algorithm that allows robots to react to complex physical contact in real-time. The algorithm enables robots to control the motion of sliding objects, a challenging task previously thought to be impossible for autonomous robots.

Siloxane nanoparticles unlock precise organ targeting for mRNA therapy

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science have discovered a novel means of directing lipid nanoparticles to target specific tissues. By incorporating siloxane composites into ionizable lipids, they were able to achieve tissue-specific delivery, particularly to the liver, lungs, and spleen.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalNature Nanotechnology·TypeExperimental study·DateOct 1, 2024

Mining the microbiome: Uncovering new antibiotics inside the human gut

Researchers have identified dozens of potential new antibiotics in the human gut microbiome, with one candidate showing promise against multidrug-resistant infections. The discovery uses artificial intelligence to analyze vast amounts of biological data and mine the world's biological information as a source of antibiotics.

Detecting machine-generated text: An arms race with the advancements of large language models

Researchers created a data set of over 10 million documents to test detection ability in current and future detectors. They found that most detectors only work well in specific use cases and can be easily evaded by manipulating the text. The new tool, RAID, aims to provide a standardized benchmark for robust detection.

Reexamining misinformation: How unflagged, factual content drives vaccine hesitancy

A study by University of Pennsylvania researchers found that unflagged, factual content about COVID-19 vaccines is more damaging to public health than intentionally false or misleading information. Factual articles with sensational headlines and statistics can lower users' intentions to get vaccinated by 2.3 percentage points.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalScience·TypeData/statistical analysis·DateMay 30, 2024

To 6G and beyond: Penn engineers unlock the next generation of wireless communications

Researchers at Penn Engineering have developed an adjustable filter that can prevent interference and enable the use of higher-frequency bands in wireless communications. The filter, made from a unique material called yttrium iron garnet, is tiny and requires minimal power, making it suitable for future mobile devices.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalNature Communications·TypeExperimental study·DateMay 24, 2024

Model disgorgement: the key to fixing AI bias and copyright infringement?

Model disgorgement is a set of techniques that force generative models to remove content leading to copyright infringement or biased responses. Researchers propose this approach to address issues like stylistic infringement, where models reproduce copyrighted works in the style of famous artists.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences·TypeLiterature review·DateMay 17, 2024

Penn Engineers recreate Star Trek’s Holodeck using ChatGPT and video game assets

Researchers created a system called Holodeck to generate interactive 3D environments, leveraging language models like ChatGPT to control it. The system outperformed earlier tools in evaluating realism and accuracy, with human evaluators preferring its outputs across various indoor environments.

The hidden geometry of learning: neural networks think alike

Researchers found that neural networks use a similar path to chart their way from ignorance to truth when presented with images, despite varying network designs and training recipes. This commonality holds the potential for developing more efficient image classification algorithms, reducing the computational power required by AI systems.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences·TypeData/statistical analysis·DateMar 27, 2024

Accelerating CAR T cell therapy: Lipid nanoparticles speed up manufacturing

Researchers developed a method using lipid nanoparticles to activate T cells and deliver genetic instructions in one step, simplifying the CAR T cell manufacturing process. This new approach reduces production time from 48 hours to 24 hours and increases accessibility to patients worldwide.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalAdvanced Materials·TypeExperimental study·DateMar 27, 2024

Precision pulmonary medicine: Penn engineers target lung disease with lipid nanoparticles

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a new method to efficiently determine which lipid nanoparticles are likely to bind to the lungs, rather than the liver. This breakthrough enables targeted delivery of mRNA therapeutics beyond the liver, offering new hope for treatments of cystic fibrosis and lung cancer.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalNature Communications·TypeExperimental study·DateMar 1, 2024

A moonshot for obesity: New molecules, inspired by space shuttles, advance lipid nanoparticle delivery for weight control

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science have invented a new way to synthesize key components of lipid nanoparticles, simplifying their manufacture while boosting efficacy. The new method involves combining three chemicals to create branched lipidoids that promote mRNA delivery to target c...

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalNature Communications·TypeExperimental study·DateFeb 26, 2024

New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a new silicon-photonic chip that can perform vector-matrix multiplication using light waves, allowing for accelerated AI computing. The chip's design has privacy advantages, as sensitive information can be processed simultaneously without being stored in memory.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalNature Photonics·TypeExperimental study·DateFeb 16, 2024

Silicon ally: Penn engineers grow full wafers of high-performing 2D semiconductor that integrates with state-of-the-art chips

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have grown a high-performing 2D semiconductor, indium selenide (InSe), to industrial-scale wafers. The team's success hinged on a growth technique that overcame InSe's atomic structure quirks, producing a material with uniform chemical and crystalline properties.

For a new generation of antibiotics, scientists are bringing extinct molecules back to life – and discovering the hidden genetics of immunity along the way

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science have discovered dozens of small protein sequences with antibiotic qualities in extinct organisms like Neanderthals and Denisovans. They then synthesized these molecules using artificial intelligence and tested their efficacy against pathogens.

A ferroelectric transistor that stores and computes at scale

A new FE-FET design demonstrates record-breaking performances in computing and memory, achieving large memory window with impressively small device dimensions. The combination of molybdenum disulfide and aluminum scandium nitride materials enables energy-efficient devices for both computing and non-volatile memory applications.

RNA nanoparticle therapy stops the spread of incurable bone marrow cancer

Researchers have created an RNA nanoparticle therapy that disables the pathways through which multiple myeloma cells travel, stopping their spread. The therapy targets the microenvironment of the cancer and prevents the production of a protein that attracts cancer cells to blood vessels.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences·DateJun 13, 2023

Engineered white blood cells eliminate cancer

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a new therapy that uses engineered macrophages to eliminate solid tumors. The treatment works by silencing a molecular pathway that prevents white blood cells from attacking cancer cells, allowing them to recognize and destroy tumoroids.

Lithography-free photonic chip offers speed and accuracy for artificial intelligence

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science have created a photonic device that provides programmable on-chip information processing without lithography. This breakthrough enables superior accuracy and flexibility for AI applications, overcoming limitations of traditional electronic systems.

US Census data vulnerable to attack without enhanced privacy measures

Computer scientists designed a reconstruction attack that proves US Census data can be exposed and stolen with current privacy measures. The study demonstrates risks to individual respondents' privacy, highlighting the need for differential privacy techniques to protect sensitive information.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences·DateFeb 21, 2023

Targeted prenatal therapy for mothers and their babies addresses longstanding gap in health equity

Targeted RNA therapy aims to treat pre-eclampsia by delivering mRNA to placental cells, reducing maternal blood pressure and restoring fetal circulation. The treatment has shown promising results in mice, paving the way for potential treatments for human patients.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society·DateFeb 15, 2023

RNA lipid nanoparticle engineering stops liver fibrosis in its tracks, reverses damage

Researchers developed a novel approach to ionizable lipid synthesis for RNA therapy, targeting activated liver-resident fibroblasts with selective siRNA delivery. The treatment, shown to be successful in mice, stops fibrosis in its tracks by silencing Heat Shock Protein 47 and inhibiting collagen production.

Glassy discovery offers computational windfall to researchers across disciplines

A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania has developed a new algorithm, metadynamics, that can navigate high-dimensional energy landscapes to find low-energy configurations. This breakthrough has the potential to revolutionize fields such as protein folding and machine learning.

SourceUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences·DateDec 5, 2022

Soft robots make virtual reality gloves feel more real

Researchers at University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science developed a new electrostatically controlled clutch that enables soft robotic hands to hold 4 pounds, 40 times more than before. The clutch uses a fracture-mechanics-based model to achieve this feat while requiring only 125 volts of electricity.