Coronaviruses, such as the one that causes COVID-19, have numerous protruding spikes salting their surfaces. When a coronavirus raises one of these spike proteins—like opening a finger to full length—it becomes capable of invading a human cell. The pointed spike can insert its key-like domain into a keyhole protein (ACE2) in the outer wall of a human cell, binding to it. And the spike protein becomes a gateway for infecting a cell. Continue Reading
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Nature-Inspired Designs Could Offer Solutions for Global Challenges
Bioinspired research draws from the natural world to develop solutions for global challenges. But it can be difficult to turn these research ideas into actual materials and methods that can be applied to real world problems in areas like construction, energy and health care. That’s why Lisa Manning, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Physics and director of the BioInspired Institute at Syracuse University, led a workshop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October to explore new paths to transform this research into industry applications. Continue Reading
A ‘Paw’sitively Innovative Discovery
Bioinspired Institute biologist Austin Garner is part of a team who investigated how polar bear paw design principles can help improve traction in human-made products like tires and shoes. Continue Reading
Nangia and Ren Part of Collaborative Team Researching Preventing Infections in Engineered Tissue and Implantable Devices
Advancements in biomedical devices such as knee and hip implants, heart valves, pacemakers, dental implants, stents and catheters have improved quality of life for patients worldwide. These devices, however, introduce foreign material into a patient and are prone to chronic infections. Through a new grant, a cross-disciplinary group of experts will collaborate to develop new approaches to prevent device-associated infections and enhance the use of these implants. Continue Reading
Walk this Way – Robotics in Motion with Zhenyu Gan
The Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) recently made headlines with the hiring of two prized recruits. Only the firefighters in question weren’t humans; they were robots. Robot dogs, to be exact. Continue Reading
Smart Gripping with Wanliang Shan
Assembling electronic devices requires precision and the ability to place key components in tight spaces. Manufacturing systems need the ability to grip a component and then release it in the right spot. To make it even more challenging – the grippers need to be tiny and able to grip and release items that are measured in microns.
Mechanical and aerospace engineering Professor Wanliang Shan started considering the problem in 2016 while he was at the University of Nevada – Reno and was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Materials, Engineering and Processing grant to explore the concept. Continue Reading
Ma Awarded NSF Manufacturing Grant for Scale-Up of Therapeutic Cell Products
More new therapeutic treatments for various diseases could be moved into clinical trials—and potentially faster into mainstream medical use—if scientists could find ways to manufacture exponentially higher quantities of the stem cell components needed for medical testing.
Spearheading work to make those cell manufacturing process discoveries is Associate Professor Zhen Ma, the Carol and Samuel Nappi Research Scholar in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. He is working with a newly awarded $500,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) future manufacturing seed grant and coordinating the project with bioengineering experts at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Continue Reading
Research Fueled by Chemistry Professors Helps Advance Artificial Enzyme Engineering
While corrosion resistance, durability and low cost make plastic a very efficient resource, one of its major drawbacks is the harm it poses to the environment. According to a report from Greenpeace USA, 51 million tons of plastic waste were generated by households in the United States in 2021, with only 2.4 million tons recycled, making it a pressing concern to the well-being of the planet.
To curb this issue, researchers are seeking ways to develop engineered enzymes capable of breaking down plastic–similar to the way the body breaks down food during digestion. Continue Reading
Samuel Herberg awarded over $2 mil from NIH for glaucoma research
Samuel Herberg, PhD was awarded over $2 million dollars from the National Eye Institute to study the role of cellular memory in glaucoma. He’s proposing the first studies to establish the involvement of trabecular meshwork cells’ mechanical memory in the development of glaucoma. Herberg is an assistant professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and a researcher at SUNY Upstate’s Center for Vision Research. Continue Reading
BioInspired Institute Research Labs Spur Graduate Student Projects
Two graduate student researchers in the BioInspired Institute research cluster were among 57 students and post-doctoral fellows presenting posters and talks at the institute’s first symposium earlier this month. Continue Reading