Chemical and Biological Engineering

clear bottle and part of syringe with the word heparin beneath and definition of heparin

Scientists’ Discovery Could Reduce Dependence on Animals for Vital Anti-Blood Clot Drug

Heparin, the world’s most widely used blood thinner, is used during procedures ranging from kidney dialysis to open heart surgery. Currently, heparin is derived from pig intestines, but scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered how to make it in the lab. They have also developed a path to a biomanufacturing process that could potentially revolutionize how the world gets its supply of this crucial medicine. 

Young scientist looks at a vial of liquid in the lab

RPI Doctoral Student Honored as Rising Black Scientist

Steve Eshiemogie, a doctoral student studying chemical and biological engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been recognized as an honorable mention in the annual Cell Press Rising Black Scientists Awards for his essay “From village to lab: An African scientist’s quest for a sustainable future.” [MS1] More than 350 students across a range of scientific disciplines applied. 

RPI Scientists Developing Gene Editing Technology to Treat Alzheimer's

This year, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers will begin work on a radically new approach to treating and preventing genetic diseases such as Alzheimer’s.It’s thanks to a grant from the National Institutes of Health’s TARGETED Challenge, which funds scientific research on ways to deliver gene editing tools directly to cells in the human body. 

Pair of hands holding chunky white material

RPI Researchers Engineer Bacteria That Eat Plastic, Make Multipurpose Spider Silk

For the first time, researchers have used bacteria to “upcycle” waste polyethylene

100-Year-Old Treatment Inhibits COVID-19 Infection

A team of researchers led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Jonathan S. Dordick, Ph.D., Institute Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, has illuminated a new possibility for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 in research published in Communications Biology.

A Path to Faster and More Cost-Effective Drug Development

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have published research in Molecular Pharmaceuticals predicting how proteins interact in drug development. The research, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is in collaboration with Amgen and University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. In the paper, researchers use a mathematical model to predict the viscosity of solutions of proteins to be used as drugs. This is critical in drug development as the viscosity determines the method of delivery — needle or IV.