MIT News – MIT Department of Chemistry

Startup gives surgeons a real-time view of breast cancer during surgery

The drug-device combination developed by MIT spinout Lumicell is poised to reduce repeat surgeries and ensure more complete tumor removal.

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MIT Schwarzman College of Computing launches postdoctoral program to advance AI across disciplines

The new Tayebati Postdoctoral Fellowship Program will support leading postdocs to bring cutting-edge AI to bear on research in scientific discovery or music.

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Scientists discover molecules that store much of the carbon in space

The discovery of pyrene derivatives in a distant interstellar cloud may help to reveal how our own solar system formed.

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Bright pink ovals against a black background.

A new framework to efficiently screen drugs

Novel method to scale phenotypic drug screening drastically reduces the number of input samples, costs, and labor required to execute a screen.

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Translating MIT research into real-world results

MIT’s innovation and entrepreneurship system helps launch water, food, and ag startups with social and economic benefits.

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A laser beam hits a bundle of spheres. After that, it spits and creates a wave form.

AI model can reveal the structures of crystalline materials

By analyzing X-ray crystallography data, the model could help researchers develop new materials for many applications, including batteries and magnets.

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At left, the makeup of a vaccine particle, which shows a labeled glycan, peptide, and SSRNA. At right, a dendritic cell with the vaccine elicits T cell activation and immune response

A new way to reprogram immune cells and direct them toward anti-tumor immunity

MIT scientists’ discovery yields a potent immune response, could be used to develop a potential tumor vaccine.

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Professor Jeremiah Johnson smiles in a hallway.

Johnson wins 2025 Carl S. Marvel Award for Creative Polymer Chemistry

This award recognizes accomplishments and/or innovation of unusual merit in the field of basic or applied polymer science by younger scientists.

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MIT chemists explain why dinosaur collagen may have survived for millions of years

The researchers identified an atomic-level interaction that prevents peptide bonds from being broken down by water.

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Engineering proteins to treat cancer

PhD student Oscar Molina seeks new ways to assemble proteins into targeted cancer therapies, while encouraging his fellow first-generation graduate students.

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Photo-collage shows a large molecule over an aerial photo of New Calendonia. On the left are five Psychotria leaves in a vertical line.

MIT chemists synthesize plant-derived molecules that hold potential as pharmaceuticals

Large multi-ring-containing molecules known as oligocyclotryptamines have never been produced in the lab until now.

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Associate Professor Alex Shalek (left) is seen in his E25 lab at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thu., July 14, 2022. Shalek is the Pfizer-Laubach Career Development Associate Professor at MIT, a Core Member of the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES), an Associate Professor of Chemistry, an Extramural Member of The Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, an Institute Member of the Broad Institute, an Associate Member of the Ragon Institute, an Assistant in Immunology at MGH, and an Instructor in Health Sciences and Technology at HMS. According to his MIT bio, Shalek's research "is directed towards the creation and implementation of new approaches to elucidate cellular and molecular features that inform tissue-level function and dysfunction across the spectrum of human health and disease."

Alex Shalek named director of the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science

Professor who uses a cross-disciplinary approach to understand human diseases on a molecular and cellular level succeeds Elazer Edelman.

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David Kastner holds two posters of journal covers showing his 3D art. The titles are “ACS Catalysis” and “Journal of Physical Chemistry.”

The art of the enzyme

Bioengineer and artist David Kastner seeks to unlock the secrets of catalysis and improve science communication through eye-catching visuals.

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