Browse Technologies

• 
• 
• 
• 

A multinational research team, led by Dr. L. J. Zwiebel of Vanderbilt University, has identified new compounds with potential as insect repellents. These compounds work by capitalizing on knowledge of how insect odorant receptors detect and respond to scents. Medicinal chemistry efforts have yielded a number of novel compounds that could short-circuit the insect olfactory system, essentially by over-stimulation, to effectively mask attractive odors. These compounds could be used to repel nuisance and disease-carrying insects away from humans and animals, as well as repel agricultural pests from crops or food storage facilities. Vanderbilt University is seeking commercial partners to develop the technology for agricultural uses.

Vanderbilt researchers have developed a novel approach to enhance recombinant protein production in mammalian cell culture systems by overexpressing specific metabolic proteins in these cells to achieve higher monoclonal antibody titers and increased cell-specific productivity compared to conventional expression systems.

Vanderbilt researchers have created a new multi-organs-on-chip platform that comprises Perfusion Control systems, MicroFormulators, and MicroClinical Analyzers connected via fluidic networks. The real-time combination of multiple different solutions to create customized perfusion media and the analysis of the effluents from each well are both controlled by the intelligent use of a computer-operated system of pumps and valves. This permits, for the first time, a compact, low-cost system for creating a time-dependent drug dosage profile in a tissue system inside each well.

Liver transplantation is the only cure for end-stage liver disease, but donor organ scarcity limits access for millions. Split liver transplantation could help bridge this gap, but the regeneration of partial organs is critical to broadlyimplementing this approach. Vanderbilt University researchers have identified a growth factor that promotes liver growth that could be used to improve patient outcomes and increase accessibility to liver transplantation.