Making Waves: Delivery for Ageless Skin

Making Waves: Delivery for Ageless Skin

Collections: Image Award Winners

2017 Award Winner

Carl Schoellhammer, Denitsa Milanova, Humberto Trevino, Cody Cleveland, Jeff Wyckoff, Anna Mandinova, George Church, Robert Langer, Giovanni Traverso

Koch Institute at MIT, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital


MIT Koch Institute, Harvard University, MGH

What if ultrasound (best known for applications in medical imaging and diagnostics) could be used to deliver age-reversing gene therapy to cells?

New technology from the Langer Lab, developed in partnership with Harvard’s Church Lab, drives non-invasive sound waves carrying genetic material through protective layers of skin, seen from top to bottom in these three images. The grey flecks show areas of successful gene transfer to cells, whose genetic clocks have been turned back by the short strands of nucleic acids they have received.

Video

Carl Schoellhammer and Denitsa Milanova share the story behind their award-winning image. You can also watch the presentation from the exhibition opening event on March 23, 2017 here.