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2006 Research Annual Report
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* Biotechnology Research * Center for Biotechnology *
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Biotechnology
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Rensselaer’s biotechnology initiative stands at the intersection of the life sciences, the physical and computer science, and engineering.
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Our growing cadre of interdisciplinary biotechnology researchers, supported by the world-class infrastructure in the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies and an increasing level of federal and state funding, are making major discoveries at the intersection of engineering, technology, and the life sciences.

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Biotechnology research at Rensselaer benefits from the expertise of biologists, chemists, physicists, and engineers, who are working within — and across — their disciplines to explore potentially life-saving advances.
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Biotechnology Research *
* * Effects of the Extracellular Matrix on Cell Growth *
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Jan Stegemann, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, focuses on the interaction of biological cells with their immediate environment in three dimensions as opposed to the 2-D environment of a Petri dish. His lab is developing an engineered blood vessel composed of vascular smooth muscle cells embedded in a matrix of collagen and fibrin. He is also working to develop electrically conductive cardiac tissue patches and bone substitutes.
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Biotechnology Research *
* * Using Adult Stem Cells To Speed Bone Healing *
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George Plopper, associate professor of biology, has a four-year, $2.6 million NIH grant to learn how to take adult stem cells from a patient, culture the cells, and, in a nontoxic way, coax them to become bone rather than cartilage or fat. His goal is to stimulate rapid reproduction in adult stem cells so they can be transplanted back into the body to greatly speed bone healing. His methods might also be used to strengthen the attachments between bone and artificial joints.
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Biotechnology Research *
* * Computer Models To Predict Effects of Radiation Therapy *
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George Xu, professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering and professor of biomedical engineering, heads a team that was awarded a three-year, $2.1 million NIH grant to develop 3-D virtual patient models for the computation of radiation doses in the treatment of cancer patients. Under the current grant, he heads a multi-university team creating a library of 3-D patient models of various ages and body sizes, as well as advanced 4-D patient models.
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Biotechnology Research *
* * Protein Folding: The Role of Water *
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Angel Garcia, Senior Constellation Chaired Professor in Biocomputation and Bioinformatics, has received a five-year $947,000 NSF grant to study how proteins behave under pressure. Using computer modeling, Garcia seeks to address gaps in knowledge about the role of water pressure in protein structure and function. Such knowledge is critical to understanding fundamental biological processes in the cell.
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Biotechnology Research *
* * Early Toxicity Screening of Possible New Drug Compounds *
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Jonathan Dordick, the Howard P. Isermann Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and collaborators at the University of California-Berkeley have designed a human enzyme metabolism chip, the MetaChip, for high-throughput screening for metabolite-induced toxicity in drug candidates. A new round of NIH funding has been received to further optimize the MetaChip for eventual introduction as a marketable device.
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Biotechnology Research *
* * New Anthrax Protection *
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Ravi Kane, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering, and collaborators at the University of Toronto have developed an extremely potent anthrax toxin inhibitor. In both laboratory and animal tests, it has been shown to protect from anthrax exposure, including exposure to antibiotic-resistant strains. Rather than targeting the anthrax bacterium or toxin, the new inhibitor blocks the receptors that anthrax toxin usually attach to.
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Biotechnology Research *
* * First Synthetic Heparin *
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Robert Linhardt, the Ann and John H. Broadbent Jr. ’59 Senior Constellation Professor in Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering, leads a team that has discovered a synthetic way to produce heparin, a drug used to stop or prevent blood clotting. Although earlier researchers had prepared heparin in amounts of less than 1 microgram, this is the first time it has been produced in amounts sufficient for use in human medical treatments.
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The researchers at Rensselaer and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill successfully synthesized hundreds of milligrams of heparin by developing a large-scale process involving engineered enzymes and co-factor recycling. The new, scalable process could be applied to synthesize other heparin-based structures that regulate cell growth and may have applications in wound healing or cancer treatment.
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