Thank you!
Welcome to the NEET community!
Announcement
April 24, 2023
Students: We are in the process of updating this page to reflect new options in the curriculum, including new tracks and additional options for subjects in existing tracks. Some majors, such as Course 10b, might be especially positively affected by the new changes.
We expect the changes to be on the site in late May, after input from Departments, so stay tuned!
Please contact Prof Griffith (ude.tim%40ffirg) for any questions - we have some exciting changes in the works to make it easier and more responsive to a lot of new student interests!
About LM
Living Machines (LM) allows you to apply engineering principles and concepts to problems in the Life and Medical Sciences, through various biotechnology innovations. As a Living Machines scholar, you have the opportunity to work on projects spanning synthetic biology, immuno-engineering, tissue engineering, microfluidics, and computational biology and other disruptive research areas, united by a theme of improving our understanding of and therapies for human disease. The thread aims to engage you with frontier challenges in biotech no matter what your background is - course 6, interested in applying your skills to bio/medical problems; course 2 who wants to design the next cutting-edge biotech platforms, perhaps integrating robotics; or a course 20 who wants to gain greater depth in one of the tracks. The most important problems in biotech require interdisciplinary teamwork, a skill Living Machines emphasizes through projects and professional development.
As an LM scholar, you choose one (or more) technical track you would like to pursue at your own pace. Tracks offer flexibility and modularity and give you the technical skills to be highly competitive in your next career steps. Most importantly, you will be part of a diverse and interdisciplinary community of undergrads, graduate students, staff researchers, faculty, and industry partners where you establish long-term personal and professional relationships through a variety of personal and career development opportunities.
Requirements
Each Living Machines track has a particular set of requirements to ensure both diversity and to give you specialized skills for a highly competitive industry career and/or admission to an advanced degree program.
Depending on the chosen track and your schedule, requirements maybe fulfilled in as little as 4 semesters, but you will be part of our community until you graduate and beyond!
Requirements Details
Classes
The introductory 20.051 is required for all scholars. The 20.054 class is required when choosing the 'UROP' immersion option in the various tracks.
20.051: Intro to NEET - Living Machines
A gateway to the NEET Living Machines thread, which has the focus on “Physiomimetics: Transforming Therapeutic Strategy and Development”. The development of therapies for complex diseases relies on understanding disease mechanisms in heterogeneous patient populations, developing therapeutic strategies for patient subgroups, modeling these in vitro, and testing the therapies. Five essential technological contributions to this process comprise tracks in the LM thread: computational systems biology, synthetic biology, immuno-engineering, microphysiological systems devices/tissue engineering, and microfluidic device engineering for in vitro models and analysis. This subject introduces students to the disease modeling, patient stratification, and drug development processes and how these fields work together, includes extensive examples from industry, and provides context for students to choose a concentration track (or tracks) for further study in the Living Machines thread. The format is weekly topical lectures from experts in the field, with structured short projects in each topic area. Required for all NEET - Living Machines students. This is a 6-unit class.
20.054: NEET - Living Machines Research Immersion
A structured lab research experience in a specific Living Machines track. Students identify a project in a participating research lab, on a topic related to the five tracks in the NEET Living Machines program, propose a project related to the drug development theme, and prepare interim and final presentations and reports while conducting the project. Links to industry-sponsored research projects at MIT are encouraged. A project proposal must be submitted and approved in the term prior to enrollment. It can be used to fulfill the optional research immersion requirement for NEET - Living Machines tracks. This 3-unit class is for NEET - LM students only and is designed to accompany a for-credit or for-pay UROP.
Example Projects
Human Gut-on-a-Chip
Using their interdisciplinary expertise spanning mechanical, biological and chemical engineering as well a computer science, LM scholars designed, built and validated a human gut micro-physiological system that houses epithelial, vascular and fibroblast cells. The chip is being utilized by multiple scientific collaborators for real-world experiments.
Exabyte-scale Molecular Data Storage, Recovery, and Computing
DNA offers the highest information storage density compared to all current storage solutions. The project aims to 1) Optimize a microfluidics system for DNA manipulation, 2) Devise improved synthesis or retrieval methods and 3) Integrate methods with device automation
Analysis of Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Data
Various machine learning and computational biology approaches were applied on single-cell RNA-Seq datasets which revealed differences in cell populations and molecular features of Endometriosis and Adenomyosis.
Featured Scholars
Thread Leadership
Prof. Linda Griffith
Founding Faculty LeadAssociate Director, NEET
Biological Engineering
Dr. Mehdi Salek
Lead Instructor, NEET
School of Engineering
Scholars Leadership Team
Alexandra Volkova
Industry Liaison Officer
Computer Science and Molecular Biology and Finance
Julie Chen
Academic Liaison Officer
Chemical-Biological Engineering
David Kwabi-Addo
Communications Officer
Computer Science and Molecular Biology
Grace Yang
Community Building Officer
Chemical Engineering
Zixuan Liu
Mentoring Program Officer
Biological Engineering
FAQ
Who is eligible for the Living Machines thread?
The thread is open to all MIT rising sophomores who can satisfy a specific track's requirements within their degree plan.
How many students are you planning to take?
New enrollments will be capped at 30 students/year.
Will I get a certificate?
Yes, upon completing your SB degree you will also gain a NEET Certificate in Living Machines from the School of Engineering.
What benefits may I expect from being in Living Machines?
The thread emphasizes interdisciplinary team-work, research output and individual mentoring. As such, you will benefit from exposure to a variety of interesting work being carried out by research labs from across all participating majors.
Can I pursue multiple Living Machines tracks?
Of course! But keep in mind the tracks are quite different and it is unlikely you can easily fulfill the requirements for multiple tracks.
Is there a specific time-line to finish a track?
Not at all, you can satisfy the various requirements anytime during your MIT degree.
Will you help me find a UROP or internship?
It is up to you to sort those out but we are certainly willing to help by offering contacts, guidance and helping you with application material when applicable.