Going Deeper

We develop technologies to image and control the function of cells deep inside the body. These technologies take advantage of biomolecules with unusual physical properties allowing them to interact with sound waves and magnetic fields. We apply these tools to problems in synthetic biology, neuroscience, cancer, immunology and the mammalian microbiome.

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  • Welcome to the Shapiro Lab at the California Institute of Technology.

    Welcome to the Shapiro Lab at the California Institute of Technology.

  • Pasadena, California, USA.

    Pasadena, California, USA.

BIOACOUSTICS

BIOACOUSTICS

Imaging and controlling cellular function with ultrasound.
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BIOMAGNETISM

BIOMAGNETISM

New molecules and mechanisms for MR imaging and magnetic actuation.
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BIOPHYSICS

BIOPHYSICS

Biophysics of neuromodulation with ultrasound and other forms of energy.
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BIOCHEMISTRY

BIOCHEMISTRY

Spatially, molecularly and temporally precise control of neural circuits.
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Shapiro Lab Holiday Party 2017

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Celebrating a great year! Photobooth

Artificial ATOMS for wireless device localization

ATOMS-CoverCongratulations to Manuel, Audrey, and our collaborator in Electrical Engineering Azita Emami on the publication of a new approach to localizing microscale integrated circuits in the body using the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance.

Monge M, Lee-Gosselin A, Shapiro MG*, Emami A*. Localization of microscale devices in vivo using addressable transmitters operated as magnetic spins. Nature Biomedical Engineering 1, 736-744 (2017).
article | readcube | news and views | press | behind the paper

Detailed Protocol on Gas Vesicle Production

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Interested in making your own gas vesicles for ultrasound or MRI? An (excruciatingly) detailed protocol on GV production, purification, functionalization and imaging has just been published in Nature Protocols. Thanks to Anupama, George, Arash, Suchita, colleagues and collaborators on putting together this valuable resource.

Lakshmanan A#, Lu GJ#, Farhadi A#, Nety SP#, Kunth M, Lee-Gosselin A, Maresca D, Bourdeau RW, Yin M, Yan J, Witte C, Malounda D, Foster FS, Schröder L, Shapiro MG*. Preparation of biogenic gas vesicle nanostructures for use as contrast agents for ultrasound and MRI. Nature Protocols 12, 2050-2080 (2017). article | readcube

 

Fourth Annual Shapiro Lab Beach Party

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Dana Point, CA, August 26, 2017. Thanks to all the lab members, collaborators and friends who joined us!

Nonlinear Imaging of Acoustic Biomolecules

Website-01Congratulations to David, Anu, Audrey, Johan, Yu-Li, Ray and our collaborator Dennis Kochmann on their article in Applied Physics Letters describing the development of nonlinear pulse sequences to maximize ultrasound contrast from gas vesicle protein nanostructures.

Article: Nonlinear ultrasound imaging of nanoscale acoustic biomolecules

See also a complementary article in Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology with collaborators at UofT detailing gas vesicles’ acoustic behavior.

New class of MRI reporter genes in Nature Communications

fig1a-illusCongratulations to Arnab, Di and Hunter on their article in Nature Communications describing the membrane water channel aquaporin as a new class of reporter genes for magnetic resonance imaging.

Article: Non-invasive imaging using reporter genes altering cellular water permeability
Press release: Visualizing Gene Expression with MRI

Thermal bioswitches for remote control of microbes in Nature Chemical Biology

ncb-cover-2016Congratulations to Dan, Mohamad, Brittany and Audrey on their article in Nature Chemical Biology describing the development of “bacterial thermostats” that allow microbial therapeutics to be controlled remotely using ultrasound, respond to fever, or know when they have exited their host.

Article: Tunable thermal bioswitches for in vivo control of microbial therapeutics.
Press release: Biologists Give Bacteria Thermostat Controls
Video: Scientists Engineer Therapeutic Bacteria to Listen to Us
Highlight: Nature Methods
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Acoustic Protein Nanostructures on the Cover of ACS Nano

 

Congratulations to Anupama, Arash, Suchita, Audrey, Ray and David on their cover article in the September issue of ACS Nano! Their work describes how gas vesicles can be engineered at the level of their protein composition and sequence to exhibit new acoustic properties and molecular targeting.

Article: Molecular Engineering of Acoustic Protein Nanostructures
Press release: Designing ultrasound tools with lego-like proteins

Third Annual Shapiro Lab Beach Party

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Hermosa Beach, California, July 16, 2016. Thanks to everyone who came!

Second Annual Shapiro Lab Beach Party

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Beautiful day at the ocean! Corona Del Mar, California, August 1, 2015