Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering are working together to develop new technologies in the field of mechano-biology.
The collaboration stipulates that the Wyss Institute be outfitted with financial support and Agilent’s products, according to the organizations. Their goal is to find out more about the ways in which diseases like cancer develop at early stages.
Specifically, the organizations plan to create new "integrated force analysis and imaging capabilities that combine advanced optics and nano-mechanical measurements" with the goal of providing insight into the way "physical forces and the mechanical properties of living tissues influence cell behavior" contribute to disease progression. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Agilent plans to provide tools and materials to support the Wyss Institute‘s biomaterials evolution, programmable nano-materials and bio-mimetic microsystems platforms, according to the company.
"The enormous synergies between our expertise and technical capabilities, combined with our shared vision for the future of life sciences and engineering, should enable us to create transformative new technologies and research tools that will accelerate development of clinical diagnostics and therapeutics, and utterly change the way we harness energy in the future," Wyss Institute founding director Dr. Donald Ingber said in prepared remarks.
