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Material Measurement Laboratory

Biosystems and Biomaterials Division

News and Updates

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Topic Area

Spotlight: Elijah Petersen's Professional Journey in Chemical Toxicity

May 28, 2020

Particles, big or small: NIST’s Elijah Petersen is ready to investigate them all. Walk through the phases of his professional journey in chemical toxicity

A Big Science Framework for Big Genomes

February 4, 2020

In a recent Perspectives article in Nature Communications, NIST’s Elizabeth Strychalski and co-authors from industry and academia offer a framework for

A man (Young Jong Lee) in a red shirt and safety goggles leans over a piece of scientific equipment.

Spotlight: Young Jong Lee

January 18, 2020

What are you made of? With a new measurement technique from NIST’s Young Jong Lee, scientists can answer that question on the cellular level with 100 times more

A woman in blue coveralls and purple gloves works at a lab table.

Spotlight: Greta Babakhanova

January 15, 2020

Meet Greta Babakhanova, a postdoctoral researcher here at NIST with boundless drive and a passion for reducing human suffering. It’s an ambitious goal that, for

Stem Cells and AI: Better Together

November 18, 2019

One day in the future when you need medical care, someone will examine you, diagnose the problem, remove some of your body’s healthy cells, and then use them to

A photo illustration of a hand holding forceps editing DNA

NIST Seeks Comments on Genome Editing Terms

September 18, 2019

The NIST Genome Editing Consortium seeks feedback on terms and definitions specific to genome editing. The purpose of this project is to encourage the use of a

A test tube is filled with spherical particles, with an equal sign and a question mark next to it.

Solving the Big Problem of Measuring Tiny Nanoparticles

August 14, 2019

Tiny nanoparticles play a gargantuan role in modern life, even if most consumers are unaware of their presence. They provide essential ingredients in sunscreen

NIST Genome Editing Workshop to Explore Measurement Challenges

April 1, 2019

A workshop on May 3, 2019 on the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland will explore the measurement and standards needs of members of industry, academia

NIST’s Joint Institute for Metrology in Biology Moves to SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

February 7, 2019

The Joint Institute for Metrology in Biology ( JIMB), founded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Stanford University in 2014, is

NIST Reference Material 8366 for Cancer Biomarker EGFR and MET Measurements now available

June 25, 2018

NIST Reference Material 8366 for cancer biomarkers EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) and MET (proto-oncogene, receptor tyrosine kinase) gene copy number

A New Way to Measure Energy in Microscopic Machines

June 8, 2018

What drives cells to live and engines to move? It all comes down to a quantity that scientists call “free energy,” essentially the energy that can be extracted

Upcoming NIST-FDA Workshop to Shed Light on Current Regulatory Perspectives and Inform Work of NIST Genome Editing Consortium

April 13, 2018

A workshop to take place April 23-24, 2018 on the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland will explore the measurement and standards needs of stakeholders across

Unusual Suspects

March 16, 2018

NIST contributes to public safety with materials that increase the confidence of first responders to detect biothreats in the field. NIST’s Material Measurement

Public-Private Partnership to Develop Standards for Regenerative Medicine

February 13, 2018

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Standards Coordinating Body for Gene, Cell and Regenerative Medicines and Cell-based Drug

A Map App to Track Stem Cells

February 13, 2018

Researchers who work with stem cells have ambitious goals. Some want to cure cancer or treat heart disease. Others want to grow the tissues and organs that

The Genuine Article

May 20, 2017

NIST accelerates the transformation of laboratory discoveries into new therapies and commercial products by assuring the quality of measurements in biomedical

A fluorescent microscope image of NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells

NIST Patents First DNA Method to Authenticate Mouse Cell Lines

February 23, 2017

“A case of mistaken identity” may drive the plot of the latest spy film or crime novel, but it’s only a tale of trouble for geneticists, oncologists, drug

Illustration of setup for separating nanoparticles from organisms

NIST Updates ‘Sweet’ 1950s Separation Method to Clean Nanoparticles from Organisms

January 26, 2017

Sometimes old-school methods provide the best ways of studying cutting-edge tech and its effects on the modern world. Giving a 65-year-old laboratory technique

NIST Researchers Use a Standardized Caenorhabditis elegans Toxicity Test to Assess Nanomaterial Toxicity

November 4, 2016

Toxicity assays are an important component in identifying potential health or environmental hazards associated with chemicals. The development of robust

Retinal Pigment Epithelium on nanofiber scaffold

New Public-Private Partnership to Develop Standards for Regenerative Medicine

October 26, 2016

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has partnered with the Standards Coordinating Body for Gene, Cell and Regenerative Medicines and Cell-based

Three-dimensional culture of human breast cancer cells, with DNA stained blue and a protein in the cell surface membrane stained green.

NIST and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research Help Ensure Accurate Clinical Measurements of HER2 Breast Cancer Gene

August 17, 2016

A new measurement standard developed by the National Institute of Standards of Technology (NIST) has been used successfully by the Frederick National Laboratory