NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Agilent Technologies and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University will work jointly to develop new tools, technologies, and instruments under a collaboration announced today.
Under the multi-year agreement, Agilent agreed to offer Wyss an undisclosed amount of "financial support," as well as technical expertise, tools, and materials designed to support the institute's platforms in biomaterials evolution, programmable nanomaterials, and biomimetic microsystems. Wyss will be equipped with Agilent products and technologies "in areas ranging from nanobiotechnology to electronics and automation," the collaboration partners said.
Through the collaboration, Agilent aims to identify new applications as well as advance its technologies in genome engineering and nanobiotechnology, the partners said in a joint statement.
Wyss researchers leading the collaboration will include its founding director, Donald Ingber, a faculty member of Harvard's School of Medicine, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Children's Hospital Boston; and three other Wyss core faculty members: George Church, a Harvard Medical School professor; James Collins, a Boston University professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator; and William Shih, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
The Wyss Institute focuses on technology development and translation in research disciplines ranging from medicine to bioenergy. The Institute was launched in January 2009 with a $125 million gift, representing the largest single philanthropic gift in the history of Harvard University.