Research Briefs 2026
Inspired by gecko toes
鶹ѰBoulder scientists have taken a cue from geckos to develop a material able to stick to tumors inside the body, pumping out chemotherapy drugs for days.
The technology, developed with doctors at鶹ѰAnschutz, turns an already FDA-approved biodegradable polymer, poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), into small particles displaying branched hair-like nanostructures similar to those on geckos’ feet.
Researchers loaded these “soft dendritic particles” with chemotherapy drugs and attached them to cancer cells in a petri dish and to bladder tumors in mice. The resulting study showed that the particles clung tightly to the cancer for days, even in a slippery environment like the surface of a bladder.
“We envision that this gecko-inspired technology could ultimately reduce the frequency of clinical treatments, potentially allowing patients to receive fewer but longer-lasting therapies,” said study author Jin Gyun Lee, a postdoctoral researcher who works with Wyatt Shields, Thomas F. Austin Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Unlocking larger quantum computers
Researchers have made a major advance in quantum computing with a new device that is nearly
100 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.
Published in the journal Nature Communications, the breakthrough optical phase modulators could help unlock much larger quantum computers by enabling efficient control of lasers required to
operate thousands or even millions of qubits — the basic units of quantum information.
Critically, the team of scientists has developed these devices using scalable manufacturing, avoiding complex, custom builds in favorof those used to make the same technology behind processors already found in computers, phones, vehicles and home appliances.
Led by Jake Freedman, a PhD student in the Department of Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering; Matt Eichenfield, professor and the Karl Gustafson Endowed Chair in Quantum Engineering; and collaborators from Sandia National Laboratories, they created a device that is not only tiny and powerful, but also practical and inexpensive to mass-produce.
Screening shady scientific journals
A team of computer scientists has developed a new artificial intelligence platform that automatically seeks out “questionable” scientific journals.
The study, published in the journal Science Advances, tackles an alarming trend in the world of research.
Daniel Acuña, lead author of the study andassociate professor of computer science,gets a reminder of that trend several times aweek in his email inbox: Spam messages from Daniel Acuña people who purport to be editors at scientificjournals, usually ones Acuña has never heard of, and offer to publish his papers — for a hefty fee.
Daniel Acuña
Associate Professor,
Computer Science
“There has been a growing effort among scientists and organizations to vet these journals,” Acuña said. “But it’s like Whack-A-Mole.”
His group’s new AI tool automatically screens scientific journals, evaluating their websites and other online data for certain criteria: Do the journals have an editorial board featuring established researchers? Do their websites contain a lot of grammatical errors?
In an era when prominent figures are questioning the legitimacyof science, stopping the spread of questionable publications has become more important than ever before, Acuña said.
Fighting allergens with UV light
For people with allergies, even a brief whiff of airborne allergens can lead to swollen eyes, itchy skin and impaired breathing. Such allergens can persist indoors for months after theoriginal source is gone, and repeated exposure canexacerbate, and evenlead to, asthma.
Tess Eidem
What if you could just flipa switch and disable them?You can, according to new鶹ѰBoulder research. “We have found that we can use a passive, generally safe ultraviolet light treatment to quickly inactivate airborne allergens,” said study author Tess Eidem, a senior research associate in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering.
“We believe this could be another tool for helping people fight allergens in their home, schools or other places where allergens accumulate indoors.”
The findings were published in the journal ACS ES&T Air. Co-authors include Mark Hernandez,
a professor of environmental engineering, and Kristin Rugh, a microbiologist in his lab.
Modeling wildfire damage
Abbie Liel
Wildfires don’t affect all homes and neighborhoods equally. Some homes burn to the ground, while others are left untouched. In a 2025 study published in the journal Fire Technology, engineers from Oregon State University and鶹ѰBoulder aimed to find out why.
“There’s no such thing as fireproof,” said Abbie Liel, a co-author of the study and professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering at 鶹ѰBoulder. “But I really believe we can protect our communities better.”
The researchers used machine learning models to predict whether 1,055 homes in Colorado’s 2021 Marshall Fire burn area would have survived based on 23 different factors, such as the homes’ construction year and type, the presence of wooden fencing, nearby vegetation, how isolated the neighborhood was and what jurisdiction it was located in.
When the researchers entered the true data from the fire, the models accurately predicted 99% of the houses that would be destroyed and 54% of the homes left standing. When they removed certain factors, they discovered that some factors, such as where a house is located, mattered more than others.
Training on lunar robots with VR
During his time at 鶹ѰBoulder, Xavier O’Keefe (AeroEngr’25) was part of a team tackling a tricky question: How can humans on Earth get the training they need to operate robots on the hazardous terrain of the lunar surface?
The robot they developed, nicknamed “Armstrong,” represents a new vision for space exploration — one in which fleets of robots working in tandem with people crawl across the lunar landscape, building scientific observatories or even human habitats.
In their study, O’Keefe and fellow 鶹ѰBoulder alumni Katy McCutchan (AeroEngr’24, M’25) and Alexis Muniz (CTD, Bio) report that “digital twins,” or hyper-realistic virtual reality environments, could provide a useful proxy for the moon — giving people a chance to get the hang of driving robots without risking damage to multi-million-dollar equipment.
The study is part of a larger research effort led by Jack Burns, astrophysics professor emeritus.
“Unlike the Apollo program, where human astronauts did all the heavy lifting on the moon, NASA’s 21st-century Artemis program will combine astronauts and robotic rovers working in tandem,” Burns said. “Our efforts at 鶹ѰBoulder are intended to make lunar robots more efficient and recoverable from errors, so precious astronaut time on the lunar surface will be better utilized.”
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