The annual 35 Innovators Under 35 list highlights work on maternal health, brain electrodes, gene editing, and eye disease.

MIT Technology Review has named nine biotech innovators under 35 in its annual list of young science and technology leaders. The selected work spans a low-cost postpartum hemorrhage device, ultra-small brain electrodes, a personalized gene-editing therapy, and a reprogramming treatment for eye disease.

Paschal Kija, 28, developed Mkanda Salama, a $70 device that stopped postpartum bleeding in 73% of women within 20 minutes in a study. Xiao Yang, 34, builds flexible, ultra-small brain electrodes and kirigami-inspired sheets to study brain cells. Sarah Grandinette, 26, helped create a personalized gene-editing therapy for Kyle Muldoon Jr., who arrived in 2024 with a rare genetic disorder.

For builders and operators, these projects show how affordable hardware, flexible materials, and personalized genetic medicine can move into clinical use. The $70 Safe Wrap device offers a low-cost option, while kirigami-inspired electrode sheets give researchers a tool to study brain cells. Personalized gene-editing therapy points to workflows that design treatments around a patient’s genetic variant.

Yuancheng (Ryan) Lu’s 2020 study showed a reprogramming therapy reversed vision loss in aged, blind mice, and researchers now test an almost identical version in people with eye disease. Sarah Grandinette says Kyle Muldoon Jr. is doing well after he responded to treatment and left the hospital. MIT Technology Review’s list highlights five of the nine biotech innovators in this year’s cohort, leaving more work to watch.

What matters

• Paschal Kija built the Mkanda Salama device to stop postpartum hemorrhage for about $70 per unit.
• Operators can use low-cost devices and flexible electrodes to expand care and reduce brain tissue damage.
• Researchers now test an almost identical reprogramming therapy in people with eye disease.

Why it matters

Researchers now test an almost identical reprogramming therapy in people with eye disease.

This GenAI News article was prepared in original wording using reporting and materials published by MIT Technology Review AI. Source reference: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/11/1143834/meet-the-under-35s-shaping-the-future-of-biotech/.

Drafted by the GenAI News review pipeline.