Carnegie Mellon University researchers are adjusting the cell mechanics of certain leafy vegetables in Africa in an effort to make the vegetation more palatable for malnourished infants and children. 

Phil LeDuc, a professor of mechanical engineering, and Mary Beth Wilson, a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering, have won an extremely competitive Grand Challenges Explorations Award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to explore nutrition for healthy growth of infants and children in underdeveloped countries.

"What we are doing is studying how to alter a plant’s cellular and molecular structures to optimize release of nutrients during digestion," said LeDuc, who has courtesy appointments in the Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences and Computational Biology departments at CMU. "The idea originated when we became interested in how structural mechanics affect the taste of food. We built off this idea in thinking about how we could apply it in an innovative and meaningful way to tackle global challenges especially for the health of children in poor regions of the world."