Synthetic Biology
Synthetic biology ‘apps’: Here comes a revolution in medicine, chemicals, agriculture and food
Today, anyone who can code can win in the internet economy. Thanks to services such as Amazon’s AWS and Apple’s ...
‘We can’t make dinosaurs come to life – yet.’ How far can synthetic biology turn science fiction into fact?
A team of Los Alamos scientists are developing “cell-free systems.” They take the guts of the cells and use the ...
Bioprinting: Creating pinhead replicas of human organs to fight COVID-19 and other ailments
Anthony Atala, the director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and his team are… creating tiny replicas of ...
Space Station science: Fungus found at Chernobyl could protect astronauts from galactic cosmic radiation
Galactic cosmic radiation remains a troubling impediment to a sustained human presence in space. This unresolved problem is starting to ...
Civilization inflection point? China posed to pass US as world leader in biotechnology
China is edging forward as a world leader in the biotech sector, one expert said. “Biotechnologies, including synthetic biology, are ...
Animal-free ice cream maker Perfect Day eyes launch of lab-made milk and mozzarella cheese
As many investments, new products and R&D have been slowed down in recent months, Perfect Day is continuing to grow ...
Opening the floodgates to synthetic biology innovations in drugs, textiles, agricultural products and advanced materials
Today’s DNA makers still create their products using chemistry. To form a new double helix, the individual letters of DNA ...
Human organ factories? Defense Department seeds Segway inventor Dean Kamen’s ambitious project, but success seems years away
[N]one of [Dean Kamen’s] many inventions — including the Segway — has an impact that comes close to what could ...
Injecting live bacteria into tumors? Synthetic biology revives a controversial century old cancer cure
Could the body, in fighting against a pathogen, also be battling a tumor? After injecting bacteria into a patient who ...
Bioprinting human ears inside living mice—all without a single surgical cut
Tissue engineering just got wilder and weirder. Using nothing but light and bioink, scientists were able to directly print a ...
‘Bridge to transplant’: Mini human livers grown in rats spurs research that could alleviate transplant shortage
Using skin cells from human volunteers, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have created fully functional mini ...
Fighting cancer by boosting the body’s immune system with genetically engineered bacteria
Our immune system can defeat cancer. Immune cells can directly attack cancer cells or produce proteins that don’t let tumors ...
World’s first bionic eye could be better than the real thing
The world's first 3D artificial eyeball -- capable of outperforming the human eye in some ways -- may help droves ...
‘Sugar is the villain’: Biohacking and synthetic biology do battle against diabetes and heart disease
Here’s a look into the next generation of low-calorie sugar alternatives and continuous glucose monitoring systems set to change the ...
If we want to go to Mars, we’ll need to figure out how to feed our astronauts. Synthetic biology can help.
Revolutionary food production and closed-loop biomanufacturing could transform human space travel and address the growing food crisis on Earth ...
Artificial photosynthesis: Synthetic chloroplasts as solar-powered drug factories
There’s a new way to eat carbon dioxide. Researchers have built an artificial version of a chloroplast, the photosynthetic structures ...
Infographic: 3 strategies for finding coronavirus treatments
The scientific community is working around the clock, not only to protect us from COVID-19, but to prevent future strains ...
Video: These ‘micro-machines’ could repair our bodies and clean our oceans
Measuring less than a millimeter wide, these micro-machines are programmable lifeforms that researchers from the University of Vermont and Tufts ...
Disease is the greatest threat to bee health. Can we protect them through genetically engineered probiotics?
If you cannot engineer the organism, engineer its microbiome. Since scientists began exploring how to solve problems using synthetic biology, ...
3D-printed organs: Stuff of science fiction or an answer to the organ transplant shortage?
Among the more interesting applications of fast-moving 3D printing technology is its potential to help solve our critical organ transplant ...
Synthetic biology amps up ‘decades-old’ vaccine technology
According to STAT, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institute of Health (NIH) are betting on synthetic biology to ...
Coronavirus vaccine created with synthetic biology would be ‘more potent’ than flu shot
As companies hurry to test potential vaccines, the National Institute of Health (NIH) is hoping new bio-engineering techniques to help ...
Custom 3D printed bone implants could revolutionize reconstructive surgery
Become partially android for a couple of years while your body heals itself. It may sound far-fetched, but for patients ...
Electricity from genetically engineered trees: It’s not as crazy as it sounds—but is it ethical?
What if trees could provide electricity to cities? .... This surrealist idyll isn’t too far-fetched, say a team of researchers ...
Synthetic biosensors: Engineered plants could detect flu viruses and crop pests before they become global problems
You’ve felt sick ever since you started working in a different office .... but building management can’t find the source ...
Fighting the coronavirus outbreak with genetic sequencing, CRISPR and synthetic biology
We are better prepared for a coronavirus outbreak than a few years ago ...
Conspiracy theorists suggest the coronavirus was engineered in a Chinese lab. The scientific consensus disagrees.
[O]n Fox News and social media, a dangerous conspiracy theory about the origin of the health crisis won’t die. There ...
We’re better at fighting epidemics because of advances in genetic sequencing, synthetic biology and a willingness to collaborate
It’s impossible not to draw parallels between SARS and the new coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19, that’s been ravaging China and spreading ...