Biotechnology and Bioengineering News

July 2, 2025

Top Headlines

The EU Should Allow Gene Editing to Make Organic Farming More Sustainable, Researchers Say

May 30, 2025 — To achieve the European Green Deal's goal of 25% organic agriculture by 2030, researchers argue that new genomic techniques (NGTs) should be allowed without pre-market authorization in organic as ...

A High-Fat Diet Sets Off Metabolic Dysfunction in Cells, Leading to Weight Gain

May 29, 2025 — Researchers find high-fat diets set off metabolic dysfunction in cells, leading to weight gain, but these effects can be reversed by treatment with an ...

'Selfish' Genes Called Introners Proven to Be a Major Source of Genetic Complexity

May 22, 2025 — A new study proves that a type of genetic element called 'introners' are the mechanism by which many introns spread within and between species, also providing evidence of eight instances in which ...

Researchers Find CRISPR Is Capable of Even More Than We Thought

May 16, 2025 — Newly discovered weapons of bacterial self-defense take different approaches to achieving the same goal: preventing a virus from spreading through the bacterial ...

Artificial Intelligence and Genetics Can Help Farmers Grow Corn With Less Fertilizer

May 15, 2025 — Scientists are using artificial intelligence to determine which genes collectively govern nitrogen use efficiency in plants such as corn, with the goal of helping farmers improve their crop yields ...

AI-Designed DNA Controls Genes in Healthy Mammalian Cells for First Time

May 8, 2025 — A recent study marks the first reported instance of generative AI designing synthetic molecules that can successfully control gene expression in healthy mammalian cells. As a proof-of-concept, the authors of the study asked the AI to design ...

Designer Microbe Shows Promise for Reducing Mercury Absorption from Seafood

May 4, 2025 — Scientists inserted DNA-encoding methylmercury detoxification enzymes into the genome of an abundant human gut bacterium. The engineered bacterium detoxified methylmercury in the gut of mice and dramatically reduced the amount that reached other ...

Making Magnetic Biomaterials

May 1, 2025 — Researchers have developed silk iron microparticles (SIMPs) -- magnetic, biodegradable carriers designed to deliver therapies directly to disease sites like aneurysms or tumors. The particles are created by chemically bonding iron oxide ...

No More Copy-Pasting: DNA Base Editing for Better Lactobacillus Strains

Apr. 25, 2025 — A team was able to edit the DNA of Lactobacillus strains directly without a template from other organisms. This technique is indistinguishable from natural variation and enabled the researchers to create a strain that doesn't produce ...

Metabolism Shapes Life

Apr. 16, 2025 — New research shows Glycolysis -- the process of converting sugar into energy -- plays a key role in early development. More than fuel, Glycolysis doesn't just power cells -- it helps steer them toward specific tissue types at critical moments in ...

New Tool for Cutting DNA: Promising Prospects for Biotechnology

Apr. 14, 2025 — A team discovers a new family of enzymes capable of inducing targeted cuts in single-stranded DNA A few years ago, the advent of technology known as CRISPR was a major breakthrough in the scientific world. Developed from a derivative of the immune ...

A New Tool for Parsing the 'Metabolic Dialogue' Between Microorganisms

Apr. 13, 2025 — Scientists have developed an innovative system -- called MetaFlowTrain -- that allows the study of metabolic exchange and interactions within microbial communities under different environmental ...

Latest Headlines

updated 9:21am EDT

Further Translation of the Language of the Genome

Apr. 11, 2025 — Research into transcription factors deepen understanding of the 'language' of the genome, offering insights into human ...

From Bacterial Immunity to Plant Sex

Apr. 9, 2025 — Could it be that one of only three known markers directly targeting the DNA does not exist outside the realm of microbes? Now, researchers have demonstrated that this marker -- N4-methylcytosine ...

Engineering Smart Delivery for Gene Editors

Apr. 9, 2025 — A research team has developed an advanced delivery system that transports gene-editing tools based on the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing system into living cells with significantly greater efficiency than ...

Multi-Resistance in Bacteria Predicted by AI Model

Apr. 2, 2025 — An AI model trained on large amounts of genetic data can predict whether bacteria will become antibiotic-resistant. The new study shows that antibiotic resistance is more easily transmitted between ...

Microbial Cell Factories for Sustainable Chemical Production

Mar. 28, 2025 — In silico analysis of five industrial microorganisms identifies optimal strains and metabolic engineering strategies for producing 235 valuable ...

Universal RNA Barcoding System for Tracking Gene Transfer in Bacteria

Mar. 22, 2025 — In the microscopic world of bacteria, gene transfer is a powerful mechanism that can alter cellular function, drive antibiotic resistance and even shape entire ecosystems. Now an interdisciplinary ...

How Bacteria 'Vaccinate' Themselves With Genetic Material from Dormant Viruses

Mar. 22, 2025 — Scientists say they have shed new light on how bacteria protect themselves from certain phage invaders -- by seizing genetic material from weakened, ...

New CRISPR Tool Enables More Seamless Gene Editing -- And Improved Disease Modeling

Mar. 20, 2025 — Advances in the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 over the past 15 years have yielded important new insights into the roles that specific ...

New CRISPRs Expand Upon the Original's Abilities

Mar. 16, 2025 — Researchers have discovered a handful of new CRISPR-Cas systems that could add to the capabilities of the already transformational gene editing and DNA manipulation toolbox. Of the new recruits, one ...

Researchers Develop Enhanced Method for Wastewater Surveillance of Antibiotic Resistance

Mar. 10, 2025 — Antibiotic resistance is a global concern that threatens our ability to prevent and treat bacterial infections in humans and animals. To better ...

Bacterial 'Jumping Genes' Can Target and Control Chromosome Ends

Mar. 6, 2025 — Transposons, or 'jumping genes' -- DNA segments that can move from one part of the genome to another -- are key to bacterial evolution and the development of antibiotic resistance. ...

Controlling Conformational Changes in Protein Aromatic Side Chains

Mar. 5, 2025 — A novel protein cage system can control and visualize orientational changes in aromatic side chains upon ligand binding. By inducing coordinated molecular changes, this approach enables precise ...

Breakthrough CRISPR-Based Test Offers Faster, More Accurate Diagnosis for Fungal Pneumonia

Mar. 3, 2025 — Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is the most common fungal pneumonia in children. But current diagnostic methods can take days an require an invasive bronchoscopy procedure. Now, a new ...

Comprehensive Resource Describes Functions of More Than 20,000 Human Genes

Feb. 26, 2025 — A comprehensive encyclopedia of the known functions of all protein-coding human genes has just been completed and released. Researchers used large-scale evolutionary modeling to integrate data on ...

Genomics Approach to Metabolism Reveals How Reactions Flow

Feb. 26, 2025 — Two new papers describe a significant advance in understanding the complex functions of the metabolic ...

Cell Connects: Breaking Barriers in Stem Cell Communication Through mRNA Transfer

Feb. 19, 2025 — Messenger RNA can travel between different types of stem cells through tunnel-like structures, as revealed by a new study. By studying interactions between mouse and human stem cells, they discovered ...

How Mitochondria Drive Autophagy

Feb. 13, 2025 — A new study unravels the relationship between mitofusins (mitochondrial proteins) and autophagy. Using gene editing with CRISPR-Cas9, the team has been able to study these proteins without altering ...

Research Team Identifies Carbonate-Dissolving Microorganisms

Feb. 13, 2025 — A research team has shown that methanogens, micro-organisms ubiquitous in low-oxygen environments like aquifers, soil and even permafrost, can propel their growth by dissolving calcium carbonate, one ...

Novel 'Living' Biomaterial Aims to Advance Regenerative Medicine

Feb. 6, 2025 — A biomaterial that can mimic certain behaviors within biological tissues could advance regenerative medicine, disease modeling, soft robotics and more, according to ...

High-Yield Rice Breed Emits Up to 70% Less Methane

Feb. 3, 2025 — Rice cultivation is responsible for around 12% of global methane emissions, and these emissions are expected to increase with global warming and as the human population continues to grow. Now, ...

New Ways to Modulate Cell Activity Remotely

Jan. 29, 2025 — Cells are dynamic, fast-changing, complex, tiny, and often hard-to-see in environments that don't always behave in predictable ways when exposed to external stimuli. Now, researchers have found ...

Protein Labeling of Tens of Millions of Densely Packed Cells in Organ-Scale Tissues

Jan. 24, 2025 — Tissue processing advance can label proteins at the level of individual cells across whole, intact rodent brains and other large samples just as fast and uniformly as in dissociated single ...

Scientists Predict What Will Be Top of the Crops in UK by 2080 Due to Climate Change

Jan. 23, 2025 — While climate change is likely to present significant challenges to agriculture in coming decades, it could also mean that crops such as chickpeas, soyabeans and oranges are widely grown across the ...

Final Synthetic Yeast Chromosome Unlocks New Era in Biotechnology

Jan. 22, 2025 — Scientists have completed construction of the final chromosome in the worlds' first synthetic yeast genome following more than a decade of work, opening new possibilities for creating resilient, ...

Reading the Genome and Understanding Evolution: Symbioses and Gene Transfer in Leaf Beetles

Jan. 17, 2025 — Scientists explored the evolutionary success of leaf beetles, the most diverse herbivores on Earth. They showed that symbioses with bacteria have evolved repeatedly and independently in different ...

Deep Learning Designs Proteins Against Deadly Snake Venom

Jan. 15, 2025 — New proteins not found in nature have now been designed to counteract certain highly poisonous components of snake venom. The deep learning, computational methods for developing these ...

New Mechanism for Maintaining Genome Stability Discovered

Jan. 14, 2025 — New research reveals how the RapA enzyme protects against R-loop cytotoxicity in E. ...

Bioinspired Weather-Responsive Adaptive Shading

Jan. 14, 2025 — Pine cones as a model: Researchers have developed a new, energy-autonomous facade system that adapts passively to the ...

Fly Vs. Wasp: Stealing a Defense Move Helps Thwart a Predator

Dec. 25, 2024 — Many flies are plagued by parasitic wasps, which lay their eggs in fly larvae, turning them into surrogate wombs for wasp larvae. One common fly has successfully fought off its wasp predator by ...

Researchers Take 'Significant Leap Forward' With Quantum Simulation of Molecular Electron Transfer

Dec. 20, 2024 — Researchers have made a meaningful advance in the simulation of molecular electron transfer -- a fundamental process underpinning countless physical, chemical and biological processes. The study ...