Biotechnology and Bioengineering News

October 6, 2024

Top Headlines

Compact 'Gene Scissor' Enables Effective Genome Editing

Sep. 23, 2024 — CRISPR-Cas is used broadly in research and medicine to edit, insert, delete or regulate genes in organisms. TnpB is an ancestor of this well-known 'gene scissor' but is much smaller and thus easier to transport into cells. Using protein engineering ...

New Research on Plant Stem Cells Shines Light on How Plants Grow Stronger

Sep. 12, 2024 — A professor of plant molecular biology wants people to know that plants have stem cells too. Just like in the medical world, plant stem cells could support human growth and development when used to improve the food supply. The researcher's lab ...

Searching Old Stem Cells That Stay Young Forever

Aug. 19, 2024 — The sea anemone Nematostella vectensis is potentially immortal. Using molecular genetic methods, developmental biologists have now identified possible candidates for multipotent stem cells in the sea anemone for the first time. These stem cells are ...

Reduce, Reuse, 'Re-Fly-Cle'

Aug. 13, 2024 — Black soldier flies are now commercially used to consume organic waste -- but genetic modifications proposed by bioscientists could see the insects digesting a wider variety of refuse, while also creating raw ingredients for ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:19am EDT

Tailored Microbe Communities

Sep. 12, 2024 — How can computer models help design microbial communities? Researchers examined the development perspectives of so-called synthetic biology. In a new article, they explain why computer-aided biology ...

New Genetically Engineered Wood Can Store Carbon and Reduce Emissions

Aug. 12, 2024 — Researchers genetically modified poplar trees to produce high-performance, structural wood without the use of chemicals or energy intensive ...

New, Holistic Way to Teach Synthetic Biology

June 27, 2024 — Synthetic biology combines principles from science, engineering and social science, creating emerging technologies such as alternative meats and mRNA vaccines; Deconstructing synthetic biology across ...

Unlocking the World of Bacteria

June 26, 2024 — Bacteria possess unique traits with great potential for benefiting society. However, current genetic engineering methods to harness these advantages are limited to a small fraction of bacterial ...

New, Modified CRISPR Protein Can Fit Inside Virus Used for Gene Therapy

May 30, 2024 — Researchers have developed a novel version of a key CRISPR gene-editing protein that shows efficient editing activity and is small enough to be packaged within a non-pathogenic virus that can deliver ...

Researchers Expose New Symbiosis Origin Theories, Identify Experimental Systems for Plant Life

May 29, 2024 — Research work on symbiosis -- a mutually beneficial relationship between living organisms -- is pushing back against the newer theory of a ...

Marriage of Synthetic Biology and 3D Printing Produces Programmable Living Materials

May 1, 2024 — Scientists are harnessing cells to make new types of materials that can grow, repair themselves and even respond to their environment. These solid ...

Discovery of Mechanism Plants Use to Change Seed Oil Could Impact Industrial, Food Oils

Apr. 30, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a new mechanism of oil biosynthesis and found a way to genetically engineer a type of test plant to more efficiently ...

Research on RNA Editing Illuminates Possible Lifesaving Treatments for Genetic Diseases

Apr. 29, 2024 — The research explores how CRISPR can be used to edit ...

Researchers Create Artificial Cells That Act Like Living Cells

Apr. 23, 2024 — Researchers describe the steps they took to manipulate DNA and proteins -- essential building blocks of life -- to create cells that look and act like cells from the body. This accomplishment, a ...

Plastic-Free Vegan Leather That Dyes Itself Grown from Bacteria

Apr. 3, 2024 — Researchers have genetically engineered bacteria to grow animal- and plastic-free leather that dyes ...

Synthetic Gene Helps Explain the Mysteries of Transcription Across Species

Mar. 6, 2024 — 'Random DNA' is naturally active in the one-celled fungi yeast, while such DNA is turned off as its natural state in mammalian cells, despite their having a common ancestor a billion years ...

Key Genes Linked to DNA Damage and Human Disease Uncovered

Feb. 14, 2024 — Scientists unveil 145 genes vital for genome health, and possible strategies to curb progression of human genomic ...

Low-Cost Microbe Can Speed Biological Discovery

Feb. 13, 2024 — Researchers have created a new version of a microbe to compete economically with E. coli -- a bacteria commonly used as a research tool due to its ability to synthesize proteins -- to conduct ...

Scientists Develop New Biocontainment Method for Industrial Organisms

Feb. 6, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new biocontainment method for limiting the escape of genetically engineered organisms used in industrial ...

Computer-Engineered DNA to Study Cell Identities

Feb. 5, 2024 — A new computer program allows scientists to design synthetic DNA segments that indicate, in real time, the state of cells. It will be used to screen for anti-cancer or viral infections drugs, or to ...

Using Computers to Design Proteins Allows Researchers to Make Tunable Hydrogels That Can Form Both Inside and Outside of Cells

Jan. 30, 2024 — New research demonstrates a new class of hydrogels that can form not just outside cells, but also inside of them. These hydrogels exhibited similar mechanical properties both inside and outside of ...

Smart Skin Bacteria Are Able to Secrete and Produce Molecules to Treat Acne

Jan. 9, 2024 — An experimental study has shown that a type of skin bacterium can efficiently be engineered to produce a protein to regulate sebum production. This application could treat acne without compromising ...

How Researchers Are 'CReATiNG' Synthetic Chromosomes Faster and Cheaper

Dec. 21, 2023 — A new technique to clone and reassemble DNA, dubbed CReATiNG, could simplify and lower the cost to make synthetic chromosomes. Potential applications are numerous, including pharmaceutical ...

Enzymes Can't Tell Artificial DNA from the Real Thing

Dec. 13, 2023 — Researchers have come one step closer to unlocking the potential of synthetic DNA, which could help scientists develop never-before-seen proteins in the ...

Scientists Use Quantum Biology, AI to Sharpen Genome Editing Tool

Nov. 9, 2023 — Scientists used their expertise in quantum biology, artificial intelligence and bioengineering to improve how CRISPR Cas9 genome editing tools work on organisms like microbes that can be modified to ...

First Live Birth of a Chimeric Monkey Using Embryonic Stem Cell Lines

Nov. 9, 2023 — A team of researchers has reported for the first time the live birth of a monkey that contains a high proportion of cells derived from a monkey stem cell line. This 'chimeric' monkey is ...

Yeast With an Over Half Synthetic Genome Is Created in the Lab

Nov. 8, 2023 — Researchers have combined over seven synthetic chromosomes that were made in the lab into a single yeast cell, resulting in a strain with more than 50% synthetic DNA that survives and replicates ...

First Mice Engineered to Survive COVID-19 Like Young, Healthy Humans

Nov. 1, 2023 — Researchers have genetically engineered the first mice that get a human-like form of COVID-19, according to a new ...

Engineered Bacteria Paint Targets on Tumors for Cancer-Killing T Cells to See

Oct. 12, 2023 — Synthetic biologists report on a new approach to attacking tumors. They have engineered tumor-colonizing bacteria (probiotics) to produce synthetic targets in tumors that direct CAR-T cells to ...

Natural GM Crops: Grasses Take Evolutionary Shortcut by Borrowing Genes from Their Neighbors

Oct. 5, 2023 — Grass may transfer genes from their neighbors in the same way genetically modified crops are made, a new study has revealed. ...

Small but Mighty New Gene Editor

Sep. 29, 2023 — A new CRISPR-based gene-editing tool has been developed which could lead to better treatments for patients with genetic disorders. The tool is an enzyme, AsCas12f, which has been modified to offer ...

Genetically Engineering Associations Between Plants and Nitrogen-Fixing Microbes Could Lessen Dependence on Synthetic Fertilizer

Sep. 27, 2023 — Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth, but the overuse of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture is not sustainable. A team of bacteriologists and plant scientists discuss the ...

Genetically Modifying Individual Cells in Animals

Sep. 20, 2023 — Researchers have developed a method that lets them genetically modify each cell differently in animals. This allows them to study in a single experiment what used to require many animal experiments. ...

Spider Silk Is Spun by Silkworms for the First Time, Offering a Green Alternative to Synthetic Fibers

Sep. 20, 2023 — Scientists have synthesized spider silk from genetically modified silkworms, producing fibers six times tougher than the Kevlar used in bulletproof vests. The study is the first to successfully ...