Synthetic Biology News and Research

RSS

Novel technology platform for custom designing bacteriophages

Bacteriophages, known informally as phages, are viruses that can attack and kill specific bacteria. They occur everywhere in the natural world. Precisely because they are matched to just one specific type of bacteria, researchers and medics hope that phages can be engineered to combat certain bacterial infections.

7 Feb 2018

Next-generation ‘active genetics’ tool opens new horizons

In 2015, University of California San Diego biologists Ethan Bier and Valentino Gantz developed a breakthrough technology known as "active genetics," which results in parents transmitting a genetic trait to most of their offspring (instead of 50 percent receiving the trait under standard inheritance).

6 Feb 2018

Detailed phenotypic information on resistance genes can guide future drug development

The genes that are able to equip bacteria with resistance to clinically used antibiotics have been found in many different natural environments. Nevertheless, a functional overview of the resistance genes found in common human bacterial pathogens has been missing so far.

6 Feb 2018

Study reveals existence of previously unknown immune defense mechanisms in bacteria

Until a decade ago, scientists were not aware that bacteria had complex immune systems – ones that could keep up with the pace of evolution in viruses called phages that infect bacteria.

27 Jan 2018

Scientists aim to decipher language of DNA

Yes, DNA has its own language and scientists want to understand it to apply personalized therapeutic solutions based on the analysis of the individual's genomic biomarkers and their regulation.

24 Jan 2018

Scientists invent new way of folding and protecting recombinant proteins

A team from the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has invented a fundamentally new way of folding and protecting recombinant proteins.

13 Nov 2017

Scientists discover 'molecular pencil sharpener' that releases powerful antibiotics

Picture a brand-new, unsharpened pencil. The graphite at its core can't be used for writing until a pencil sharpener chews away its wooden tip.

24 Oct 2017

New RNA switch achieves gene activation thousands of times better than nature

If scientists could precisely regulate gene expression, they could turn off the genes responsible for illness and disease and turn on those that enhance health and the immune system.

19 Oct 2017

Agilent collaborate with Doulix to promote SureVector cloning kits

Double Helix Technologies (Doulix) announced today a collaboration with Agilent Technologies Inc. to promote Agilent's SureVector next-generation cloning kits through Doulix’s web platform. Through this partnership, synthetic biologists will be able to choose among SureVector’s standard DNA parts to design custom plasmids using Doulix’s web platform.

From Agilent Technologies - Genomics 11 Oct 2017

Forsyth researchers win $5.4 million NIH award to pursue research on oral microbes

A research team led by the Forsyth Institute today received a $5.4 million award from the National Institutes of Health to pursue revolutionary research of microbes living in the mouth and within the human body.

6 Oct 2017

New research can help develop better chemotherapy treatments for pancreatic cancer

Tal Danino, a professor at the Data Science Institute, is conducting research that could help scientists combat the most lethal of cancers: pancreatic cancer.

6 Oct 2017

Understanding molecular mechanisms and metabolic pathways of yeast for drug discovery

My research uses budding yeast as a tool for synthetic biology, and also in chemical and functional genomic applications. We are interested in understanding molecular mechanisms and metabolic pathways of yeast for drug discovery.

From Tecan 27 Sep 2017

Breakthrough research allows scientists to program cells like computers for battling against diseases

Cells can be programmed like a computer to fight cancer, influenza, and other serious conditions - thanks to a breakthrough in synthetic biology by the University of Warwick.

18 Sep 2017

Research provides new insights into secret life of bacteria

Bacterial infections are the number one cause of death in hospital patients in the United States, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria are on the rise, causing tens of thousands of deaths every year.

6 Sep 2017

Mild pain killer blocks action of key protein required for hearing

A Rice University study has found that the aspirin-like drug diflunisal blocks the action of prestin, a key protein that is required for hearing.

5 Sep 2017

Antibiotics may kill bacteria differently in vitro vs in vivo

Understanding exactly how antibiotics work (or don’t work) is crucial for developing alternative treatment strategies, not only to target new “superbugs,” but also to make existing drugs more effective against their targets.

5 Sep 2017

Research program focuses on risks that threaten entire future of humanity

What risks threaten the entire future of humanity within the next hundred years? And what should we do to protect against them? A group of researchers will take on these questions in the autumn as part of the research program Existential risk to humanity at Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

4 Sep 2017

Scientists develop new technique for 3D printing of living tissues

Scientists at the University of Oxford and the University of Bristol have developed a new method to 3D-print laboratory- grown cells to form living structures.

16 Aug 2017

UW researchers demonstrate new method for digital information processing in living cells

Living cells must constantly process information to keep track of the changing world around them and arrive at an appropriate response.

25 May 2017

Synthetic biologists re-engineer yeast cells to manufacture antibiotic penicillin

The synthetic biologists from Imperial College London have re-engineered yeast cells to manufacture the nonribosomal peptide antibiotic penicillin. In laboratory experiments, they were able to demonstrate that this yeast had antibacterial properties against streptococcus bacteria.

4 May 2017