Synthetic Biology News and Research

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Sun Pharma, Intrexon partner to develop controllable gene-based therapies for ocular diseases

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., an international specialty pharmaceutical company focused on chronic diseases, through its subsidiary, and Intrexon Corporation, a leader in synthetic biology, today announced the formation of a joint venture to develop controllable gene-based therapies for the treatment of ocular diseases that cause partial or total blindness in millions of people worldwide.

1 Oct 2013

Scientists develop strain of MERS-CoV that can be used as vaccine against disease

Scientists have developed a strain of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) that could be used as a vaccine against the disease, according to a study to be published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

10 Sep 2013

Scientists prove 50-year-old hypothesis of RNA 'higher-order' structure

When Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the double helical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in 1953, it began a genetic revolution to map, study, and sequence the building blocks of living organisms.

27 Aug 2013

Researchers receive $1M grant to research in biological components with solid-state electronics

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Columbia University, led by Ken Shepard, professor of electrical engineering and biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering and including Virginia W. Cornish, Helena Rubinstein Professor of Chemistry, and Lars Dietrich, assistant professor of biological sciences, has won a prestigious $1 million three-year grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation to advance their research in combining biological components with solid-state electronics, creating new systems that exploit the advantages of both.

23 Aug 2013

Rice researchers frame rules to design viral capsid proteins for gene therapy

Rice University researchers are making strides toward a set of rules to custom-design Lego-like viral capsid proteins for gene therapy.

13 Aug 2013

Researchers uncover way to stop cancer cells using HIF-1 gene through synthetic biology approach

Scientists have discovered a new molecule that prevents cancer cells from responding and surviving when starved of oxygen and which could be developed into new treatments for the disease, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society today (Friday).

26 Jul 2013

Scientists uncover easy strategies to prevent harmful side-effects of antibiotics responses

A team of scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has discovered why long-term treatment with many common antibiotics can cause harmful side effects-and they have uncovered two easy strategies that could help prevent these dangerous responses.

4 Jul 2013

Synthetic biology technology could lead to new antibiotics, modified protein-generators

Synthetic biology researchers at Northwestern University, working with partners at Harvard Medical School, have for the first time synthesized ribosomes -- cell structures responsible for generating all proteins and enzymes in our bodies -- from scratch in a test tube.

30 Jun 2013

Treating bacteria with silver compounds boosts efficacy of old antibiotics

Slipping bacteria some silver could give old antibiotics new life, scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University reported June 19 in Science Translational Medicine.

20 Jun 2013

Scientists genetically engineer E. coli bacteria addicted to caffeine

The latest episode in the American Chemical Society's award-winning Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions podcast series describes bacteria that are "addicted" to caffeine in a way that promises practical uses ranging from decontamination of wastewater to bioproduction of medications for asthma.

14 Jun 2013

Drug targeting of phages could offer a potential new path to mitigate antibiotic resistance

Bacteria in the gut that are under attack by antibiotics have allies no one had anticipated, a team of Wyss Institute scientists has found. Gut viruses that usually commandeer the bacteria, it turns out, enable them to survive the antibiotic onslaught, most likely by handing them genes that help them withstand the drug.

11 Jun 2013

$2 million grant to provide instrumentation, core facilities devoted to synthetic biology

The Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust has awarded a $2 million grant to the Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Under the leadership of Principal Investigator Dr. Huimin Zhao and co-Principal Investigator Dr. Christopher Rao, the grant will be disbursed over two years to provide instrumentation and core facilities for a new research theme devoted to the new scientific subdiscipline of synthetic biology.

29 May 2013

New approach to genetic engineering reduces time and effort needed to insert genes into bacteria

A new, streamlined approach to genetic engineering drastically reduces the time and effort needed to insert new genes into bacteria, the workhorses of biotechnology, scientists are reporting.

24 May 2013

Production of synthetic artemisinin an attack against farmers currently growing the plant

"On Thursday, the founder of Amyris Biotech triumphantly announced production of 70 million doses of the anti-malarial compound artemisinin," Jim Thomas, research program director for ETC group, a technology watchdog that works with farmers' organizations, writes in The Guardian's "Poverty Matters" blog.

16 Apr 2013

Sanofi launches large-scale production of artemisinin for malaria

Twelve years after a breakthrough discovery in his University of California, Berkeley, laboratory, professor of chemical engineering Jay Keasling is seeing his dream come true.

12 Apr 2013

UC San Francisco researchers outline cell-based therapeutics as a "third pillar” of medicine

Treating patients with cells may one day become as common as it is now to treat the sick with drugs made from engineered proteins, antibodies or smaller chemicals, according to UC San Francisco researchers.

4 Apr 2013

Advancement in re-engineering photosynthesis can transform plants into bio-factories

Scientists are reporting an advance in re-engineering photosynthesis to transform plants into bio-factories that manufacture high-value ingredients for medicines, fabrics, fuels and other products. They report on the research in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology.

8 Mar 2013

New technology can turn off genes more precisely, say UCSF researchers

Scientists at UC San Francisco have found a more precise way to turn off genes, a finding that will speed research discoveries and biotech advances and may eventually prove useful in reprogramming cells to regenerate organs and tissues.

8 Mar 2013

UCR professor to better organize enzymes on electrodes to create nanoscale devices

An assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering has recently received a $360,000 grant to better organize enzymes on electrodes to create nanoscale devices that more efficiently convert the chemical energy of sugars and complex carbohydrates in to electricity.

8 Mar 2013

Arzeda, INVISTA partner to develop new technologies to enable novel bio-derived processes

INVISTA Technologies S.à r.l. and Arzeda Corp. announce a collaboration for the development of new technologies to enable novel bio-derived processes.

6 Feb 2013

Synthetic Biology News and Research

Sun Pharma, Intrexon partner to develop controllable gene-based therapies for ocular diseases

Scientists develop strain of MERS-CoV that can be used as vaccine against disease

Scientists prove 50-year-old hypothesis of RNA 'higher-order' structure

Researchers receive $1M grant to research in biological components with solid-state electronics

Rice researchers frame rules to design viral capsid proteins for gene therapy

Researchers uncover way to stop cancer cells using HIF-1 gene through synthetic biology approach

Scientists uncover easy strategies to prevent harmful side-effects of antibiotics responses

Synthetic biology technology could lead to new antibiotics, modified protein-generators

Treating bacteria with silver compounds boosts efficacy of old antibiotics

Scientists genetically engineer E. coli bacteria addicted to caffeine

Drug targeting of phages could offer a potential new path to mitigate antibiotic resistance

$2 million grant to provide instrumentation, core facilities devoted to synthetic biology

New approach to genetic engineering reduces time and effort needed to insert genes into bacteria

Production of synthetic artemisinin an attack against farmers currently growing the plant

Sanofi launches large-scale production of artemisinin for malaria

UC San Francisco researchers outline cell-based therapeutics as a "third pillar” of medicine

Advancement in re-engineering photosynthesis can transform plants into bio-factories

New technology can turn off genes more precisely, say UCSF researchers

UCR professor to better organize enzymes on electrodes to create nanoscale devices

Arzeda, INVISTA partner to develop new technologies to enable novel bio-derived processes

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