Synthetic Biology News and Research

RSS

Innate immune priming may evolve into a broadly applicable infection-prevention strategy

Secondary infections caused by bacteria or viruses during hospital care remain a long-standing global challenge, despite advances in modern medicine.

16 Feb 2026

Engineered enzyme enables fast and accurate RNA synthesis

From vaccines and diagnostics to emerging gene-based therapies, RNA molecules are now central to modern medicine.

9 Feb 2026

Resurrected ancient enzyme reveals early life processes and astrobiological biosignatures

By resurrecting a 3.2-billion-year-old enzyme and studying it inside living microbes, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have created a new way to improve our understanding of the origins of life on Earth and possibly recognize signs of life elsewhere.

23 Jan 2026

Nuclera eProtein Discovery System installed at leading universities in Taiwan

Nuclera, the biotechnology company accelerating drug discovery by providing rapid, easy access to functional proteins through its benchtop eProtein Discovery™ System, today announced that it has completed the first installations of eProtein Discovery in Asia, with systems now operational at the Department of Pharmacy and the Department of Chemistry at the National Taiwan University (NTU) College of Medicine and the Center for Bioscience and Biotechnology and Department of Chemical Engineering at the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU).

7 Jan 2026

A mathematical solution for precise control of cellular “noise”

Why does cancer sometimes recur after chemotherapy? Why do some bacteria survive antibiotic treatment? In many cases, the answer appears to lie not in genetic differences, but in biological noise - random fluctuations in molecular activity that occur even among genetically identical cells.

2 Jan 2026

Vibration-induced local vortices enable low-cost biomolecular condensate engineering

A research group led by Professor Hiroaki SUZUKI and Takeshi HAYAKAWA from the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Chuo University, graduate student Zhitai HUANG, graduate students Kanji KANEKO (at the time) and Ryotaro YONEYAMA (at the time), together with Specially Appointed Assistant Professor Tomoya MARUYAMA from the Research Center for Autonomous Systems Materialogy (ASMat), Institute of Integrated Research (IIR), Institute of Science Tokyo, and Professor Masahiro TAKINOUE from the Laboratory for Chemistry and Life Science, Institute of Integrated Research, Institute of Science Tokyo, has developed a novel and highly accessible technology for producing uniform Biomolecular Condensates using a simple, low-cost vibration platform.

22 Dec 2025

External signals control oncolytic bacteria for precise cancer therapy delivery

Engineered oncolytic bacteria have emerged as a promising therapeutic platform for precision cancer treatment, offering tumor-specific colonization, immune activation, and controllable therapeutic delivery. This review summarizes recent advances in the design and application of synthetic biological strategies that enhance bacterial precision, safety, and efficacy in tumor therapy.

13 Dec 2025

Study provides new insights into brain signaling during sleep and wakefulness

An international team led by the University of Michigan has introduced new methods that reveal which regions of the brain were active throughout the day with single-cell resolution.

10 Dec 2025

CRISPR-based Cellgorithm technology ushers in a new era of cell programming

Syntax Bio, a synthetic biology company programming the next generation of cell therapies, today announced the publication of new research in Science Advances detailing the company's CRISPR-based Cellgorithm technology, which lays the groundwork for programmable control of gene activity in human stem cells and offers an alternative to the slow, variable manual processes researchers use today.

5 Dec 2025

Unraveling the mycobiome's role in cancer

A growing body of evidence indicates that the microbiome within the gut and tumors significantly influences cancer initiation, progression, and treatment response.

25 Nov 2025

CRISPR-edited fungus boosts protein production and cuts environmental impact

In a new study publishing November 19 in the Cell Press journal Trends in Biotechnology, researchers used a gene-editing technology called CRISPR to increase a fungus's production efficiency and cut its production-related environmental impact by as much as 61%-all without adding any foreign DNA.

21 Nov 2025

Condensate-based strategy protects synthetic gene circuits across cell generations

Genetic engineers can design and assemble sophisticated gene circuits to program cells with new functions, but important signaling molecules can become diluted as these cells grow and divide, causing the synthetic gene circuits to lose their new functions.

7 Nov 2025

Machine learning advances human-centric drug toxicity prediction

In the UK, there was a case where TGN1412, an immunotherapy under development, triggered a cytokine storm within hours of administration to humans, leading to multiple organ failure.

7 Nov 2025

Redefining control and consistency in anaerobic microbiome workflows

Explore how smart automation enables precise, reproducible workflows in anaerobic microbiome research, improving accuracy and experimental control.

From Molecular Devices UK Ltd 5 Nov 2025

New stem cell-based strategy could enhance neuronal regeneration and neuroplasticity

The brain's mechanisms for repairing injuries caused by trauma or degenerative diseases are not yet known in detail.

14 Oct 2025

Owlstone Medical wins up to $49.1 million award from ARPA-H to develop at-home multi-cancer-early detection tests

Owlstone Medical ("Owlstone"), the global leader in Breath Biopsy® for applications in early disease detection and precision medicine, today announced that it has won an award of up to $49.1 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) for the Platform Optimizing SynBio for Early Intervention and Detection in Oncology (POSEIDON) program.

13 Oct 2025

Scalable synthetic biology revolutionizes targeted therapy with logic-gate proteins

Targeted drug delivery is a powerful and promising area of medicine. Therapies that pinpoint the exact areas of the body where they're needed - and nowhere they're not - can reduce the medicine dosage and avoid potentially harmful "off target" effects elsewhere in the body.

10 Oct 2025

AI-designed proteins revolutionize gene editing precision and safety

Researchers at Integra Therapeutics, in collaboration with the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) and the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG), have designed and experimentally validated new synthetic proteins that can edit the human genome more efficiently than proteins provided by nature.

6 Oct 2025

New study explains how pathogenic bacteria digest ethanolamine

A new study, led by researchers at the University of Liverpool, has revealed how pathogenic bacteria construct tiny protein-based compartments, known as Eut microcompartments, which enable them to digest ethanolamine - a nutrient commonly found in the gut.

3 Oct 2025

Dipeptides reveal clues to the origin of life’s instructions

Genes are the building blocks of life, and the genetic code provides the instructions for the complex processes that make organisms function.

17 Sep 2025