Synthetic Biology News and Research

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Sugar boosts effectiveness of first-line antibiotics against chronic bacterial infections

James Collins, a pioneering researcher in the new field of systems biology and a MacArthur Genius, says: "You know the old saying: 'a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down?' This is more like 'a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine work.'

12 May 2011

Intrexon to deploy Novici's GRAMMR technology in concert with UltraVector platform

Intrexon Corporation, a next generation synthetic biology company, today announced an agreement with Novici Biotech LLC in which Intrexon has licensed certain non-exclusive rights to the use of Novici's patented GRAMMR® technology for high-resolution genetic reassortment ("gene shuffling").

9 May 2011

ZIOPHARM reports net loss of $39.0 million for first quarter 2011

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc, an oncology small molecule and synthetic biology drug development company, today reported its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2011, and provided an update on the Company's activities in the first quarter.

5 May 2011

UC Berkeley researchers form new Synthetic Biology Institute

An alliance of top researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has formed the UC Berkeley Synthetic Biology Institute, advancing efforts to engineer cells and biological systems in ways that promise to transform technology in health and medicine, energy, the environment, new materials, and a host of other critical arenas.

22 Apr 2011

iOWH's semisynthetic ART enters production, distribution phase to combat malaria

The Institute for OneWorld Health, a non-profit drug development organization, announced today that its development of an alternative source of artemisinin using pioneering synthetic biology technology has successfully entered the production and distribution phase.

18 Apr 2011

USPTO issues Notice of Allowance to Modular's green surfactant patent application

Modular Genetics, Inc. is a sustainable chemistry company utilizing advanced technology in synthetic biology to produce specialty chemicals that are cost competitive, provide superior performance and are environmentally friendly. Modular's lead product is a "green" surfactant initially targeting the personal care market.

29 Mar 2011

BUSM professors highlight increased risks of naturally occurring infections

Paul Duprex, PhD, and Elke M-hlberger, PhD, both associate professors of microbiology at Boston University School of Medicine, recently co-authored a commentary about viruses for Microbiology Today, the monthly publication of the Society of General Microbiology, which is the largest microbiological society in Europe.

19 Mar 2011

Commentary on the global challenges of emerging viral infections

Paul Duprex, PhD, and Elke Mühlberger, PhD, both associate professors of microbiology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), recently co-authored a commentary about viruses for Microbiology Today, the monthly publication of the Society of General Microbiology, which is the largest microbiological society in Europe. The article focuses on the history of viruses and vaccines and gives their perspective on what is necessary to evolve to the next era of virology research.

18 Mar 2011

Solasia, ZIOPHARM enter license and collaboration agreement for darinaparsin product

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc., an oncology small molecule and synthetic biology drug development company, and Solasia Pharma K.K., a developer of Western oncology pharmaceuticals in-licensed for commercialization in Asian markets, announced today that they have entered into a license and collaboration agreement to develop and commercialize ZIOPHARM's darinaparsin product and related organic arsenic molecules in specified Pan-Asian/Pacific territories.

7 Mar 2011

Intrexon announces AgBio Division launch and Agarigen acquisition

Intrexon Corporation, a next generation synthetic biology company, today announced the launch of its Agricultural Biotechnology (AgBio) Division in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and the acquisition of Agarigen, Inc., a North Carolina-based company that has developed a novel, mushroom-based expression platform for the rapid, high yield production of recombinant proteins.

2 Feb 2011

Life Technologies announces new DNA sequencing portfolio for lab research

Life Technologies Corporation today announced a series of new product innovations across the company's DNA sequencing portfolio. To date, most sequencing technologies have primarily addressed the needs of researchers in the highest throughput laboratories, limiting widespread accessibility of these powerful next-generation sequencing technologies.

12 Jan 2011

Intrexon Corporation, ZIOPHARM enter partnership to develop, commercialize DNA-based therapeutics

ZIOPHARM Oncology, a small molecule late-stage oncology drug development company, and Intrexon Corporation, a next generation synthetic biology company, announced today a global exclusive channel partnership in oncology where ZIOPHARM will develop and commercialize DNA-based therapeutics using Intrexon's UltraVector Technology.

7 Jan 2011

PCSBI issues 18 recommendations in emerging field of synthetic biology

The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues today released its first report-a wide-ranging review of the emerging field of synthetic biology-issuing 18 recommendations including a call for coordinated federal oversight of scientists working in both large institutions and smaller settings.

16 Dec 2010

Researchers develop synthetic circuits to detect changes in state of health

Using yeast cells, a group of researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has taken a groundbreaking step towards being able to build complex systems in the future where the body's own cells help to keep us healthy.

15 Dec 2010

Research on ribosome could aid antibiotic development against MRSA infection

Theoretical biologists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have used a New Mexico supercomputer to aid an international research team in untangling another mystery related to ribosomes-those enigmatic jumbles of molecules that are the protein factories of living cells.

3 Dec 2010

Amyris, Firmenich enter joint development agreement

Amyris, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a collaboration and joint development agreement with Firmenich, the largest privately-owned fragrance and flavor company, based in Geneva, Switzerland. This is the first agreement for Amyris in the fragrance and flavor industry and provides an opportunity to add higher-value ingredients to our expanding product portfolio.

11 Nov 2010

Federal guidance aims to reduce misuse of synthetic DNA to create dangerous organisms

Federal guidance issued today aims to reduce the risk that synthetic DNA will be misused deliberately to create dangerous organisms. Screening Framework Guidance for Providers of Synthetic Double-Stranded DNA, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, supports national biosecurity goals and balances the promise of synthetic DNA with its potential biosecurity risks.

14 Oct 2010

Researchers develop algorithm to integrate genomic and metabolic data

Researchers at the Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois have developed a way to harness the prodigious quantities of both genomic and metabolic data being generated with high-throughput genomics and other techniques. They have developed an algorithm that automatically integrates both data sets. The model, called probabilistic regulation of metabolism (PROM), enables researchers to perturb a given regulatory gene or metabolic process and see how that affects the entire network.

7 Oct 2010

Study on B-cell receptors may help develop new treatment strategies for leukaemia

In order to track down pathogens and render them harmless, the immune system must be able to recognize myriad different foreign substances and react to them. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and the Centre for Biological Signalling Studies BIOSS at the University of Freiburg have discovered how the immune system's B-cells can be activated by numerous substances from our environment.