Synthetic Biology News and Research

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Scientists manipulate simple bacteria into constructing internal compartments for biofuels, vaccines

Scientists at the University of Kent and University College Cork have manipulated simple bacteria into constructing internal compartments where biofuels and vaccines can be produced.

14 Jun 2010

New report compares U.S. and European funding for research related to synthetic biology

A new analysis by the Synthetic Biology Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center found that the U.S. government has spent around $430 million on research related to synthetic biology since 2005, with the Department of Energy funding a majority of the research. By comparison, the analysis indicated that the European Union and three individual European countries – the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Germany – had spent approximately $160 million during that same period.

9 Jun 2010

Life Technologies makes equity investment in SGI

Life Technologies Corporation, a provider of innovative life science solutions, announced today that it has made an equity investment in Synthetic Genomics, Inc., a privately held company founded to commercialize synthetic genomic advances. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

3 Jun 2010

Life Technologies acquires majority stake in Geneart

Life Technologies Corporation, a provider of innovative life science solutions, announced today that it has concluded its tender offer and acquired a majority stake in Geneart AG, the global leader of the synthetic gene market segment. The combination of Geneart with Life Technologies' resources and commercial capabilities creates a well-capitalized synthetic biology company with advanced technology and production capabilities, providing products to fuel innovation in this emerging field.

28 May 2010

New synthesized genome may lead to advances in health and biotechnology

The successful construction of a synthesized genome could enable new research and development of human therapies, biofuels, and biobased chemicals from renewable resources.

21 May 2010

BBSRC, EPSRC fund £1.5M for synthetic biology projects under EuroSYNBIO Programme

Four new projects, announced today, will develop biological methods that offer a new approach to antibiotic production, power generation for extremely small mechanical components, new classes of medicines and innovative techniques to study cell biology.

19 May 2010

Call for papers, panels and posters for 2010 Pacific Rim Summit now open

The Biotechnology Industry Organization invites leaders from the biotechnology, chemical and agricultural industries to submit proposals and abstracts for panels, individual papers, and posters for the 2010 Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy. This unique conference will be held Dec. 11-14, 2010 in Honolulu.

17 May 2010

Researchers use nanofactories to prevent bacteria without using antibiotics

New research at the A. James Clark School of Engineering could prevent bacterial infections using tiny biochemical machines—nanofactories—that can confuse bacteria and stop them from spreading, without the use of antibiotics.

28 Jan 2010

New technology could aid in developing novel drugs and future gene therapies

Researchers in Manchester have successfully carried out the first rewire of genetic switches, creating what could be a vital tool for the development of new drugs and even future gene therapies.

From The University of Manchester 27 Jan 2010

New effort to produce standardized DNA parts for reducing development time of synthetic biology in labs

With seed money from the National Science Foundation (NSF), bioengineers from the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University are ramping up efforts to characterize the thousands of control elements critical to the engineering of microbes so that eventually, researchers can mix and match these "DNA parts" in synthetic organisms to produce new drugs, fuels or chemicals.

21 Jan 2010

Quorum sensing offers a dynamic approach to increase sensitivity to external signals

Researchers at UC San Diego who last year genetically engineered bacteria to keep track of time by turning on and off fluorescent proteins within their cells have taken another step toward the construction of a programmable genetic sensor. The scientists recently synchronized these bacterial "genetic clocks" to blink in unison and engineered the bacterial genes to alter their blinking rates when environmental conditions change.

21 Jan 2010

SynBIA formed to address the emergence of synthetic biology industry and to promote its potential

To address the emergence of the synthetic biology industry and to promote its potential, a group of individuals and companies announced the formation of the Synthetic Biology Industry Association (SynBIA) in Cambridge, Massachusetts last week.

2 Dec 2009

Scientists receive $3 million from NIH to uncover how plants make medicinal compounds

Scientists at Michigan State University are receiving nearly $3 million from the National Institutes of Health to uncover how several popular plants make medicinal compounds.

6 Nov 2009

Americans want to be better informed about developments in cutting-edge technologies

Nanotechnology and synthetic biology continue to develop as two of the most exciting areas of scientific discovery, but research has shown that the public is almost completely unaware of the science and its applications.

3 Oct 2009

G-bor Bal-zsi's innovative research in drug resistance earns select honor

A unique approach to understanding how cells develop resistance to drugs has won a scientist at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center a New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health.

26 Sep 2009

EU-U.S. trans-disciplinary research agenda for synthetic biology

The Wilson Center's Synthetic Biology project recently received two grants from the National Science Foundation. One will support a Transatlantic Exploratory Workshop on the Implications of Cutting-Edge Biotechnologies for Sustainability Science and Policy, and the other will support research on the use of on-line prediction markets to explore emerging issues in synthetic biology.

23 Sep 2009

U.S. Navy and Solazyme to develop algae-derived advanced biofuel

Solazyme, Inc., the renewable oil production company and leader in algal synthetic biology, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to research, develop, and demonstrate commercial scale production of algae-derived advanced biofuel that meets the United States Navy’s rigorous specifications for military tactical platforms.

9 Sep 2009

GenoCAD project receives financial support from NSF

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a three-year $1,421,725 grant to Jean Peccoud, associate professor at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, to develop GenoCAD - a web-based Computer Assisted Design environment for synthetic biology.

1 Sep 2009

Two key circuits for controlling the cell's ability identified by UCSF researchers

UCSF researchers have identified the two key circuits that control a cell's ability to adapt to changes in its environment, a finding that could have applications ranging from diabetes and autoimmune research to targeted drug development for complex diseases.

24 Aug 2009

Opportunities and risks posed by synthetic biology

The new research field of synthetic biology will, in the medium term, open up a great deal of potential for combining novel genetic methods with engineering principles. This will facilitate the development, not only of new vaccines and medicines, but also of fuels and new materials.

3 Aug 2009