Synthetic Biology – News and Features

A new study offers compelling evidence that single-cell creatures such as ciliates and amoebae are capable of habituation, a simple form of learning.

A series of bioluminescent proteins have been designed to serve as a non-invasive method for bioimaging, diagnostics and more.

Researchers have developed synthetic genes that function like the genes in living cells, offering a path toward using a suite of simple building blocks that can be programmed to make complex biomolecular materials.

We reached out to start-ups at ELRIG Drug Discovery 2024 to see how AI and bioengineering can be applied in biotech and drug discovery.

Researchers have engineered an enzyme to produce synthetic genetic material, advancing the discovery of new therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune, metabolic and infectious diseases.

Researchers have discovered how cells of a Comamonas bacterium are breaking down plastic for food. They chew the plastic into nanoparticles, secrete enzymes and ultimately use a ring of carbon atoms from the plastic as a food source.

Using a specialized bacterium, scientists have transferred DNA instructions for all manner of amino acids, peptides, proteins or other molecules found in animal-based products, into different plants’ cells.

Researchers discovered that bacteria can perform DNA inversions within single genes, altering their genetic coding. This finding challenges traditional genetic understanding and may lead to novel applications in synthetic biology.

A study led by scientists at Stanford Medicine has shown that inversions, which cause a physical flip of a segment of DNA and change an organism’s genetic identity, can occur within a single gene, challenging a central dogma of biology.

A new CRISPRkit could bring modern biology advances to the classroom for about two dollars per kit, helping students understand the technology by using it themselves.