Working with light and genetically engineered bacteria, researchers are able to shape the growth of bacterial communities. From polka dots to stripes to circuits, they can render intricate designs overnight.
Posted: Mar 19th, 2019
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Lignin research may represent the most comprehensive model of a biological pathway in a single plant species.
Posted: Apr 20th, 2018
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Creating such a complex biological module is an important step towards an even more ambitious goal: building a complete and functioning synthetic cell from the bottom up.
Posted: Apr 20th, 2018
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Scientists have developed a potentially breakthrough CRISPR gene-editing tool. It could allow researchers to take fragments of DNA extracted from human cells, put them into a test tube, and quickly and precisely engineer multiple changes to the genetic code.
Posted: Apr 19th, 2018
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With the help of ultrafast spectroscopy and quantum mechanical calculations, researchers have characterized the complete rotational cycle of the light-driven, chemical motor molecule hemithioindigo.
Posted: Apr 19th, 2018
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Using a Raman microscope, researchers have studied at which targets the cancer drug Neratinib binds in cells and how its chemical structure changes. Compared with other techniques, this method offers a considerable advantage, as it is not necessary to apply a label to the drug that would indicate its distribution indirectly; rather, the drug itself can be monitored.
Posted: Apr 19th, 2018
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Simulation of the AsqJ enzyme opens up new options for pharmaceutical chemistry.
Posted: Apr 17th, 2018
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Scientists have engineered an enzyme which can digest some of our most commonly polluting plastics, providing a potential solution to one of the world?s biggest environmental problems.
Posted: Apr 17th, 2018
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With aid of computer algorithm, researchers develop peptides more powerful than those found in nature.
Posted: Apr 16th, 2018
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Researchers have designed a convenient and natural product that uses proteins to rebuild tooth enamel and treat dental cavities.
Posted: Apr 12th, 2018
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Synthetic biologists have introduced a new technique to dial up or down the sensitivity of two-component systems - a class of proteins that bacteria use to sense a wide variety of stimuli.
Posted: Apr 12th, 2018
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Not only can synthetic molecules imitate the structures of their biological counterparts, they can also assume their functions and even outcompete them.
Posted: Apr 3rd, 2018
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New platform could lead to improved production of protein therapeutics and biomaterials.
Posted: Mar 23rd, 2018
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A 'game changing' new antibiotic which is capable of killing superbugs has been successfully synthesised and used to treat an infection for the first time -- and could lead to the first new class of antibiotic drug in 30 years.
Posted: Mar 23rd, 2018
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Researchers have used a combination of light and genetic engineering to controlling the metabolism, or basic chemical process, of a living cell. Building on techniques that already have transformed the field of neuroscience, the researchers used light to control genetically-modified yeast and increase its output of commercially valuable chemicals.
Posted: Mar 22nd, 2018
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New research explains how the 'wiggling and jiggling' of the atoms in enzymes - the proteins that make biological reactions happen - is 'choreographed' to make them work at a particular temperature.
Posted: Mar 21st, 2018
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