Biotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Facilitating processing of biomass

Usually, harvesting energy and raw materials from plants requires many process steps and aggressive chemicals. To make these processes more efficient and resource saving, researchers are looking for suitable enzymes. Using neutrons, researchers have now investigated the reaction mechanism of an important class of enzymes: the glycosidases.

November 2, 2015 Read more

First complete pictures of cells' DNA-copying machinery

State-of-the-art electron microscope images reveal that structure of DNA-copying protein complex differs from long-held textbook view.

November 2, 2015 Read more

Mechanical forces control the architecture of bacterial biofilms

Biophysicists were able to show how differential mechanical forces can lead to cell sorting in biofilms, thereby determining their architecture.

October 30, 2015 Read more

Scientists produce beneficial natural compounds in tomato

Scientists found a way to produce industrial quantities of useful natural compounds efficiently, by growing them in tomatoes.

October 26, 2015 Read more

RNA glue for the protein assembly line

Scientists have discovered how RNA molecules regulate the structure of the nucleolus and drive the synthesis of the cellular machinery needed for protein production.

October 16, 2015 Read more

Supercoiled DNA is far more dynamic than the 'Watson-Crick' double helix

Researchers have imaged in unprecedented detail the three-dimensional structure of supercoiled DNA, revealing that its shape is much more dynamic than the well-known double helix.

October 12, 2015 Read more

Analyzing protein structures in their native environment

Enhanced-sensitivity NMR could reveal new clues to how proteins fold.

October 9, 2015 Read more

Review addresses value and waste in biomedical research

Estimates suggest that biomedical research consumes almost a quarter of a trillion US dollars every year, yet according to some studies up to 85 per cent is avoidably wasted. Examples of waste include the non-publication of research, failure to share data and instances where the results of research are untranslatable to the benefit of patients or the efficiency of health care delivery.

October 7, 2015 Read more

Filtering for fast analysis

Trapping cells that tumors release into the bloodstream allows fast and sensitive genetic analysis.

October 7, 2015 Read more

Restoring vision with stem cells

Researchers have succeed in producing photoreceptors from human embryonic stem cells.

October 6, 2015 Read more

Repairing mucus with synthetic molecules

Scientists have found a way to repair defective mucins - the components that give mucus its structure.

October 2, 2015 Read more

An accessible approach to making a mini-brain

Researchers describe a relatively accessible method for making a working - though not thinking - sphere of central nervous system tissue. The advance could provide an inexpensive and easy-to-make 3-D testbed for biomedical research.

October 1, 2015 Read more

Real-time analysis of metabolic products

Researchers have now developed a method by which they can identify the concentration of hundreds of metabolites simultaneously and almost in real time.

September 30, 2015 Read more

The carbohydrate wind tunnel

A new method enables researchers to sequence complex sugar molecules for the first time.

September 30, 2015 Read more

Self-assembling material that grows and changes shape could lead to artificial arteries

Researchers have developed a way of assembling organic molecules into complex tubular tissue-like structures without the use of moulds or techniques like 3D printing.

September 28, 2015 Read more

Tweaking proteins with 'Tub-tag'

Researchers have developed a rapid and efficient technique for targeted chemoenzymatic functionalization of proteins. The new method has a wide range of potential therapeutic applications.

September 28, 2015 Read more

Gel study uncovers unexpected dynamics

Research by scientists has revealed important new information about the dynamics of bacterial gels which could ultimately suggest new ways of helping prevent or better control diseases such as cystic fibrosis.

September 24, 2015 Read more

Protein conjugation method offers new possibilities for biomaterials

Research team demonstrates how changing protein decoration points impact behavior.

September 24, 2015 Read more