Biotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Watching a tumor grow in real-time

The ability to visualize and characterize the composition of a tumour in detail during its development can provide valuable insights in order to target appropriate therapeutics. Researchers now have visualized and quantified the growth and composition of breast tumours over time in a living animal.

July 31, 2015 Read more

Cell aging slowed by putting brakes on noisy transcription

Experiments in yeast hint at ways to extend life of some human cells.

July 31, 2015 Read more

Researchers design first artificial ribosome

Researchers have engineered a tethered ribosome that works nearly as well as the authentic cellular component, or organelle, that produces all the proteins and enzymes within the cell. The engineered ribosome may enable the production of new drugs and next-generation biomaterials and lead to a better understanding of how ribosomes function.

July 29, 2015 Read more

Snap-and-go band analysis

Mobile software simplifies measurements of gel electrophoresis.

July 29, 2015 Read more

Tiny grains of rice hold big promise for greenhouse gas reductions, bioenergy

Discovery delivers high starch content, virtually no methane emissions.

July 28, 2015 Read more

Technology helps personalized medicine, enabling epigenomic analysis with a mere 100 cells

A new technology will dramatically enhance investigations of epigenomes, the machinery that turns on and off genes and a very prominent field of study in diseases such as stem cell differentiation, inflammation and cancer.

July 28, 2015 Read more

New material opens possibilities for super-long-acting pills

A pH-responsive polymer gel could create swallowable devices, including capsules for ultra-long drug delivery.

July 28, 2015 Read more

Bracing up DNA

Researchers have revealed the mechanism of action of the 'back brace' proteins that stabilize single strands, protect them and prevent them from folding back into a double-helix structure that can inhibit subsequent DNA processing.

July 26, 2015 Read more

The mystery of the instant noodle chromosomes

Scientists tried to address one of the least understood issues in the modern molecular biology, namely, how do strands of DNA pack themselves into the cell nucleus.

July 23, 2015 Read more

Atomic view of cellular pump reveals how bacteria send out proteins

Protein cargo appears to traverse the bacterial cell membrane through a large, water filled channel.

July 22, 2015 Read more

New material forges the way for 'stem cell factories'

Scientists have discovered the first fully synthetic substrate with potential to grow billions of stem cells. The research could forge the way for the creation of 'stem cell factories' - the mass production of human embryonic (pluripotent) stem cells.

July 22, 2015 Read more

The light of fireflies for medical diagnostics

Scientists have exploited the light of fireflies in a new method that detects biological molecules without the need for complex devices and high costs.

July 22, 2015 Read more

Light-gated control of cell division

Chemists have developed photoresponsive derivatives of an antimitotic drug, which permit light-dependent control of cell division. The new agents could provide the basis for precisely targeted tumor therapies, free of side-effects.

July 16, 2015 Read more

Editing the genome with light

Researchers have developed a new technology to optically control genome editing.

July 16, 2015 Read more

Scientists hijack light-loving bacteria to make high-value products

Scientists have directed a common bacterium to produce more of a valuable fatty acid, lauric acid, than it typically does. The achievement is noteworthy not simply because of the increased production of fatty acid, which can be a useful component of biofuels.

July 15, 2015 Read more

Can scientists hack photosynthesis to feed the world as population soars?

Scientists attending a workshop at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory slipped the leash of scientific caution and tried to imagine what they would do if they could redesign plants at will. The ideas they dreamed up may make the difference between full bellies and empty ones in the near future when population may outrun the ability of traditional plant breeding to increase yields.

July 15, 2015 Read more

New cell division mechanism discovered

Researchers have discovered that chromosomes play an active role in animal cell division. This occurs at a precise stage - cytokinesis - when the cell splits into two new daughter cells.

July 13, 2015 Read more

The artificial enzyme that 'acts' natural

Certain genetic diseases arise from a deficit of specific genes. An enzyme that amplifies gene transcription could be a viable therapy in these cases, as long as genes are not stimulated to work on the wrong part of the body. SISSA scientists have created synthetic 'intelligent' enzymes which are able to differentiate between active and inactive genes and selectively stimulate the former ones.

July 8, 2015 Read more