Biotechnology News – Latest Headlines

MRI based on a sugar molecule can tell cancerous from noncancerous cells

Preliminary study in lab-grown cells raises possibility of cancer diagnosis without biopsies.

March 27, 2015 Read more

Report: Photosynthesis hack needed to feed the world by 2050

Using high-performance computing and genetic engineering to boost the photosynthetic efficiency of plants offers the best hope of increasing crop yields enough to feed a planet expected to have 9.5 billion people on it by 2050, researchers report in a new study.

March 26, 2015 Read more

Rapid and efficient DNA chip technology for testing 14 major types of food borne pathogens

A 'DNA chip card' employs electrochemical DNA chips and overcomes the complicated procedures associated with genetic testing of conventional methods.

March 26, 2015 Read more

Scientists look to the 'indoor biome' as new research frontier

A cross-disciplinary group of scientists is applying the tools of ecology and evolutionary biology to a new research frontier: indoor spaces.

March 25, 2015 Read more

CRISPR-Cas9: Precise and new genome editing tool

CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful new tool for editing the genome. For researchers around the world, the CRISPR-Cas9 technique is an exciting innovation because it is faster and cheaper than previous methods.

March 25, 2015 Read more

Engineers develop new yeast strain to enhance biofuel and biochemical production

Researchers have used a combination of metabolic engineering and directed evolution to develop a new, mutant yeast strain that could lead to a more efficient biofuel production process that would make biofuels more economically competitive with conventional fuels.

March 24, 2015 Read more

From blue pill to blue light

Researchers have developed a novel biotechnological solution for erectile dysfunction: a gene therapy that triggers reliable erections.

March 23, 2015 Read more

Researchers' breakthrough identification of important protein

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen are the first in the world to develop a secure way of measuring the important protein apo-M. This could prove relevant for research into diseases such as diabetes, arteriosclerosis and sclerosis.

March 23, 2015 Read more

Scientists grow 'mini-lungs' to aid the study of cystic fibrosis

Scientists have successfully created 'mini-lungs' using stem cells derived from skin cells of patients with cystic fibrosis, and have shown that these can be used to test potential new drugs for this debilitating lung disease.

March 19, 2015 Read more

Improved understanding of protein complex offers insight into DNA replication initiation mechanism basics

A clearer understanding of the origin recognition complex (ORC) - a protein complex that directs DNA replication - through its crystal structure offers new insight into fundamental mechanisms of DNA replication initiation. This will also provide insight into how ORC may be compromised in a subset of patients with Meier-Gorlin syndrome, a form of dwarfism in humans.

March 18, 2015 Read more

World's first method for continuous purification of valuable antibodies

Scientists develop world's first continuous purification method for valuable drugs. This will lead to significantly reduced production costs and to cheaper pharmaceuticals that are affordable for non-privileged health care systems.

March 18, 2015 Read more

Scientists develop bioinformatics tool for metagenome analysis

Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a new method for DNA analysis of microbial communities such as those found in the ocean, the soil, and our own guts.

March 18, 2015 Read more

Haptophytes as a model of cell-free biomineralization

Microalga emiliania huxleyi forms microscopically small calcite disks. Understanding of this biological process might be used for innovative industrial products.

March 18, 2015 Read more

Supercomputers help solve puzzle-like bond for biofuels

One of life's strongest bonds has been discovered by a science team researching biofuels with the help of supercomputers. Their find could boost efforts to develop catalysts for biofuel production from non-food waste plants.

March 16, 2015 Read more

Researchers identify a new trigger of cellular self-destruction

Researchers have identified a bacterial protein that triggers a self-inflicted cell death pathway in immune system cells and could lead to a better understanding of an important cellular structure.

March 16, 2015 Read more

Research on injectable oriented hydrogels for spinal cord repair

Researchers are trying to develop an injectable material with the ability to provide biochemical and physical guidance for regenerating nerves across the injury site.

March 16, 2015 Read more

Researchers establish proof of concept for an entirely new approach to drug design

Exploring the fundamental mechanism by which a cell-surface receptor transmits its signal, researchers have established proof of concept for an entirely new approach to drug design. They report that a class of synthetic molecules known as diabodies can, from outside the cell, latch onto a target receptor and manipulate it in such a manner as to induce distinct and varying effects within cells and tissues.

March 16, 2015 Read more

Novel online bioinformatics tool significantly reduces time of multiple genome analysis

A research collaboration develops a new open access tool called PolyMaker that will support the selection of beneficial traits for future crop breeding programmes. The new software enables automated primer design for multiple genome species, significantly reducing the time of multiple genome analysis.

March 13, 2015 Read more