Biotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Sizing up cells: Study finds possible regulator of growth

Modern biology has attained deep knowledge of how cells work, but the mechanisms by which cellular structures assemble and grow to the right size largely remain a mystery. Now, Princeton University researchers may have found the key in a dynamic agglomeration of molecules inside cells.

March 3, 2015 Read more

Scientists move closer to creating cartilage from stem cells

Scientists have succeeded in producing cartilage formed from embryonic stem cells that could in future be used to treat the painful joint condition osteoarthritis.

March 3, 2015 Read more

Democratizing synthetic biology

By replacing highly specialized, expensive equipment with standard lab tools, Northwestern University professor Michael Jewett has made synthetic biology research cheaper, faster, and more accessible.

March 2, 2015 Read more

New views of enzyme structures offer insights into metabolism of cholesterol, other lipids

With the aid of X-ray crystallography, researchers have revealed the structures of two closely related enzymes that play essential roles in the body's ability to metabolize excess lipids, including cholesterol.

March 2, 2015 Read more

Looking for alternatives to antibiotics

Bacteria that talk to one another and organize themselves into biofilms are more resistant to antibiotics. Researchers are now working to develop drugs that prevent bacteria from communicating. The aim is to find alternatives to antibiotics and reduce the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

March 2, 2015 Read more

Borrowing from whales to engineer a new fluid sensor

How can a humpback whale and a device that works on the same principle as the clicker that starts your gas grill help an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) fly longer and with more stability? Well, it all starts with biological structures called tubercles that the whale uses for its unique maneuvers in the ocean.

March 2, 2015 Read more

A new tool provides maps of protein interactions for 2,800 diseases

dSysMap, Disease-mutations Systemic Mapping, is a computational tool to interpret the effect of genetic mutations on the development of complex diseases.

February 27, 2015 Read more

Synthetic biology breakthrough leads to cheaper statin production

Researchers have developed a single-step fermentative method for the production of leading cholesterol-lowering drug, pravastatin, which will facilitate industrial-scale statin drug production.

February 27, 2015 Read more

Bacteria 'hotwire' their genes to fix a faulty motor (w/video)

Unable to move and facing starvation, bacteria evolved a new way to activate their flagellum - a rotating tail-like structure which acts like an outboard motor - by patching together a new genetic switch with borrowed parts.

February 27, 2015 Read more

NIBIB launches Want to Be a Bioengineer? game app

How do you keep an artificial limb attached to the body? What lab-grown organ have scientists successfully transplanted into patients? You can find the answer to these questions and many more while playing Want to Be a Bioengineer? a game for middle and high school students.

February 25, 2015 Read more

Molecular mouse-trap technique sheds light on key cell processes

Scientists have shed new light on the fundamental biological process of cell division, thanks to an emerging analytical method.

February 25, 2015 Read more

Scientists grow leg muscle from cells in a dish

A team of scientists has succeeded in generating mature, functional skeletal muscles in mice using a new approach for tissue engineering. The scientists grew a leg muscle starting from engineered cells cultured in a dish to produce a graft. The subsequent graft was implanted close to a normal, contracting skeletal muscle where the new muscle was nurtured and grown.

February 25, 2015 Read more

Novel pretreatment could cut biofuel costs by 30 percent or more

Researchers have developed a novel technology that cuts the amount of enzymes needed to produce biofuels by 90 percent or more.

February 24, 2015 Read more

New catalyst to create chemical building blocks from biomass

University of Tokyo researchers have developed a novel selective catalyst that allows the creation of several basic chemicals from biomass instead of petroleum. This discovery may lead to the use of plant biomass as a basic feedstock for the chemical industry.

February 23, 2015 Read more

3-D engineered bone marrow makes functioning platelets

Scalable model supports patient-specific treatments, advanced study of blood disorders.

February 18, 2015 Read more

Synthetic biology yields new approach to gene therapy

Bioengineers have created a novel gene-delivery system that shuttles a gene into a cell, but only for a temporary stay, providing a potential new gene-therapy strategy for treating disease.

February 18, 2015 Read more

An entirely new approach to tissue engineering

Researchers present an entirely new approach to tissue engineering that uses the interfacial forces between aqueous solutions of phase-separating polymers to confine cells and promote their assembly into interconnected, macroscopic tissue constructs. This simple and inexpensive general procedure creates free-standing, centimeter-scale constructs from cell suspensions in as little as 2 hours.

February 18, 2015 Read more

Using fungi to catch algae

Fungal waste biomass from biotechnology applications could be used to harvest microalgae for fuels and chemicals production.

February 18, 2015 Read more