Biotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Materiomics: An -omics approach to biomaterials research

A new review outlines how materiomics sets the stage for a transformative change in the approach to biomaterials research to enable the design of tailored and functional materials for a variety of properties in fields as diverse as tissue engineering, disease diagnosis and de novo materials design, by combining powerful computational modelling and screening with advanced experimental techniques.

January 8, 2013 Read more

Engineered bacteria make fuel from sunlight

Chemists at the University of California, Davis, have engineered blue-green algae to grow chemical precursors for fuels and plastics -- the first step in replacing fossil fuels as raw materials for the chemical industry.

January 8, 2013 Read more

Innovative technique can sequence entire genome from single cell

The notion that police can identify a suspect based on the tiniest drop of blood or trace of tissue has long been a staple of TV dramas, but scientists at Harvard have taken the idea a step further. Using just a single human cell, they can reproduce an individual's entire genome.

January 7, 2013 Read more

Protein production: going viral (w/video)

Architecture of essential human transcription factor revealed.

January 7, 2013 Read more

When will genomic research translate into clinical care - and at what cost?

New study applies quantitative modeling to genomics.

January 5, 2013 Read more

Delayed flowering results in up to 50 percent increase in biofuel crop yield

Researchers working on the biofuel crop Miscanthus sacchariflorus, commonly known as Asian Elephant Grass, have shown that delaying flowering in the plant can result in a 50% growth increase.

January 4, 2013 Read more

In epigenomics, location is everything

In a novel use of gene knockout technology, researchers tested the same gene inserted into 90 different locations in a yeast chromosome - and discovered that while the inserted gene never altered its surrounding chromatin landscape, differences in that immediate landscape measurably affected gene activity.

January 3, 2013 Read more

Editing the genome with high precision

New method allows scientists to insert multiple genes in specific locations, delete defective genes.

January 3, 2013 Read more

Sorting stem cells

Researchers have demonstrated a way to easily distinguish undifferentiated embryonic stem cells from later-stage stem cells whose fate is sealed.

January 3, 2013 Read more

Researchers develop tool to evaluate genome sequencing method

Advances in bio-technologies and computer software have helped make genome sequencing much more common than in the past. But still in question are both the accuracy of different sequencing methods and the best ways to evaluate these efforts. Now, computer scientists have devised a tool to better measure the validity of genome sequencing.

January 2, 2013 Read more

Bacterial suicide: assembly of a lethal molecular machine

How can bacteria protect themselves from lethal infection by viral parasites? One extreme way is for individual cells to commit suicide when infected, thereby preventing or limiting viral replication and protecting the rest of the bacterial population from subsequent infections.

January 2, 2013 Read more

New report on military human enhancements tackles ethical dilemmas

Questions loom for bioethics, laws of war, military operations, and broader society.

January 2, 2013 Read more

Accelerating cellular assembly lines

Insights into cellular productivity could boost generation of proteins with valuable research and medical applications.

January 2, 2013 Read more

Strange behavior: new study exposes living cells to synthetic protein

Researchers have fabricated an artificial protein in the laboratory and examined the surprising ways living cells respond to it.

December 27, 2012 Read more

Research proves bacteria to blame for obesity

Scientists have believed that microscopic organisms in the gut, microbiota, might play a crucial role in gaining weight but were never able to prove it. Groundbreaking research by a Chinese scientist has revealed a precise link.

December 27, 2012 Read more

Researchers coax stem cells to diversify

Growing new blood vessels in the lab is a tough challenge, but a Johns Hopkins engineering team has solved a major stumbling block: how to prod stem cells to become two different types of tissue that are needed to build tiny networks of veins and arteries.

December 27, 2012 Read more

German scientists seek to clone perfect Xmas trees

The hunt for the perfect Christmas tree may soon become a lot easier: just pick a nice clone.

December 22, 2012 Read more

'Gold standard' cotton genome sequenced

An international consortium with representatives from most of the world's major cotton-producing countries, led by Regents Professor Andrew Paterson of the University of Georgia and including Candace Haigler, a North Carolina State University professor of crop science and plant biology, has described the first 'gold-standard' genome sequence for cotton.

December 21, 2012 Read more