Biotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Scientists transform ultra-tough pollen into flexible material

Scientists have found a way to turn pollen, one of the hardest materials in the plant kingdom, into a soft and flexible material, with the potential to serve as 'building blocks' for the design of new categories of eco-friendly materials.

March 19, 2020 Read more

New technique 'prints' cells to create diverse biological environments

Researchers have created a new technique that utilizes photolithography and programmable DNA to rapidly 'print' two-dimensional arrays of cells and proteins that mimic a wide variety of cellular environments in the body.

March 19, 2020 Read more

New kind of CRISPR technology to target RNA, including RNA viruses like coronavirus

New genetic screening platform using CRISPR technology for targeting thousands of genes in a massively-parallel fashion; accurate and fast method of finding best guides to detect, target, and knockdown specific RNA targets.

March 16, 2020 Read more

Leveraging 3D-printed layers for enhanced tissue repair

Multi-level implants aim to improve regeneration of complex tissues.

March 16, 2020 Read more

A new tool for switching proteins on and off

Scientists have characterized a new optogenetic tool, the protein parapinopsin, which can be switched on and off with very weak and short light signals.

March 2, 2020 Read more

Stabilizing freeze-dried cellular machinery unlocks cell-free biotechnology

A low-cost approach improves cell-free biotechnology's utility for bio-manufacturing and portability for field applications.

February 27, 2020 Read more

Sustainable light sources: LEDs from bacterial production

For this project, scientists are analysing fluorescent protein structures from nature and testing how thet need to modify them so that they bind different fluorescent organic molecules.

February 25, 2020 Read more

'Make two out of one' - division of artificial cells

Scientists uncover a novel and generic mechanism for the division of artificial cells into two daughter cells.

February 24, 2020 Read more

Synthetic bioplastic protects against UV radiation

Researchers have developed a new synthetic bioplastic that, unlike traditional carbon-based plastics or other bioplastics, provides protection from the sun?s ultraviolet radiation.

February 20, 2020 Read more

Replacing animal testing with synthetic cell scaffolds

Electrospun synthetic cell scaffolds are not only more consistent than animal cells for cancer research, they hold the potential to replace animal testing.

February 11, 2020 Read more

Human textiles to repair blood vessels

Bioengineers are developing 'human textiles' from collagen in order to repair damaged blood vessels.

February 10, 2020 Read more

A 3D 'brain-on-a-chip' device capable of long-term recording of neural activity

A team of engineers and biologists have developed a 'brain-on-a-chip' device capable of recording the neural activity of living brain cell cultures in three-dimensions, a significant advancement in the realistic modeling of the human brain outside of the body.

February 5, 2020 Read more

First-of-its-kind hydrogel platform enables on-demand production of medicines, chemicals

A team of chemical engineers has developed a new way to produce medicines and chemicals on demand and preserve them using portable 'biofactories' embedded in water-based gels called hydrogels.

February 4, 2020 Read more

Turning up the heat on microbial resistance with organic polymers

Researchers have designed a new type of organic compound that could be used as an effective photothermal therapeutic agent.

February 3, 2020 Read more

Breaking through computational barriers to create designer proteins

This work provides a path forward for one to computationally design specific, programmable binding into proteins, previously a property only found in the DNA and RNA world.

January 31, 2020 Read more

Superfast insights into cellular events

Scientists have succeeded in accelerating a hundred thousand-fold the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method for investigating RNA.

January 28, 2020 Read more

Scientists engineer a minimal synthetic cellular system to study basic cell function

Researchers have engineered a synthetic cell that can encapsulate fundamental biochemical reactions. They also show that such a minimal system can respond to changes in environment.

January 22, 2020 Read more

Bioengineering living heart valves

Using tissue engineering techniques, researchers are developing living heart valves that can grow after implantation in the human heart.

January 22, 2020 Read more