Synthetic Biology

We could face a global food crisis by 2050. Is synthetic biology the solution?
Synthetic biology has the potential to reshape our agriculture systems and to usher in a new era equitable and of ...

Synthetic biology is creating a more sustainable world—advancing precision medicine, curbing pollution, conserving energy and securing data
Synthetic biology has become a powerful tool to advance science, making processes more efficient, enabling completely new approaches to biology, ...

Mosquitoes are one of humanity’s most dangerous enemies. Here’s how synthetic biology might lead to a long-lasting repellant
Vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, dengue, and Zika, are pathogens that can be transmitted through the bite of an insect ...

Help for future burn victims? Electronic ‘replacement skin’ can feel touch and temperature
The challenge for electronic skin, being developed for use in artificial skins or humanlike robots like the humanoids, is to ...

Video: Instead of paying with a credit card, what if you could simply touch a scanner with your finger?
Instead of inserting a card or scanning a smartphone to make a payment, what if you could simply touch the ...

Socially responsible artificial skin: Skin-equivalent functions almost like the real thing and does not need to be tested on animals
[S]kin provides a barrier and physical cushion that protects the body from the external environment. In addition to responding to ...

‘Exceptionally potent yet easily scalable’: Synthetic biology-based COVID vaccine could pull ahead of current frontrunners
Years ago, researchers learned that, when made with biotechnology, some viral proteins could spontaneously assemble themselves into “virus-like particles,” or ...

Lab-grown meat requires fewer farm inputs than livestock, but more energy. Is it really better for the planet?
Cultured meat doesn't require grazing land or tons of feed. Instead it's grown in bioreactors like those already used to ...

How synthetic biology can eliminate pollutants in wastewater and soil
Allonnia launched with $40 million in funding to engineer and commercialize microbes to eliminate pollutants in wastewater and soil. "The waste ...

A question of accountability: How can we prevent the release of potentially harmful human-created organisms?
When it comes to risk from synthetic biology applications, one source of concern is the community of DIY biologists and ...

Natural ‘antifreeze proteins’ added as a polymer can make concrete more durable
Because concrete is porous and absorbs liquid, [temperature] changes often make its surface flake and peel. But researchers say a ...

Cheese without the cow: Could bioengineering produce animal-free dairy products?
Australian-US firm Change Foods is creating cheese from scratch using bio-engineering technology, claiming that their products will hold an advantage ...

How do you make meat without animals? The 5-step ‘recipe’ for a lab-grown, cell-based burger
Cultured meat, lab grown meat, cell based meat, clean meat, and cultivated meat are all terms used to describe meat ...

Synthetic biology ‘apps’: Here comes a revolution in medicine, chemicals, agriculture and food
Today, anyone who can code can win in the internet economy. Thanks to services such as Amazon’s AWS and Apple’s ...

‘We can’t make dinosaurs come to life – yet.’ How far can synthetic biology turn science fiction into fact?
A team of Los Alamos scientists are developing “cell-free systems.” They take the guts of the cells and use the ...

Bioprinting: Creating pinhead replicas of human organs to fight COVID-19 and other ailments
Anthony Atala, the director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and his team are… creating tiny replicas of ...

Space Station science: Fungus found at Chernobyl could protect astronauts from galactic cosmic radiation
Galactic cosmic radiation remains a troubling impediment to a sustained human presence in space. This unresolved problem is starting to ...

Civilization inflection point? China posed to pass US as world leader in biotechnology
China is edging forward as a world leader in the biotech sector, one expert said. “Biotechnologies, including synthetic biology, are ...

Animal-free ice cream maker Perfect Day eyes launch of lab-made milk and mozzarella cheese
As many investments, new products and R&D have been slowed down in recent months, Perfect Day is continuing to grow ...

Opening the floodgates to synthetic biology innovations in drugs, textiles, agricultural products and advanced materials
Today’s DNA makers still create their products using chemistry. To form a new double helix, the individual letters of DNA ...

Human organ factories? Defense Department seeds Segway inventor Dean Kamen’s ambitious project, but success seems years away
[N]one of [Dean Kamen’s] many inventions — including the Segway — has an impact that comes close to what could ...

Injecting live bacteria into tumors? Synthetic biology revives a controversial century old cancer cure
Could the body, in fighting against a pathogen, also be battling a tumor? After injecting bacteria into a patient who ...

Bioprinting human ears inside living mice—all without a single surgical cut
Tissue engineering just got wilder and weirder. Using nothing but light and bioink, scientists were able to directly print a ...

‘Bridge to transplant’: Mini human livers grown in rats spurs research that could alleviate transplant shortage
Using skin cells from human volunteers, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have created fully functional mini ...

Fighting cancer by boosting the body’s immune system with genetically engineered bacteria
Our immune system can defeat cancer. Immune cells can directly attack cancer cells or produce proteins that don’t let tumors ...

World’s first bionic eye could be better than the real thing
The world's first 3D artificial eyeball -- capable of outperforming the human eye in some ways -- may help droves ...

‘Sugar is the villain’: Biohacking and synthetic biology do battle against diabetes and heart disease
Here’s a look into the next generation of low-calorie sugar alternatives and continuous glucose monitoring systems set to change the ...

If we want to go to Mars, we’ll need to figure out how to feed our astronauts. Synthetic biology can help.
Revolutionary food production and closed-loop biomanufacturing could transform human space travel and address the growing food crisis on Earth ...