All articles tagged with #biotechnology
Researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale used CRISPR-edited yeast to convert PET plastic and plant byproducts into edible components, which are then 3D-printed into cookies called μBites. While the approach could aid food security and long-duration space missions, it remains expensive and far from scalable as a solution to global plastic waste.
Researchers funded by NASA have developed a method to convert PET plastic and agricultural waste into edible proteins, fats, and flavors using engineered yeasts, which are then shaped into 3D-printed cookies. Human testing awaits regulatory approval, but the team envisions such upcycled nutrition aiding astronauts on long missions and offering a future solution for plastic waste in extreme environments. Current production costs are around $60 per kilogram, with potential reductions as efficiency improves and production scales up.
MIT scientists wired three strains of Pantoea agglomerans to act as transistors, forming “living circuit boards” that pass signals via output molecules. The setup can run multiple logic operations, with the largest circuit containing 24 colonies, but each calculation takes about eight hours and the whole system operates for roughly three days due to slow molecular diffusion and growth. Potential uses include monitoring plant roots for stress or pests, illustrating how simple cellular functions can be linked into larger biological circuits—even if not yet a replacement for traditional computers.
AI-enabled biotechnology is accelerating advances such as AI-designed bacteriophages, CRISPR editing, and synthetic biology, bringing major benefits but also novel, hard-to-predict risks. Regulators struggle because laws were built around separate technologies, not convergent capabilities, requiring flexible, risk-based governance that can distinguish low- from high-risk activities while enabling useful research. Case studies from New Zealand, Australia, the US, and the EU show different approaches and gaps, illustrating that the goal is balance between innovation and precaution without stifling advancement.
AI-enabled biotech advances are driving a convergence that could raise the risk of a lethal, human-made pathogen—accidentally or intentionally—even as some call for stronger guardrails and biodefense improvements; more labs and easier experimentation may increase the chance of mishaps, fueling debate over risk versus potential medical breakthroughs.
Researchers developed an oral prodrug nano-emulsion of 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB), a gut microbial metabolite, which reprograms CD8+ T cells to a stem-like, memory-prone state by suppressing glycolysis via the Akt-mTORC1-Myc axis and depleting intracellular GSH. The formulation increases DHB bioavailability and half-life, enhances antigen-specific stem-like T cell expansion in mice, and boosts efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy across multiple tumor models, with evidence of long-term immunity and potential to improve adoptive T cell therapy. This work links gut microbiota metabolites to systemic T cell fitness and presents a translational nano-prodrug strategy for cancer immunotherapy.
US researchers used artificial intelligence to design thousands of bacteriophage genomes from a natural template, synthesising about 300 and identifying 16 viable viruses; some synthetic phages killed E. coli more effectively than natural ones, signaling potential for targeted therapies but raising serious biosecurity concerns and prompting calls for stronger oversight as AI advances.
Nature analyzes which scholarly papers appear most often on patent front pages and in their text, revealing that life-science research—especially antibody science and bioinformatics tools like BLAST—dominates patent citations. Notable examples include the 1975 Köhler–Milstein monoclonal antibody paper (highly cited in patents), a 1994 Colman antibody paper with thousands of patent mentions despite few journal citations, and the 1990 BLAST software paper as the most-cited front-page patent reference. The study, drawing on The Lens and Reliance on Science datasets, shows patent references are driven by legal needs to map state of the art and that many top-cited papers are publicly funded; differences between front-page and in-text citations also reveal how methods and plant biology papers accrue patent mentions.
London-based CipherX is marketing permanent stick-on tattoos that use its MicroDot microneedle tech to deposit pigment under the skin via a 15-minute in-person application. Available designs are simple black geometric patterns, with color limited to black, and age verification (18+) is required; for now tattoos are applied in store or at events, with home-kit/mail-order aims planned but not yet shipping. The concept envisions skin-based interfaces with sensing and haptic feedback, but safety and access concerns linger and it’s unlikely to replace traditional tattooing anytime soon.
Extremophiles—primarily bacteria and archaea—thrive in Earth’s hottest, coldest, saltiest, acidic, and high-pressure environments, from the Danakil Depression to deep-sea vents, offering insights into evolution, enabling industrial biotech and bioremediation, and guiding our search for life beyond Earth.
Mary-Dell Chilton, a pioneering scientist who led the team that created the first genetically modified plant in 1982, died at 87, a breakthrough that transformed global agriculture by protecting crops from disease, pests, and climate shocks.
Researchers are using CRISPR-based epigenome editors to add or remove chemical marks on DNA and histones, enabling precise, multi-site control of gene expression without changing the DNA sequence. This tunable approach can produce temporary or lasting effects and is being explored in basic research, crops, and therapies, with early clinical strides and notable animal data—for example, long-term suppression of PCSK9 in mice and substantial reductions in PCSK9 and LDL in monkeys—alongside companies pursuing hepatitis B therapies and CAR-T enhancements that couple epigenetic editing with gene editing.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge used AI to identify stable features across the sarbecovirus family and developed a DNA vaccine intended as a broad-spectrum, potentially universal shot. In the first human trial, the vaccine was safe and elicited antibodies recognizing diverse sarbecoviruses, and its needle-free delivery and stability could aid distribution. However, immune responses were modest, and duration of protection, optimal dosing, and real-world efficacy require larger trials; the goal of a universal vaccine remains years away.
Bryan Johnson, the longevity-focused tech investor, disclosed an incurable autoimmune gastritis that attacks the stomach lining, diagnosed after a long run of biomarker monitoring. He says he will press on with his intensive biohacking and health regimen to influence the outcome, even as experts warn the prognosis is bleak and no medical cure is currently available beyond management.
University of Minnesota synthetic biologist Kate Adamala and team created SpudCell, a lab-made droplet of 150–200 molecules carrying a 36-gene, 90,000-base-pair genome that can feed, grow, copy DNA, and divide about every 12 hours at 30°C. However ribosomes degrade over time and only about 30% of instances retain the full genome after five divisions, and the system is not yet a living cell. The work led to Biotic, a new initiative with $10 million in seed funding to advance synthetic cell development, with potential future applications in cancer therapies, carbon capture, and chemical manufacturing.