March 28, 2012
The strange new craft of making life from scratch
Enter a set of labs at Imperial College in London and at first sight there is nothing exceptional: pale grey work surfaces, collections of bottles, racks of test-tubes. (BBC News)
Synthetic Biology
March 13, 2012
111 Organizations Call for Synthetic Biology Moratorium
Synthetic biology needs more oversight, and the government needs to put in place regulations specific for this field. That is the bottom line for 111 environmental, watchdog, and other organizations that released a report today with specific recommendations for managing … Read More
February 15, 2012
Report finds US slow to implement synthetic biology policies
More than one report from an august body of experts has gathered dust in Washington DC. But the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a public-policy think tank based in the US capital, is setting out today to make sure … Read More
December 12, 2011
DNA: The next big hacking frontier
Imagine computer-designed viruses that cure disease, new bacteria capable of synthesizing an unlimited fuel supply, new organisms that wipe out entire populations and bio-toxins that target world leaders. (Washington Post)
November 10, 2011
New Issue of Taylor & Francis Online is Now Available
Taylor & Francis Online (Volume 30, Issue 4, December 1, 2011) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “DTC genetic testing companies fail transparency prescriptions” by Norman P. Lewis, et al, 291-307. “From lab to lifestyle: translating genomics into … Read More
September 19, 2011
Will we all be tweaking our own genetic code?
You have to wonder what’s going on in the DNA of Harvard genetics professor George Church. (BBC News)
September 16, 2011
Synthetic DNA added to yeast cells, paving way for ‘evolution’ on demand
Life forms have been created that carry strands of genetic material designed and built from scratch in the lab, paving the way for on-demand “evolution” of organisms. (Guardian)
September 13, 2011
New Method To Grow Synthetic Collagen May Find Use In Reconstructive Surgery, Cosmetics, Tissue Engineering
In a significant advance for cosmetic and reconstructive medicine, scientists at Rice University have unveiled a new method for making synthetic collagen (Medical News Today)
August 29, 2011
Synthetic life could help humans colonize Mars
Synthetic organisms engineered to use carbon dioxide as a raw material could help humans settle Mars one day, a prominent biologist says. (MSNBC)
August 17, 2011
Suicide-Bombing Bacteria Could Fight Infections
Like any good military unit, infectious bacteria have access to numerous weapons and efficient communication systems. But like soldiers in the field, they’re also susceptible to suicide bombers. Researchers have used the tools of synthetic biology to create an Escherichia … Read More
July 20, 2011
E. Coli Genetic Code Manipulated by Harvard Biologists in Research Effort
Biologists have replaced parts of the E. coli bacterium DNA using a new process that hits many targets at once, a feat that may enable scientists to significantly alter or re-engineer genetic material. (Bloomberg)
July 19, 2011
Tailor-Made Genome
One goal of synthetic biology is to design organisms that generate biomedically-, agriculturally-, or industrially-useful proteins, often incorporating novel amino acids into their sequences—a process that has thus far proven slow and difficult. (Scientist)
June 27, 2011
Event: 11th World Congress of Bioethics International Association of Bioethics
26-29 June 2012 Rotterdam The Netherlands This conference will discuss key issues relevant for the future, including future technologies in health care, ethics and research in developing countries, synthetic biology, enhancement, life-prolonging strategies, environmental issues, the moral responsibility for future … Read More
June 21, 2011
DARPA wants synthetic biology to be fit for manufacturing
In theory, synthetic life can be programmed to treat cancer, develop vaccines, combat climate change and create alternative fuels. (Smart Planet)
June 21, 2011
What’s the Future of Synthetic Biology?
Last July, scientists created the first “synthetic cell,” an organism that’s controlled by a chemically synthesized genome edited on a computer and stitched together in the lab. One year later, biologists at the Fifth Annual Synthetic Biology conference at Stanford … Read More
June 20, 2011
What’s the Future of Synthetic Biology?
Last July, scientists created the first “synthetic cell,” an organism that’s controlled by a chemically synthesized genome edited on a computer and stitched together in the lab. One year later, biologists at the Fifth Annual Synthetic Biology conference at Stanford … Read More
June 10, 2011
Pentagon’s New Factory: Your DNA
Darpa is sick and tired of waiting around for Mother Nature. Instead, it wants to take the life-making business into its own hands – and manufacture new biological forms in a factory of mix-and-match bio-bits. (Wired)
June 2, 2011
Need superfast, cheap DNA? Try the ‘printer’
If the printing press changed history by bringing the written word to the masses, just imagine what shake-ups a fast, reliable DNA printer could cause. A team of Duke University researchers hope to find out by playing Gutenberg to the … Read More
June 2, 2011
DIY ‘biopunks’ want science in hands of people
What if you could genetically engineer a yogurt bacteria in your basement that turned blue in the presence of toxic heavy metals such as chromium and cadmium that are known to make people sick? (USA Today)
May 5, 2011
Look to the future: humans in 50 years
Will we become cyborgs? Will we be disease free? And what have vacuum cleaners got to do with it? John Holden asks scientists how humans might change over the next 50 years (IrishTimes.com)
May 2, 2011
Fifty-two Bio-Fiction videos
*They’ve been busy as video curators over at Vienna’s “Synthetic Biology Science, Art and Film Festival.â€Â *There are literally dozens of these remarkable efforts — and they invite you to spend all day rating them. http://bio-fiction.com/videos/ Biotech-labs around the world are busy … Read More
April 20, 2011
TR10: Synthetic Cells
Designing new genomes could speed the creation of vaccines and biofuel-producing bacteria. (MIT Technology Review)
April 5, 2011
Event: Exploring Synthetic Biology
Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 2:00-4:30pm Charles Darwin House Conference Centre 12 Roger Street, London WC1N 2JU Co-hosted with The Biochemical Society, the symposium will seek to address the ethical, social and legal implications of synthetic biology including the specific questions … Read More
