Press monitoring
Researchers rapidly turn bacteria into biotech factories
10.8.2009 | Press monitoring
Using a novel cell programming method that retools evolution to generate genetic diversity at an unprecedented rate, a research team turned self-serving bacteria into efficient factories for making a variety of compounds, accomplishing in just three days a feat that would take biotech companies many months--or years.
New cancer drug delivery system is effective and reversible
9.8.2009 | Press monitoring
For cancer drug developers, finding an agent that kills tumor cells is only part of the equation. The drug must also spare healthy cells. And – ideally – its effects will be reversible, to cut short any potentially dangerous side effects.
Link uncovered between viral RNA and human immune response
8.8.2009 | Press monitoring
In its fight against an intruding virus, an enzyme in our immune system may sense certain types of viral RNA pairs, according to scientists.
Swine flu vaccine 'by September'
7.8.2009 | Press monitoring
The first swine flu vaccines are likely to be licensed for use in the general population in September, the World Health Organization has announced. Several manufacturers have produced initial batches of a H1N1 vaccine and some clinical trials are already underway.
New Yeasts Could Help Fast-Track Biofuel Production
6.8.2009 | Press monitoring
A new yeast that makes ethanol from both five-carbon and six-carbon sugars without needing oxygen has been developed by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist.
Synthetic biology -- opportunities and risks
5.8.2009 | Press monitoring
The new research field of synthetic biology will, in the medium term, open up a great deal of potential for combining novel genetic methods with engineering principles. This will facilitate the development, not only of new vaccines and medicines, but also of fuels and new materials. Early-stage dialogue with the public on the natural science,...
Communication breakdown: New strategy may be valid alternative to traditional antibiotics
4.8.2009 | Press monitoring
Certainly there is strength in numbers, but only if those numbers can effectively communicate with one another. Now, a new study finds that administration of a novel small molecule which effectively disrupts a key bacterial communication process protects an animal host from infection. The research, published by Cell Press in the July 31st issue of...
Gene Transcribing Machine Takes Halting, Backsliding Trip Along The DNA
3.8.2009 | Press monitoring
The body's nanomachines that read our genes don't run as smoothly as previously thought, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, scientists.
Reprogramming Human Cells Without Inserting Genes
2.8.2009 | Press monitoring
Research team at WPI and CellThera discovers a way to turn on stem cell genes in human skin cells without using viruses or inserting new genes.
New Geobacter Microbe Strain to Produce More Electricity
31.7.2009 | Press monitoring
In their most recent experiments with Geobacter, the sediment-loving microbe whose hairlike filaments help it to produce electric current from mud and wastewater, Derek Lovley and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst supervised the evolution of a new strain that dramatically increases power output per cell and overall bulk power....
