Animal Biotechnology
GM mosquito breakthrough: Make them all males
Scientists have hailed the genetic modification of mosquitoes that could crash the insect’s populations as a “quantum leap” that will ...
GM mosquitoes produce only male offspring, eliminating entire populations in six generations
Scientists have found a way of genetically modifying mosquitoes to produce sperm that only creates males, offering a potential fresh ...
Hawaiian crickets escape parasite through gene mutations that keep them quiet
The crickets hadn’t disappeared. Marlene Zuk would go for nighttime walks and see multitudes of the insects in the light ...
Meet the coolest new species discovered in 2014
A top 10 list of species discovered in the last 12 months is topped by the olinguito (Bassaricyon neblina), a ...
Modern techniques don’t change the fact that humans have genetically engineered plants and animals for centuries
Genetically modified plants and animals are often feared as "Frankenfoods," but is there really anything dangerously new about manipulation of ...
Future GM foods like wheat, rice and salmon face even greater hurdles than today’s GM corn or soy
For many corn and soybean farmers in the U.S., the new normal is to plant genetically modified crops. But considering how ...
Proposed biotech reactor would produce enough fake meat to feed small town
The movement to sell locally sourced, artisanal food and drink has picked up steam in recent years as many consumers ...
Dolly and other animals cannot be patented says court, rattling cloning proponents
Dolly the sheep enjoyed a brief and highly publicized life as the first mammal cloned from an adult cell before ...
Breeding heat-resistant livestock for a post-warming world: A worthy endeavor?
Evan Halper at the LA Times chronicles efforts to breed livestock that can endure a warming world ... but should ...
Genetically modified pig lungs or lab-grown lungs: Which is the future of our organ supply?
Biotech pioneer J. Craig Venter has aligned his company with efforts to create genetically modified lungs in pigs for human ...
Pig heart transplants successful in baboons, offer hope for human organ shortage
The unprecedented survival of pig hearts in four baboons for almost 600 days has revived hopes that animal organs could ...
Artists and biologists team up to push boundaries of synthetic biology
The Synthetic Aesthetics project argues that synthetic biology needs a healthy dose of novelty and imagination. To this end, the ...
Effect of large mammal extinction: Humans become preferred vectors
Save the Rhinos! Save the Elephants! Save the humans?! It seems strange to be connecting our own fate to that ...
Drug developed first in mice may help elderly keep muscle mass
In 1997, scientist Se-Jin Lee genetically engineered "Mighty Mice" with twice as much muscle as regular rodents. Now, pharmaceutical companies ...
Celebrity chef champions sustainable seafood, includes farmed salmon on menu
Celebrity chef Rick Moonen was a champion of sustainable seafood long before it was the cool thing to do. When ...
Sterilized GM mosquitoes released in largest field test to combat dengue in Brazil
In Jacobina, a Brazilian farm town where legions of people have suffered from dengue fever, a campaign is fighting back, ...
Why embracing the “unnatural” can help us improve on—and preserve—nature
Can we improve on nature? Yes, argues agronomist Andrew McGuire, but he's only talking about farming. I take his argument ...
GM mosquitoes can control mosquito menace, if politics doesn’t block development
Mosquito-borne diseases kill millions of people annually, and cause suffering for many more. It takes only one bite from a disease-carrying ...
Frankenstein’s Cat: How biotechnology is shaping the future of animals
Emily Anthes’ ‘Frankenstein’s Cat – Cuddling Up To Biotech’s Brave New Beasts’, is now out in paperback and worth a read ...
DNA nanorobots deliver medicine inside cockroaches, act like a computer
"It's a computer -- inside a cockroach." So writes Sarah Spickernell in a fascinating account at New Scientist of DNA-based ...
Investors in engineered salmon skittish over retailers’ caution and regulatory delays
The Obama administration has stalled for more than four years on deciding whether to approve a fast-growing salmon that would ...
Species catalogs may need resorting based on genetics
Deep within the labyrinthine interior of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, at the end of a cluster ...
Extinct heath hen may see resurrection on Martha’s Vineyard
The last heath hen died on Martha’s Vineyard in 1932. Despite an Islandwide effort to save the last living member ...
MIT researchers use MRI to study genetic activity in brains
MIT researchers have used genetic engineering and a bit of chemistry to make it possible, for the first time, to ...
Cows genetically engineered to make human disease antibodies
A herd of 60 genetically engineered cows in northwestern Iowa could help unlock the key to producing new medicines that ...
Genetics says Sea Anemones are half plant, half animal
The sea anemone is an oddball: half-plant and half-animal, at least when it comes to its genetic code, new research ...
Resurrection ecology: Searching for ancient DNA
Scientists can revive thousand-year dormant mosses and they're searching for viable cells that would make it possible to revive extinct ...
