Synthetic Biology
CRISPR climate game changer: What if we engineered rice to dramatically cut methane emissions?
The complexity of microbial communities has been a major obstacle to discovering technologies that can prevent diseases and improve agriculture ...
Reversing deforestation and biodiversity loss: Can synthetic palm oil help protect the world’s tropical forests?
The world’s cheapest and most widely used vegetable oil, palm oil production is a primary driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss in ...
GLP Podcast: CRISPR biosensors; Engineered gut microbes; Anti-GMO groups love the lab-leak theory
Researchers have developed a biosensor they say can monitor the activity of CRISPR gene editing in real-time. Synthetic biology is ...
Bioeconomy: How synthetic biology can tackle manufacturing and disease challenges
The bioeconomy covers all sectors and systems that rely on biological resources (animals, plants, microorganisms, and derived biomass, including organic ...
Synthetic biology innovations that rewire human cells poised to tackle complex diseases
Let’s recognize that synthetic biology can make the impossible happen in many areas besides food production. For example, synthetic biology ...
Xenobots: Are organic robots programmed to find cancer cells the future of regenerative medicine?
Scientists say they've witnessed a never-before-seen type of replication in organic robots created in the lab using frog cells. Among ...
Lab-based foods are poised to change what we eat — but ethical and regulatory hurdles lie ahead
The forces driving the synthesized meat movement are practical. Modern agricultural systems are helping destabilize Earth's climate and ecosystems, while extreme ...
No bones, no scales, no waste: Is that enough to convince consumers to eat cultured, cell-based seafood?
Cell-based seafood—derived from commonly consumed fish (for example, salmon and tuna) or shellfish (for example, crustaceans such as shrimp and ...
Can cell-cultured breast milk provide parents with another option?
Science has made impressive gains in the art of producing animal products minus the animal. Now this emerging field of ...
Animal-free real dairy products are beginning to roll out
General Mills moves into the emerging ‘animal-free’ dairy category with a brand called Bold Cultr – a lactose-free cream cheese ...
Synthetic biology in Africa: ‘Golden opportunity’ once regulations are in place
Synthetic biology can solve some of Africa’s pressing challenges related to poverty, food insecurity and climate change, scientists say, but ...
Lab-grown fats may be key ingredient in diets of the future
“Lab-grown fat.” It sounds like a nightmare for marketing teams, but for scientists, it’s a key ingredient for the future of food ...
African scientists call for policies to support synthetic biology and other innovative technologies
Scientists in Africa are calling on the continent’s leaders to enact policies and other laws that can facilitate adoption of ...
Viewpoint: ‘We’ve made a mess of our planet with our meddling.’ Should we engineer animal species to set things right?
We’ve made a mess of the planet with our meddling. Now, thanks to biotechnology, we have tools… to repair it ...
A house made from mushrooms and a ski jacket from microbes? Synthetic biology is poised to revolutionize what we can do with crops
Imagine if we could redesign nature by making a house out of mushrooms, a ski jacket from fermented microbes, and ...
Viewpoint: Industry consolidation — Large meat and dairy companies dominate nascent plant-based and cellular meat industry
Nearly every week a major media outlet publishes a headline announcing that a giant meat or dairy processor has acquired ...
Precision fermentation: How humans harness microbe-based biochemistry to make food more delicious
Humans have been harnessing microbe-based biochemistry for food preservation since before history began. Without lactic-acid fermentation a bumper crop of ...
‘Lab grown coffee can be a reality’: Cell-derived coffee on the horizon as demand for java soars, exceeding global supply
Coffee is the third-most drunk beverage in the world, behind water and tea, and global consumption is on the rise ...
5 ways synthetic biology can protect vulnerable animal and plant species
Here are five ways in which synthetic biology is having a significant impact and reducing the use of animals and ...
Repurposed mushrooms could make an animal-free, vegan beer — all while using up food waste
It’s not common knowledge, but not all beers out there are vegan. Some brands use finings in the brewing process ...
‘Would you wear clothing, shoelaces or a belt made of muscle fibers?’ Microbe-made synthetic proteins might be stronger than Kevlar
Would you wear clothing or, say, shoelaces or a belt made of muscle fibers? What if those fibers could endure ...
Cheese without the cow? Lactose-intolerant Shell engineer developing gene-edited soybean-based ‘cheese’ that stretches, tastes and toasts just like the real thing
In the United States alone, roughly 9 million cows are devoted to churning out torrents of milk a year which, ...
Viewpoint: OMG! GMO! Killer ice cream? Here’s the latest in anti-biotechnology hysteria
If you're worried about never-ending wars, crippling national debt, poverty, disease, social unrest, or even really bad stomach aches, the ...
‘We’re successful when our steaks are served at a diner in rural Kansas’: Can mushrooms replicate the taste and texture of animal meat?
While plenty of plant-based meat companies claim to replicate the taste of the real thing, industry leaders like Beyond Meat, ...
Can lab grown meat be considered vegan?
Language is fascinating and complicated. Just as terms like “plant-based” and “vegan” are becoming widespread, their definitions seem to be ...
If you can’t see me you can’t bite me: CRISPR experiments target altering mosquitoes to make them blind to humans
For the first time, scientists have used the gene-editing tool Crispr-Cas9 to render humans effectively invisible in the eyes of ...
Synthetic biology in space: Mushrooms could be used to build extraterrestrial habitats
In a new “astromycological” venture launched in conjunction with NASA, [Paul] Stamets and various research teams are studying how fungi ...