Chemical and Engineering News
Replacing pesticides: Expected chlorpyrifos ban spurs development of more sustainable insecticides
A broad-spectrum insecticide that kills all arthropods in its path, chlorpyrifos was used for decades throughout the US .... But ...
Gene-edited crops approved by USDA jumps from 7 to 70 between 2019 and 2020
Signaling progress for a new kind of crop engineering, the biotech crop trait firm Cibus says it will move forward ...
‘Air-derived protein’? Biotech startups aim to challenge traditional farming with precision fermentation
Feeding the world with protein made from air or industrial exhaust with minimal use of water and land, and without ...
Aristolochic acids: Natural insecticides found in medicinal plants cause of mysterious kidney disease?
The plant, Aristolochia clematitis—more commonly known as birthwort—can surely be called beautiful, but within it lurks a poison. Over the ...
Environmental groups say new EPA pesticide approval rules threaten endangered species
The US Environmental Protection Agency is changing how it evaluates the risks of pesticides to endangered species. Rather than rely ...
How synthetic biology in farming could slow climate change: ‘Supercharged’ photosynthesis, increased CO2 storage and more are in the works
Efforts to improve the genetics of food crops are as old as agriculture .... but synthetic biology techniques, including CRISPR-Cas9 ...
Battle over sugar’s health effects spurs development of new biotech-based sweeteners
The idea that, beyond their ability to inflate the calories of food, added sugars are uniquely bad for us is ...
How biotech gets potentially harmful chemical acrylamide out of fries, crackers and other popular foods
The discovery of [the carcinogenic chemical] acrylamide in foods like crackers, cookies, potato chips, and french fries rattled food makers ...
‘Proudly GMO’ probiotic takes aim at hangovers. Can it ease consumer fear of biotechnology?
On [August 17], a San Francisco-based start-up called ZBiotics celebrated the launch of its first product in a fitting way: ...
How to outwit weeds: Genetically engineered cotton that feeds on phosphite, an alternative, sustainable fertilizer
Wily weeds can develop resistance to herbicides, allowing them to compete with genetically modified crops designed to tolerate weed-killing chemicals ...
New GMO corn variety significantly increases yields by boosting photosynthesis
The biotech firm Benson Hill Biosystems and the seed company Beck’s say their six-year-old partnership has yielded a trait that increases ...
Why don’t we yet have a universal flu vaccine?
By all accounts, the 2017–18 influenza season has been a bad one. It feels like everyone’s family has been hit, ...
Killing cancer cells with the body’s own internal clock
Women who work night shifts have substantially higher risks of breast, digestive system, and skin cancers, a recent study found ...
‘Synthetic lethality’ targets cancer cells by damaging vulnerable DNA
By designing small molecules that can “turn off” kinase enzymes stuck in the “on” position, they have managed to ward ...
New generation of biotechnology could unlock brain mysteries
Though genetics has fundamentally changed the pace of drug development for many therapeutic areas, the brain has been slow to reveal ...
Will gene editing, corporate consolidation bring agricultural revolution?
A new day is dawning for agriculture. When asked to describe the magnitude of the coming change, experts harken back ...