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Synthetic Biology
A growing movement is trying to turn energy directly into food — reviving an old dream of escaping the violence and inefficiency of eating.
Instead of hauling heavy building materials across space, future astronauts may grow fungal shelters from spores, waste, and local regolith.
New biotech tools could clean up everything from construction to agriculture.
From global DNA screening standards to safeguards for benchtop synthesizers and AI tools, a new biosecurity playbook is taking shape.
The “dystopian” biotech imagined in these novels is now changing real lives for the better.
It's time to write the human genome, argues microbiologist Andrew Hessel.
The fear of unleashing forces beyond control has haunted science for centuries.
Are you ready for the “cybernetic corporation”? Amir Husain “profiles” the hottest company of 2035 — and makes a telling comparison with Nvidia.
6mins
These microbes endured the unlivable. The NASA astrobiologist who studies them reveals what that means for us today
Profluent’s new platform is like ChatGPT for genetic technology.
This biochemist is determined to create a new life form by reversing the shape of molecules.
You can’t farm spiders — but putting spider genes into silkworms works even better.
The potential benefits of returning the thylacine to Australia make the project worth the effort.
It’s early days, but if the efforts can be efficiently scaled-up, such biological recycling could put a dent in the plastic waste problem.
Frustrating failures sometimes lead to great breakthroughs.
The technology could yield "made-to-order resistance genes" to protect crops against pathogens and pests.
Someday, scientists could use stem cells to guide the development of synthetic organs for patients awaiting transplants.
Some scientists think brain organoids could develop a form of consciousness. Others say that's science fiction.
An innovation's value is found between the technophile’s promises and the Luddite’s doomsday scenarios.
From synthetic biology to xenotransplantation, biotech will continue to march forward in 2023, in part powered by data and AI.
Vanadium dioxide is a strange material that "remembers" information and when it was stored. This is akin to biological memory.
5mins
CRISPR’s gene drive can defy evolution. Here’s how, explained by Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna.
John Templeton Foundation
The researchers suggest that their results demonstrate intelligence in silico.
Synthetic biology has the power to cure and kill. Have we learned from our past mistakes?
About the project The goal of driving more progress across the world—scientifically, politically, economically, socially, etc—is one shared by many. And yet, debates about the best way to maximize progress […]
The synthetic cartilage was made from cellulose fibers — the stuff found in wood — mixed with a goo called polyvinyl alcohol.
The emergence of life in the universe is as certain as the emergence of matter, gravity, and the stars. Life is the universe developing a memory, and our chemical detection system could find it.
John Templeton Foundation
Standard probiotics cannot compare to the diversity that your microbes have.
Every year, scientists like George Church get better at editing the genomes of human beings. But will genome editing help or hurt us?
The book "The Genesis Machine" outlines the promise and peril of synthetic biology, a powerful tool that will allow us to program life like a computer.