Antibiotic resistance is a growing global crisis. The World Health Organization found that “antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world” and the Center for Disease Control called...
Author - Fiona Mischel
Synthetic biology breaks out of the cell
Cells are one of nature’s greatest feats of engineering. They contain within the instructions for the entire lifecycle of our bodies. They are a critical building block for all life on Earth. But they also have their...
With the recent patent news, who owns CRISPR now?
CRISPR gene-editing technology promises to be one of the most significant scientific and medical breakthroughs in modern history. Its precision and relative ease-of-use have already transformed how scientists study...
A bold strategy for saving our world
Novel nitrogen sources allow us to radically rethink how we produce food and materials for humankind. Agriculture has come a long way in the last 100 years, due in large part to the invention of synthetic nitrogen...
The CRISPR twins: bioethics for the gene-editing age
The discovery of CRISPR technology brought the bioethics of altering human DNA to the forefront. And rightly so. CRISPR is a powerful tool, potentially capable of changing who we are at our genetic core. In light of...
Farming on Mars: A future for synthetic biology off Earth
Climate change is rapidly altering the stability of our delicate ecosystem. We face the pressing challenge of providing food for almost 8 billion people even as arable land diminishes. Many scientists look to our home...
Moving to Mars? Biomaterials point the way
Synthetic biology innovations aim to change how we live on Earth. But could they also enable us to live on other planets? Scientists from iGEM teams to NASA are developing ways to make life off Earth a reality. Space...
Partnering with Procter and Gamble: Joining together to change the world
Procter and Gamble (P&G) is one of the largest influencers in the growing market aiming to serve the consumer looking for a more natural lifestyle. They are creating new products leveraging bio-based ingredients and...
Pivot Bio: Re-Awakening the Agricultural Microbiome
This story is brought to you by Pivot Bio, a company dedicated to providing farmers with solutions, so they can grow high-quality, environmentally-responsible and sustainably focused food crops that help feed families...
A Nobel Prize for Evolutionary Biology
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded yesterday to three recipients for discovering methods in controlling and speeding enzyme and antibody evolution. Frances H. Arnold, a professor of chemical engineering at the...
