https://phys.org/biology-news/biotechnology en-us The latest science news on biotechnology Two teams of bio-researchers have developed similar processes for demonstrating how photolyase isolates use light to repair damaged DNA. In their papers, both published in the journal Science, the two groups outline their stop-motion-animation-type process to capture the action in detail. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-methods-photolyase-isolates-dna.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 01 Dec 2023 08:55:38 EST news620643336 There is good news for researchers working with high-resolution fluorescence microscopy: Biocompatible molecular rulers are available for the first time to calibrate the latest super-resolution microscopy methods. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-molecular-rulers-high-resolution-microscopy.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 01 Dec 2023 06:42:21 EST news620635338 Researchers from The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain) have developed an innovative fermentation process that produces natural betalain-type food colors. This groundbreaking technology is set to revolutionize the food color industry by offering a more sustainable and efficient alternative to traditional extraction methods. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-nature-palette-reinvented-fermentation-breakthrough.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Fri, 01 Dec 2023 06:38:26 EST news620635090 Hung from a common utility pole, a fiber optic cable—the kind bringing high-speed internet to more and more American households—can be turned into a sensor to detect temperature changes, vibrations, and even sound, through an emerging technology called distributed fiber optic sensing. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-periodical-cicadas-chorus-fiber-optic.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:00:04 EST news620560802 Phosphorus in wastewater is a major contributor to harmful algal blooms in water bodies around the globe, with the potential to harm wildlife, livestock, and even humans. To prevent this, wastewater treatment plants often rely on chemical- and energy-intensive techniques to remove phosphorus before it can impact downstream water bodies. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-newly-algal-strains-rich-phosphorous.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Wed, 29 Nov 2023 13:21:33 EST news620486490 Researchers have designed a new electron cryo-microscope that is a fraction of the size and cost of current alternatives and used it to determine 11 atomic structures. The breakthrough aims to slash the cost of running electron cryo-microscopy (cryoEM) to make it more accessible to scientists all over the world. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-smaller-cost-efficient-electron-cryo-microscope.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 29 Nov 2023 10:26:03 EST news620475961 Diverse ecosystems support the web of life and in the process, provide food, water, medicine and materials for humanity. But the butterfly effect tells us all things are connected. So, when biodiversity loss threatens the foundation upon which we live, what does that mean for the future of Earth and humanity? https://phys.org/news/2023-11-biodiversity-space-borne-lidar.html Ecology Biotechnology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 12:34:55 EST news620397292 Researchers at PSI and ETH Zurich have taken connective tissue cells that have been mechanically reprogrammed to resemble stem cells and transplanted them into damaged skin. In their laboratory experiment, they were able to show that this can promote wound healing. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-reprogramming-tissue-mechanically-wound.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 10:43:17 EST news620390592 Countless times a day, patients, visitors and medical staff in hospitals touch surfaces of all kinds. Door handles, railings or elevator buttons can serve as transport vehicles for pathogens such as hospital germs or viruses. Smooth surfaces are comparatively easy to clean after contamination. With porous structures such as textiles, however, this is not that simple. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-coating-fabrics-inhibits-growth-pathogens.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 09:37:07 EST news620386625 Using new super-resolution microscopes, researchers at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Pennsylvania have for the first time observed electrical charge and discharge functions inside mitochondria isolated from cells. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-uncover-battery-like-functions-mitochondria-super-resolution.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 28 Nov 2023 09:36:49 EST news620386607 Scientists have developed a technique to rapidly and reliably detect genetic changes in malaria parasites in Ghana, using just a gaming laptop and portable MinION sequencer from Oxford Nanopore. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-pocket-sized-dna-sequencers-track-malaria.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Mon, 27 Nov 2023 12:43:23 EST news620311400 Microbial sequence databases contain a wealth of information about enzymes and other molecules that could be adapted for biotechnology. But these databases have grown so large in recent years that they've become difficult to search efficiently for enzymes of interest. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-algorithm-reveals-kinds-crispr.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 24 Nov 2023 10:24:05 EST news620043842 A combination of machine learning and lab experiments has given researchers a peek into the different languages bacteria use to communicate. Understanding how bacteria communicate—and when they can't—has implications for treating drug-resistant bacteria and for developing biocomputing tools. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-untangle-relationships-bacterial-languages.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 24 Nov 2023 08:43:00 EST news620037774 Animal embryos go through a series of characteristic developmental stages on their journey from a fertilized egg cell to a functional organism. This biological process is largely genetically controlled and follows a similar pattern across different animal species. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-ai-tempo-stages-embryonic.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Thu, 23 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news619867707 Proteins, the workhorses of biology, are encoded by DNA sequences and are responsible for vital functions within cells. Since the first experimental measurement of a protein structure was made by John Kendrew in the 1950s, protein's ability to fold into complex three-dimensional structures has long been a subject of scientific fascination and importance. However, determining these structures experimentally has remained a formidable challenge for decades. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-limits-alphafold2-accuracy-protein.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 22 Nov 2023 10:19:49 EST news619870785 Researchers have invented a new kind of artificial seed to sense environmental parameters without impacting the health of the environment. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-eco-friendly-fluorescent-artificial-seed-soil.html Biotechnology Agriculture Tue, 21 Nov 2023 17:11:29 EST news619809085 When bacteria build communities, they cooperate and share nutrients across generations. Researchers at the University of Basel have been able to demonstrate this for the first time using a newly developed method. This innovative technique enables the tracking of gene expression during the development of bacterial communities over space and time. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-sophisticated-swarming-bacteria-generations.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 21 Nov 2023 11:19:38 EST news619787975 Scientists have engineered a living material resembling human phlegm, which will help them to better understand how a certain kind of infection develops on the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-scientists-tackle-chronic-infections-cystic.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 21 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news619778128 Changchun Liu, professor of Biomedical Engineering at UConn Health, has developed a new method that improves existing diagnostic technology for a more rapid, sensitive, and deployable approach to molecular diagnostics. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-efficacy-efficiency-crispr-diagnostic-technology.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 21 Nov 2023 10:51:48 EST news619786306 Plasmas can provide the co-substrate needed for biocatalysis of valuable substances, but they are also harmful to enzymes. By attaching enzymes to small beads, the enzymes are protected and remain active up to 44 times longer. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-tiny-beads-enzymes-biocatalysis.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 21 Nov 2023 10:16:00 EST news619784157 The rising resistance of bacteria to antibiotics presents an escalating global health risk. Now, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany, have combined synthetic biology and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop a more efficient approach to finding and creating new antimicrobial peptides that are effective against a wide range of bacteria. Their paper is published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-method-combines-synthetic-biology-ai.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 20 Nov 2023 11:09:04 EST news619700942 By using single-antibodies, Professor Hirohide Saito (Department of Life Science Frontiers) and his team of researchers, Shodai Komatsu and Assistant Professor Hirohisa Ohno, have developed a novel system to control gene expression in response to any target molecule inside cells, and they have employed it to design various synthetic biological circuits, including one for cell-specific genome editing. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-single-antibodies-tool-bio-circuitry.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 20 Nov 2023 10:56:53 EST news619700209 A significant step forward in protein design from Generate Biomedicines, Massachusetts, has developed an AI that can generate feasible protein structures and predict the potential functionality of the proteins generated. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-reshaping-protein-function-first-ai-guided.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 20 Nov 2023 10:00:01 EST news619696577 A new molecular technology capable of binding to mRNA and regulating gene expression may offer a new avenue for treating diseases caused by haploinsufficiency, or the absence of one functional gene copy, according to a study published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-approaches-gene-insufficiency.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 17 Nov 2023 10:11:04 EST news619438261 EPFL scientists have crafted a biological system that mimics an electronic bandpass filter, a novel sensor that could revolutionize self-regulated biological mechanisms in synthetic biology. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-scientists-craft-protein-based-bandpass-filter.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 17 Nov 2023 09:34:05 EST news619436041 Deep learning—a form of artificial intelligence capable of improving itself with limited user input—has radically reshaped the landscape of biomedical research since its emergence in the early 2010s. It's been particularly impactful in genomics, a field of biology that examines how our DNA is organized into genes and how these genes are activated or deactivated in individual cells. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-eugene-easy-to-use-deep-genomics-software.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 16 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news619347713 A team led by scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has 3D-printed hair follicles in human skin tissue cultured in the lab. This marks the first time researchers have used the technology to generate hair follicles, which play an important role in skin healing and function. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-scientists-3d-print-hair-follicles-lab-grown.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Wed, 15 Nov 2023 11:26:03 EST news619269961 A research team led by Prof. Luo Xiaozhou from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Prof. Jay D. Keasling from the University of California, Berkeley, has developed an engineered yeast to produce vital plant hormones known as jasmonates, including jasmonic acid and its derivatives, methyl jasmonate and jasmonoyl isoleucine. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-yeast-frontiers-jasmonate-biosynthesis.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Wed, 15 Nov 2023 10:02:04 EST news619264922 Cosmogenic nuclide dating, a method commonly used in dating coastal areas and alluvial riverbeds for landscape reconstruction, is also useful for calculating the age of trace fossils, such as a footprint, where no remains of the animal are preserved. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-feathery-moa-fossilized-footprints-ancient.html Biotechnology Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 15 Nov 2023 09:49:02 EST news619264141 Researchers at the IBS Center for Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics (IBS CMSD), led by Director Cho Minhaeng and Professor Hong Seok-Cheol, have unveiled a revolutionary label-free microscopy technique—the Cargo-Localization Interferometric Scattering (CL-iSCAT) Microscope. This novel optical imaging method opens new routes in real-time tracking of intracellular cargo movement within living cells without the need for traditional fluorescent labeling. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-visualizing-traffic-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Wed, 15 Nov 2023 09:43:25 EST news619263801