Collaborate Disseminate
Using DNA and proteins, scientists have created new synthetic cells that act like living cells. Blurring the line between artificial and living materials, these cells can be reprogrammed to perform multiple functions, opening the door to new synthetic … Continue reading Self-assembling synthetic cells act like living cells with extra abilities
The complex molecular structure of spider silk has been successfully copied as scientists spin silk from an artificial gland that mimics nature’s process of producing one of the world’s toughest fibers. Scientists believe this breakthrough is a huge st… Continue reading Artificial spider gland spins scalable spider silk just like nature
Scientists have hit a major milestone in a 15-year project trying to build a completely synthetic yeast genome. Reporting in a bumper crop of new papers, the team has engineered viable yeast cells with more than 50% synthetic DNA for the first time, an… Continue reading Yeast with 50% synthetic DNA engineered in breakthrough genetic studies
As forecast in June, the cancer-research arm of the World Health Organization (WHO) has officially named the non-sugar sweetener aspartame as possibly carcinogenic to humans.Continue ReadingCategory: ScienceTags: World Health Organization, FDA, Cancer,… Continue reading Despite alarm, sweetener still deemed safer than bacon and red meat
How small a canvas can evolution work on? Scientists have experimented with a synthetic lifeform designed to have the simplest possible genome, and found that given the chance it can evolve lost fitness back, showing that indeed, “life finds a way.”Con… Continue reading Synthetic lifeform regains lost “fitness” in evolution experiment
A new study has found that consuming a widely available artificial sweetener produces a chemical that is damaging to DNA. The findings raise concerns about whether the sweetener is a contributing factor to a number of health problems.Continue ReadingCa… Continue reading Not so sweet: Chemical in common artificial sweetener found to damage DNA
Meteor showers are among the most beautiful astronomical phenomena we can experience, but they can be fickle. Now a Japanese company is planning to put on artificial shooting star shows on demand with the Sky Canvas project. And there might be some sci… Continue reading Sky Canvas satellites shoot for on demand “artificial meteor showers”
The squid’s ability to change its skin color in response to complex environmental information has fascinated scientists for decades. Now, Chinese researchers have taken inspiration from squids to create a new artificial skin that can not only withstand… Continue reading New squid-inspired artificial skin endures extreme cold, kills microbes
Creating synthetic proteins is a promising avenue of study, but could we take shortcuts on nature’s blueprint and make more efficient versions? Scientists at UC Berkeley have found that simpler combos of synthetic building blocks can make for protein a… Continue reading Synthetic proteins simplify nature to outperform the real thing
Japanese scientists have engineered the smallest lifeform that can move on its own. The team introduced bacterial proteins that enable movement into a simple synthetic bacterium that normally cannot move, causing it to change shape and become mobile.Co… Continue reading Synthetic bacteria becomes smallest lifeform that can move around