says Daniel Levner, a bioengineer at the Wyss Institute at Harvard university. Levner and his colleagues at Bar Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel, made the nanobots by exploiting the binding properties of DNA.
and control of the nanobots is equivalent to a computer system. his is the first time that biological therapy has been able to match how a computer processor works,
like a living cockroach, says Ángel Goñi Moreno of the National Center for Biotechnology in Madrid,
said Sachin Patel, M d.,Ph d.,the paper senior author and professor of Psychiatry and of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics.
materials scientist Jennifer Lewisand her team created a patch of tissue containing skin cells and biological structural material interwoven with blood-vessel-like structures.
A gelatin-based ink acts as extracellular matrixhe structural mix of proteins and other biological molecules that surrounds cells in the body.
then we want to harness biology to do the rest of the work, says Lewis. Via Technology Revie
Stanford Helen Blau, director of the Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell biology, studies a more banal
At a biological level, the stem cells that repair muscle damage lose their ability with age to generate new muscle fibers.
Phd, a professor of radiology and biomedical engineering at the university. The technology involve a head-mounted display, custom video technology,
With the selection of suitable bacteria for the device helped biology-students from Delft University of Technology.
However, biologists, cooperating with designer, will help increase the lamp operating time to an acceptable level in the near future.
allows Medifocus to partner up with other biotech companies in helping to develop and commercialize targeted thermoactivated/released drugs and gene products which,
An expert on sustainable agriculture and the potential environmental risks of biotechnology Mellon holds a doctorate in molecular biology and a law degree.
Genetic engineering has yet to play an important role in drought tolerance. Only this year did agricultural biotech company Monsanto introduce its first drought tolerant seed variety Droughtgard.
According to the Monsanto website the variety has produced a five-bushel (or about 4 percent) yield advantage in field tests against competitor hybrids.
However successful crop genetics might be new plant varieties cannot compensate for the deficiencies in systems.
The paper may have more relevance for our understanding of biogeochemical cycles internal to the oceans.
"The research was published online today (April 8) in the journal Bioinspiration & Biomimetics s
#Why Does Less Meat Mean Less Heat?(Op-Ed) Josh Balk is food policy director at The Humane Society of the United states (HSUS.
The microscope was designed originally for the lab of Nobel prize-winning U human genetics professor, Mario R. Capecchi,
large field-of-view and implantable features will allow researchers to use this in fields ranging from biochemistry to mining. b
and University of Lund microbiologist Tobias Olofsson says in a press release. When used alive these 13 lactic acid bacteria produce the right kind of antimicrobial compounds as needed depending on the threat.
"Silk Leaf is the first man-made biological leaf, "claimed Melchiorri.""It's very light, low energy-consuming,
it's completely biological.""The potential applications for the invention are countless. Aside from producing oxygen for astronauts,
"Dr. Geoffrey Ling, director of DARPA's Biological Technologies Office, said in a statement. The program aims to provide a more sophisticated alternative to prosthetic devices such as the split-hook device invented in 1912.
#Freaky engineered organism has 6-letter DNA in its genetic code The first report of a bacterium
whose genome contains man-made DNA building blocks opens the door for tailor-made organisms that could be used to produce new drugs and other products.
"What we have done is successfully store increased information in the DNA of a living cell,"study leader Floyd Romesberg, a chemical biologist at The Scripps Research Institute in La jolla,
Biomimicry: 7 Clever Technologies Inspired By nature DNA alphabet The field of synthetic biology involves tinkering with DNA to create organisms capable of novel functions in medicine, energy and other areas.
The DNA alphabet consists of four letters, or bases: adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine (A t, G and C). Adenine pairs with thymine,
RNA is a genetic material similar to DNA, except it has a different chemical backbone and replaces the base thymine with uracil (U). Living things translate DNA into proteins through a series of steps.
Now that the scientists have demonstrated an organism can incorporate artificial DNA letters into its genome, the next step will be showing it can convert the DNA into new proteins,
and because molecular biology techniques can be used to help proteins"evolve"to have desired properties, Romesberg said.
"The research paves the way for"designer"organisms with custom-made genomes that are capable of performing useful tasks, like making drugs.
which have man-made DNA sequences in their genomes. The researchers are now working on expanding the DNA alphabet of yeast cells,
To measure gene activity the researchers used a powerful tool known as a DNA MICROARRAY which yields a quantitative measurement of the activity of every gene in the human genome simultaneously about 20000 genes in total.
The team compared these gene activity results with data from other species in particular the mouse brain.
Examples from the prenatal gene expression (left) and reference (right) atlases. Image: Allen Institute for Brain science) The map of a healthy developing brain also provides clues to the origin of developmental disorders such as autism the researchers said.
#Synthetic yeast chromosome paves the way for designer genomes A chunk of the genetic blueprint for yeast has been created
and joined them together to create a synthetic version of a chromosome the structure that contains DNA inside cells from brewer's yeast.
The ability to create such chromosomes is a major step for the field of synthetic biology which aims to engineer microbes to produce useful products.
For me one of most exciting aspects is the fact that we've so extensively edited the sequence of natural chromosome
and then synthesized the entire thing from scratch said study leader Jef Boeke a synthetic biologist at NYU Langone Medical center who was previously at Johns hopkins university.
How Synthetic Yeast Chromosome Was created Boeke was leader of the study detailed on March 27 in the journal Science.
and biofuels and the ability to create custom-made yeast would provide useful too for the biotech industry.
To create the artificial chromosome Boeke and his team used computer software to design a modified version of yeast chromosome III which they called syniii
and incorporated it into brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). They chose this chromosome because it is the smallest of yeast's 16 chromosomes controlling how the cells mate
and experience genetic changes. It took the researchers seven years to stitch together the synthetic chromosome from pieces of DNA.
The language of DNA consists of four letters A t G and C which form bonds called base pairs.
The syniii chromosome contains 272871 base pairs slightly fewer than the 316617 base pairs in chromosomes of native yeast or natural yeast on
which the simulated one is based. Undergraduate students at Johns hopkins university did much of the work fusing together short pieces of DNA into longer segments as part of a class project
and some of these former students were co-authors on the study Unraveling the Human genome: 6 Molecular Milestones Boeke's team made more than 500 tweaks to the native genome removing repeated sections
and so-called junk DNA (not known to encode proteins the molecules that perform vital tasks inside cells) including so-called jumping genes
which randomly move around in the chromosome. The researchers also added tags to the DNA to label it as native or synthetic.
The completed chromosome was remarkably normal Boeke said adding that the yeast with the synthetic DNA behave almost identically to wild yeast cells.
Using a technique known as scrambling the scientists can shuffle the yeast genes like a deck of cards.
In recent years scientists have created synthetic chromosomes from bacteria and viruses but this is the first time anyone has built a chromosome from a eukaryote an organism
whose cells have nuclei. Craig Venter and his team at the J. Craig Venter Institute who created the first synthetic bacterium in 2010 praised the new achievement.
This work is another remarkable example of how synthetic biology can be used to rewrite chromosome sequences at a sizable scale Venter
The research will lead to a better understanding of the rules of genome structure and behavior in yeast one of the most important model systems for understanding biological processes they added.
Ultimately the researchers plan to synthesize a complete yeast genome with all 16 chromosomes. Boeke's team plans to synthesize larger chromosomes
and do it faster and more cheaply. Despite its utility the work poses questions about the ethics of creating man-made genomes especially in more complex organisms such as animals.
There will always be challenges to new ideas and new ways of doing things and concerns some very legitimate about safety matters Boeke said.
and animals for a long time spanning from selective breeding to transgenic species he added. Right now the cost of synthesizing chromosomes is prohibitively high
but that could change if the technology improves Boeke said. He predicts that designer mini-chromosomes will be developed first building on gene therapy
which seeks to treat diseases by replacing defective genes with functional ones. Synthesizing plant and animal genomes is a long way off Boeke said
but the day will come. Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitter and Google+.+Follow us@livescience Facebook & Google+.
Timothy Lu, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and biological engineering.""It an interesting way of thinking about materials synthesis,
"I think this is really fantastic work that represents a great integration of synthetic biology and materials engineering,"said Lingchong You, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke university i
#Poop-powered airport shuttle bus hits the road in the U k. A supermarket powered by its own expired comestibles.
Importance for biology One classical way to image smaller objects without using entangled photons is to use shorter and shorter wavelengths of light.
The Japanese scientists said their research is especially important for applications in optics and biology."
"It is a very powerful tool to investigate transparent samples such as biological tissues, and, in particular, living cells, without them being damaged by intense probe light,
as biologists and doctors are unlikely to be prepared to wait hours for an image to form. o
The researchers on the July expedition will study bioluminescence and biofluorescence in the mesopelagic zone found at 656 to 3281 feet (200 to 1000 m) below the ocean's surface where light is dim
Bioluminescence is created the light by living organisms through a chemical reaction in the creatures'bodies. Biofluorescence on the other hand occurs
Biomimicry: 7 Clever Technologies Inspired By nature The simplicity is the beauty of this technology said Ray Baughman a chemist at the University of Texas at Dallas
One of the studies'co-authors stem-cell research Yoshiki Sasai with the RIKEN Center for Developmental biology in Japan told Nature that this discovery is amazing.
The idea came from another biologist at the same facility Haruko Obokata who says it took her five years to persuade her colleagues that this technique would work.
In the latest example of biomimicry or science is inspired by nature a team of researchers in California have turned to cats
and biological applications he said s
#$1. 7 million personal submarine lets you'fly'underwater Adventurers with deep pockets can now explore the hidden depths of the ocean,
#FDA ready to regulate transgenic animals: Nature News The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has adopted a policy that will govern approval of the use of genetically engineered animals.
In the interim, researchers have pushed forward with plans to develop a wide range of transgenic animals,
whether the FDA has the necessary expertise to evaluate the environmental risks posed by transgenic animals,
That approach could end up backfiring for the FDA and for companies developing transgenic animals, Gurian-Sherman argues,
Biologists knew that bony fish a group that includes most fish apart from cartilaginous ones such as sharks
is launched today at the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute in Nairobi, which is leading the initiative.
the Wellcome Trust has joined forces with the Indian government's Department of Biotechnology to fund postdoctoral researchers in the country through a new,
pointing to possibilities such as screening large numbers of biological samples or laboratory animals all at once.""Giving people a new degree of freedom will hopefully lead to things that we haven't thought of at all. f
#The genomics of the sniffles: Nature News Genome sequences of the cold virus could reveal new secrets behind its prowess.
Heidi Ledford Rhinvirus capsid A human rhinovirus capsidj-Y Sgro/UW Madison Bang in the middle of sniffle season, researchers have released the full genome sequences of more than 100 strains of the viruses
responsible for most common colds. The viruses all belong to the rhinovirus family, and have RNA genomes. Their sequences, published this week in Science1,
could be used to design new therapies against colds or to determine, for example, why one strain can cause more severe symptoms than another."
"says Stephen Liggett, director of cardiopulmonary genomics at the University of Maryland Medical center in Baltimore,
"Sniffle-omics All this havoc is caused by a tiny virus only about 30 nanometres in diameter, with a genome that is a mere 7,
000 bases long a minute speck compared with the human genome, which has more than three billion bases.
Although the genomes of a few strains of cold virus had been sequenced, no one had compiled the full sequences of the 99 strains frequently studied by researchers.
Rhinovirus genome tree The human rhinovirus genome tree (click for larger image. Science Liggett, Palmenberg and their colleagues decided to fill this gap by sequencing the reference-library strains,
and the previously reported HRV-C genomes with one another to look for patterns and evolutionary relationships (see human rhinovirus genome tree, right).
The results suggest that three of the strains may comprise a further new rhinovirus species. The sequences also indicate that
the viruses may exchange portions of their genomes a phenomenon that, until now, had not been described in rhinoviruses.
In addition, all of the strains have extremely variable RNA sequences in one specific region of the genome.
Palmenberg also believes that the genome is structured to allow ribosomes the molecular machines that read RNA and produce a protein,
to rapidly skip over regions of the genome that do not code for proteins. The mechanism may make the viruses more competitive by allowing them to synthesize their proteins more quickly,
variable viral genome sequences may not prove to be the primary determinant of virulence.""Ultimately, the immune status of the patient may have a greater impact,
he remembered a paper he had read more than a decade earlier about HIV resistance in people who carry a specific genetic mutation.
The mutation is a short deletion in the CCR5 gene. The gene encodes a receptor that HIV uses to enter immune cells called CD4+T cells.
About 1%of the European population carries the CCR5 mutation in both copies of the CCR5 gene,
making such people much less likely to contract the virus . If H tter could replace his patient's immune cells with cells that lacked the CCR5 receptor,
his patient might be less susceptible to HIV infection. The patient had 80 matches in the bone-marrow registries of the German Bone marrow Donor Center,
and H tter reasoned that one of those matches might also carry CCR5 mutations. Donor number 61 turned out to be the one,
In addition, there is another strain of HIV that does not use CCR5 receptors to invade cells.
One CCR5 inhibitor, called maraviroc, is made by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer and is approved for use in the United states and Europe.
Other companies are busy developing additional CCR5-targeting drugs. Unfortunately, maraviroc does not completely prevent the virus from binding to CCR5,
and it can only be used in combination with other antiretrovirals. Basically HIV can find its way around the drug and still use CCR5
says Riley, who adds that the virus might outcompete the inhibitor, or may be able to bind to a different region of CCR5 than the drug.
Others are trying gene therapy approaches to prevent CCR5 from being made at all. For example, Riley has been collaborating with Sangamo Biosciences,
a biotechnology company based in Richmond, California, to determine whether the company's technique for snipping out targeted genes could be used to delete the CCR5 gene.
Sangamo announced last week that it has launched a Phase I clinical trial that will involve removing a sample of the participant's T cells,
deleting the CCR5 gene, and then infusing the cells back into the patient. The trial is a first step towards ascertaining the safety of the technique not its efficacy
and participants will not be conditioned to destroy their unmodified T cells s
#What causes schizophrenia?:Nature News Findings from a'brain training'study challenge theory. Researchers in Sweden have revealed a surprising change in brain biochemistry that occurs during the training of working memory,
a buffer that stores information for the few second required to solve problems or even to understand what we are reading.
The discovery may have implications for understanding disorders in which working memory is deficient such as schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD.
"Many findings of altered brain biochemistry may simply reflect the patients'inattentiveness, he says. Klingberg says that his team's results may also have practical implications for training working memory.
#Neanderthal genome to be unveiled: Nature News The entire genome of a 38,000-year-old Neanderthal has been sequenced by a team of scientists in Germany.
The group is already extracting DNA from other ancient Neanderthal bones and hopes that the genomes will allow an unprecedented comparison between modern humans and their closest evolutionary relative.
The three-year project, which cost about#5 million (US$6. 4 million), was carried out at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig.
computational biologist Richard Green, is coordinating the analysis of the genome's 3 billion base pairs.
Comparisons with the human genome may uncover evidence of interbreeding between Neanderthals and humans, the genomes
The genome may also deliver more details about how these species developed their different physical traits,
"says Edward Rubin, director of the US Joint Genome Institute in Walnut creek, California, which is also sequencing Neanderthal DNA
Almost all of the Neanderthal genome to be unveiled in Chicago comes from DNA extracted from a single bone originally discovered in a cave near Vindija in Croatia.
and so is well on the way to creating a library of Neanderthal genomes that would allow stronger comparisons with modern humans.
Pääbo says that his group will publish a first draft of the entire Neanderthal genome later this year,
However, some published human genomes had all their base pairs read eight to ten times before publication.
The team says that its single-read of the Neanderthal genome is sufficient for publication
Work by two independent groups will make it easier to find out the structure of single biological molecules such as proteins without destroying
Within these exosomes is genetic information that can be analyzed to determine the cancer s molecular composition and state of progression.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital discovered that exosomes preserve the genetic information of their parent cells in 2008
He is one of the lead researchers in a multicenter clinical study using new exosomal diagnostic tests developed by New york city-based Exosome Diagnostics to identify a genetic mutation found exclusively in glioma, the most common form of brain cancer.
Once the specific cancer mutation is identified, clinicians will periodically draw additional bio-fluids to monitor the mutation levels to determine
whether a patient is responding to therapy. Whereas Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a useful tool, tumors only show up on imaging scans once they are at least one millimeter in diameter
They will be awarded every two years starting in 2014, to global leaders in the fields of sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, Chinese studies and the rule of law.
researchers warn in a study due to appear in the journal Biological Conservation1. Known as Himalayan Viagra'because of its supposed libido-boosting powers,
says one of the study s co-authors, Kamaljit Bawa, a conservation biologist at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.
India and Bhutan, says Liu Xingzhong, a mycologist in the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Microbiology in Beijing.
from sequencing its genome to crossbreeding coffee plants with resistant strains. Caused by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix,
The government has supported also work on the genetics of both the fungus and the plant. Research programmes have started in other countries, too.
And in the United kingdom, Harry Evans is working on the genome of H.#vastatrix at CABI in Egham.
In one of the first attempts to explore atmospheric microbiology at high altitude, researchers analysed air samples from a six-week hurricane-research mission by NASA in 2010.
bacteria accounted for around 20%of all particles#biological and non-biological#a higher proportion than in the near-Earth atmosphere."
says Ulrich Karlson, an environmental microbiologist at Aarhus University in Denmark, who was involved not in the study."
says Konstantinos Konstantinidis, an environmental microbiologist at the Georgia Institute of technology in Atlanta and one of the study's authors.
Genetic analysis revealed that some microbes in the upper atmosphere are thought related to bacteria to catalyse ice-crystal formation and cloud condensation2.
led by Nick Goldman of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) at Hinxton, UK, marks another step towards using nucleic acids as a practical way of storing information#one that is more compact and durable than current media such as hard disks or magnetic tape.#"
says George Church a molecular geneticist at Harvard Medical school in Boston, Massachusetts, who encoded a draft of his latest book in DNA last year2."
Yoshiki Sasai, who has been wowing biologists and non-scientists alike by growing rudimentary retinas, brain parts and other tissues from stem cells (see Nature 488,444-446;
2012), has long been negotiating with the government for facilities to link basic research at the Center for Developmental biology in Kobe, where he works, with clinics and industry.
mainly to support Masayo Takahashi, who works next door at the Center for Developmental biology. Takahashi is planning the first trial of ips cells in humans,
says Anura Rambukkana, a regeneration biologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK, who led the study.
and metabolic diseases, says Sheng Ding, a stem-cell biologist at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular disease in San francisco, California.
researchers have been trying to understand just how similar they are to ES cells. ips cells begin with different patterns of gene expression,
and they can also acquire mutations during the reprogramming process, which means that every ips cell must be evaluated thoroughly before it can be used in any study."
April 2009 Paper reports successful derivation of human ips cells without the integration of genetic information into the cell genome.
October 2010 Biotechnology company Geron doses first patient in world s first clinical trial to test an ES-cell product.
Former heads of the biotech company Geron, based in Menlo Park, California, last week announced an agreement to acquire stem-cell assets including the company s flagship human ES-cell trial, in
California, began selling them to cell biologists, who prize them as fluorescent imaging labels for proteins and other biological molecules.
As recently as 2010, the biomedical sector was responsible for US$48#million of $67#million in total quantum dot revenues, according to BCC Research of Wellesley, Massachusetts.
#Genomes link Aboriginal australians to Indians Some Aboriginal australians can trace as much as 11%of their genomes to migrants who reached the island around 4, 000 years ago from India,
This scenario is the result of a large genetic analysis outlined today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences1.
says Mark Stoneking, a geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany,
Irina Pugach, a postdoctoral researcher in Stoneking s laboratory, discovered signs of the Indian migration by comparing genetic variation across the entire genomes of 344 individuals, including Aboriginal australians from the Northern territory, highlanders
Pugach confirmed an ancient association between the genomes of Australians New Guineans and the Mamanwa#a Negrito group from the Philippines.
because it is absent from New Guinean and Mamanwa genomes, and it is too uniformly spread across the northern Aboriginal genomes to have come from European colonists.
The genetic mingling coincided with the arrival in Australia of microliths#small stone tools that formed the tips of weapons
and not anything like the dense, genome-wide study we carried out. A few smaller studies of MITOCHONDRIAL DNA and the Y chromosome have hinted at recent gene flow between India and Australia2, 3,
but a genome-wide study in 2010 missed it by not including any Indian populations4,
and a project that sequenced a full Aboriginal genome dismissed signs of gene flow from India as a spurious result5.
Sheila van Holst Pellekaan, a geneticist at the University of New south wales, Australia, and a co-author of the earlier genome-wide study,
welcomes the latest research, but warns that the finding is"definitely not representative of Australia,
But a legacy of distrust of biological research among aboriginal groups means that genetic studies are viewed suspiciously
the sulphur-assisted amino acid transfer is found elsewhere in biology: some bacteria rely on it to synthesize proteins.
"It s laborious and not as effective as biology, says Leigh. Leigh and other chemists have used already rotaxanes to move droplets of fluid around2;
Molecular machines inspired by biology could eventually enable chemists to build materials with a specific sequence of molecules#a strand of polystyrene in which each component bears one of a range of extra chemical groups, for example.
"That s how biology does it, so why can t we? asks Leigh s
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