Biotechnology

Researchers from A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR GIS) have developed a new method to study individual RNA molecules and reveal how their structures influence gene regulation, a fundamental process that affects how cells function in health and disease. Their work was published in Nature Methods.... Read more

Researchers have long known that bacteria could potentially be used to deliver therapeutic drugs inside the human body. However, safely and successfully carrying out such a feat in humans has been a challenge. But now, researchers from Harvard have made another step forward toward the goal of using microbes as... Read more

The Na+-NQR enzyme is vital for energy production in pathogenic bacteria like the one that causes cholera, making it a highly promising target for new antibiotics. Researchers combined modified artificial intelligence techniques with extensive supercomputer simulations to visualize the hidden, dynamic movements of this enzyme during sodium transport.... Read more

A CBBL research team led by Professor Balachandran Manavalan from the Department of Integrative Biotechnology at Sungkyunkwan University has developed DeepTYLCV, an accurate and interpretable artificial intelligence model for predicting the virulence of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV).... Read more

A team of engineers at the University of Florida has developed a new form of CRISPR technology that could make diagnostics and treatments safer, more precise, and more affordable, while opening the door to entirely new ways of controlling disease.... Read more

Massive volumes of digital data are generated every day from AI training, big data analytics and smart devices. As conventional hard drives and cloud storage are increasingly constrained by high costs, limited capacity, high power consumption and short lifespans, molecular data storage has emerged as a breakthrough storage alternative.... Read more

Researchers at the São Carlos Institute of Physics at the University of São Paulo (IFSC-USP) in Brazil, led by Paulo Augusto Raymundo-Pereira, have created biodegradable, "wearable" sensors for plants to monitor their health, including the presence of pesticides. The sensors are made from carbon ink and are screen-printed onto transparent... Read more

The genomics of peppermint are not as fresh as their flavor but scientists from the University of California, Davis, have found a way to breathe new genetic variation into the species. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help the mint industry develop new... Read more

Burrowing shrimp are small marine excavators native to Washington. They make their homes deep in the sediment by digging, turning the ground to Swiss cheese. This presents a problem for shellfish farmers, whose clams and oysters are often smothered under layers of displaced sediment.... Read more

Can we have higher yields and better taste? Using a natural extract from the fungus Pseudozyma aphidis, this method improves the firmness and natural sugar content of crops like tomatoes and melons while significantly boosting production. This discovery offers a practical path to meeting global food demands without compromising the... Read more

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed ApexGO, a novel, AI-powered method for turning promising but imperfect antibiotic candidates into more potent ones. Unlike many existing AI approaches to antibiotic discovery, which screen large databases for molecules that might work, ApexGO starts with a small number of imperfect candidates... Read more

Microalgae have attracted growing attention as a promising platform for sustainable biofuel production because they can use photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide into energy-rich compounds without competing with food crops. However, practical use of algal biofuels has long faced major obstacles.... Read more

How do fish survive relentless sunlight in the open waters without getting burned? They make their own natural sunscreen—and now, humans could be one step closer to using it too.... Read more

Many drug and antibody discovery pathways focus on intricately folded cell membrane proteins. When molecules of a drug candidate bind to these proteins, like a key going into a lock, they trigger chemical cascades that alter cellular behavior. Understanding how proteins fold and move is therefore essential for developing drugs... Read more

With plastic pollution at an all-time high, the need for biodegradable materials has never been higher. Most packaging is "single use" and is made from sources, like natural gas, that take hundreds of years to decompose in the environment. This is greatly contributing to the plastic pollution buildup in parks,... Read more