Artificial

The body protects itself from invading viruses and bacteria using antibodies, but when a new threat emerges it takes time for the body to produce new ones. A new system from Berkeley Lab should speed up the discovery of new artificial antibodies.

A study is suggesting low-calorie sweeteners can disrupt metabolic processes, but only when consumed with carbohydrates. The research hopes to reconcile conflicting studies investigating links between low-calorie sweeteners and metabolic disorders.

Researchers in Europe and the UK have managed to connect biological and artificial neurons together. The biological neurons were grown in Italy, sent signals through an artificial synapse in the UK to communicate with artificial neurons in Zurich.

The line between robots and living organisms is beginning to blur. Researchers at the University of Vermont and Tufts University have now essentially created new creatures from frog cells, complete with programmable behaviors.

Artificial retinas have the potential to restore some sight to people with certain kinds of blindness, but they contain complex electronics that can overheat. Now a Stanford team has found a way to potentially bypass the issue.

Proteins are the workhorses of the cell, but nature sometimes has room for improvement. Now a team from the Institute for Protein Design and the University of California San Francisco has created a new artificial protein that acts like a switch, turning regular cells into “smart cells.”

Engineers have recently focused on trying to emulate the structure of the brain with artificial synapses. Now, a team of researchers have made a new artificial synapse design that works using a light-based biotechnology technique called optogenetics.

Over the last few years humans have tried to mimic nature with artificial leaves, but they’re never quite up to scratch. Now, researchers have designed a new version that could work under real-world conditions, sucking carbon dioxide out of the air and creating oxygen and synthetic fuels.

Scientists have created the most lifelike artificial embryos ever, guiding them through “the most important event in life” – a key development stage known as gastrulation. The researchers combined three types of mouse stem cells into an embryo that was just about ready to be implanted into a womb.

Researchers from Imperial College London have managed to fuse living and non-living cells together, creating tiny chemical factories that might one day aid drug delivery.

Scientists may eventually be able to biologically engineer unique artificial lifeforms from scratch. A new study from Princeton has brought that future a step closer, by confirming that an artificial protein the team developed functions as an enzyme in living bacteria.

A new development from scientists at the University of North Carolina and NC State could do away with the need for injections and glucose monitoring​ for diabetics through the use of artificial beta cells that mimic the insulin-secreting function of healthy cells​.