Biotechnology

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.

Transmitting data from medical implants in the body can be tricky, but a new technique can essentially write data to ions in human tissue, where it can then be read from a receiver outside the body at high transmission speeds.

Organ transplants save lives, but rejection is a serious issue. That risk can be reduced by stripping donor cells out of the donor organ and replacing them with the recipient’s own, and now scientists have made that process safer with a protein bath.

Scientists working with microfluids as part of biotechnology research often rely on large, clunky machines to manage the samples, but this tinkering could one day be handled by tiny robots that make the process far more efficient.

To peer back in time at certain key steps of evolution, scientists at the Scripps Research Institute have engineered synthetic microorganisms designed to be similar to some that might have lived billions of years ago.

Missouri has become the first US state to pass a bill defining what products can and can't be classified as "meat." The legislation prohibits plant-based products from using the term and also removes the possibility of lab-grown meat hitting the market shelves in the future with the "meat" moniker.

​A statement issued by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue last week has clarified that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) currently does not, and has no plans to, regulate gene edited plants or crops.

The US Cattlemen’s Association is petitioning the United States Department of Agriculture to restrict the definition of “beef” and “meat” exclusively to products born, raised and slaughtered in a traditional manner raising the question: Can lab-grown meat still be called meat?

New research could mean that a pill to provide some of the same health benefits as exercise could eventually move from fantasy to reality. Scientists have found suppressing a particular protein ​can enhance muscle mass and help obese people reduce their risk of a number of health concerns.

While there's no shortage of glucose-monitoring devices on the market, a team of Chinese scientists is going one step further to make life easier for diabetics. They've created a system that uses a smartphone to direct engineered cells to produce insulin when needed.

Duke University is developing a cartilage-like material based on hydrogel that allows bioengineers to create bespoke artificial 3D-printed replacement parts for injured knees that are tailored to match the old part both in shape and mechanical properties.

Thanks to a new gene-silencing technique, farmers might be able to strengthen their crops’ defense systems, and protect them from disease and pests without any potential gene-altering fallout in future.