Genetic engineering

Despite the fact that corn is one of the world's most commonly-grown crops, it still doesn't tolerate cold temperatures well. That could be about to change, though, as scientists have developed a hardier strain.

Not only are diamondback moths quite harmful to brassica-genus crops such as cabbage, broccoli and canola, but they're also very resistant to insecticides. Help may be on the way, though, in the form of a genetically-engineered version of the moth.

The scientist responsible for creating the world’s first gene-edited babies has been sentenced to three years in prison alongside shorter sentences for two of his colleagues. Chinese state news also revealed a third gene-edited baby has been born.

INTEGRATE is a newly-developed version of CRISPR that edits genes more gently. It uses “jumping genes” that insert large sequences of DNA without breaking the strands, and now scientists have imaged the mechanism at work for the first time.

The world has seen some major scientific achievements in the last 10 years, as discoveries and developments decades in the making were finally realized. New Atlas rounds up five of the most ground-breaking, history-making milestones of the 2010s.

A new study from an international team of geneticists is suggesting we are further away than many realize from being able to effectively genetically select for complex polygenic traits such as IQ or height and create designer babies.

Under a DARPA contract, Raytheon is using synthetic biology techniques to produce two new strains of bacteria – one to seek out hidden explosives below ground and another on the surface that glows when they're found.

CRISPR is a powerful gene-editing tool – but it has its own problems too. Now, Harvard and MIT scientists have created a new approach called prime editing, which could correct almost 90 percent of disease-causing genes.

Humanity is poised to take a huge leap forward, as a convergence of next-gen technologies combine to give us unprecedented power over our own biology. Here's a roadmap to the key technologies and how it's going to play out in the coming decades.

When someone has a severe burn, a protective covering needs to be temporarily grafted onto the wound site. Although that covering typically consists of skin from a human cadaver, live-cell pig skin has now been used on a patient for the first time.

Scientists have used the CRISPR gene-editing tool to give fruit flies a new evolutionary advantage – the ability to eat poison and store it in their bodies.

Despite a published study saying different, Oxitec and experts argue that a genetically-modified mosquito release program in Brazil was safe after all.