Synthetic biology and molecular machines
The latest chemistry news and research on synthetic biology, including genetic engineering, biomedicine and molecular machines, from the Royal Society of Chemistry's magazine, Chemistry World
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ResearchUltrapotent thrombin inhibitor combines peptide fragments from a trio of blood-sucking organisms
Hybrid molecule featuring leech, tsetse fly and flea peptide fragments binds thrombin at three sites
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ResearchNext generation gene editors engineered to significantly reduce error rate
Introducing mutations into DNA-snipping ‘molecular scissors’ can result in 60-fold reduction in errors
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ResearchBranched polymers protect cell mimics that can interact with biological cells
Dendritic polymers encase coacervate microdroplets, enabling them to closely mimic natural cells
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ResearchRecoded E. coli strain shows that life can function with significantly compressed genetic code
Researchers remove seven codons from E. coli’s genetic code
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ResearchAI method makes designer binders for ‘undruggable’ proteins
Technique can create molecules that target disordered regions of proteins and peptides
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NewsWhat’s the point of the Synthetic Human Genome Project?
Why are scientists working to recreate the human genome from scratch?
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NewsWellcome backing gets project to recreate human genome from scratch off the ground
Effort to synthesise human genome will likely take decades but should provide insight into disease
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BusinessCrispr Nobel laureates get another chance to claim ownership in long-running patent dispute
Jennifer Doudna and Emmanualle Charpentier could recoup patent rights to the gene-editing technology, thanks to ruling from US appeal court
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ResearchDesigner protein switches conformations like a natural one
Researchers design, produce and test a synthetic protein with a dynamic structure
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ResearchEngineered microbe could clean up persistent oil pollution hotspots
Bacterium can break down five hydrocarbon pollutants into harmless compounds
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ResearchCould ‘woolly’ mice put mammoths on the path to de-extinction?
Scepticism that mice with mammoth gene edits could ever produce a viable animal in elephants
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NewsRapid action needed to stop the UK falling behind in synthetic biology
House of Lords science committee urges government action to allow the field to flourish
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ResearchDesigner proteins to treat deadly snake bites could save thousands of lives
Small proteins can help to tackle some of the deadliest components of cobras and mambas
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ResearchComputer simulation of carbonless DNA prompt researchers to consider alternative biochemistries
Researchers swap nitrogen and boron into DNA to create analogues that are geometrically and electrostatically equivalent to conventional DNA
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NewsPause work on ‘mirror life’, recommends panel of international experts
Synthetic bacteria with chirality opposite to that of life on Earth might cause lethal infections
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OpinionThere are no life lessons to be learned in AI’s Chinese Room
There’s a lot more lab work to do before we understand the ‘language of life’
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NewsExplainer: Why have protein design and structure prediction won the 2024 Nobel prize in chemistry?
Research that has taken us from sequence to structure and back again
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NewsProtein design and structure prediction wins chemistry Nobel prize
David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper were rewarded for creating computational tools to design proteins and predict their structures that have ‘revolutionised biological chemistry’
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ResearchNanopore sequencing set to transform our understanding of proteins
Rapid sequencing technique can not only deal with proteins hundreds of amino acids long but can detect modifications
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ResearchYellow food dye could give doctors a new way to look beneath the skin
Tartrazine can safely and reversibly turn the skin of mice transparent