Tuesday, January 26, 2010
When presented with oat flakes arranged in the pattern of Japanese cities around Tokyo, single-cell slime molds constructed networks of nutrient-channeling tubes that are quite similar to the layout of the Japanese rail system, with a larger number of strong, resilient tunnels connecting centrally located oats. Researchers from Japan and England reported their finding in [...]
The hot synthetic biology video of the moment. Putting together molecular timekeeping and quorum sensing. Beautiful.
Plus, bonus video for the obscure title reference of this blog post. Morrissey forever!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Video interview from the Economist.com. Carlson’s new book on biotech, Biology Is Technology, is due out in February
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The recent issue of Nature Biotechnology, which focused on synthetic biology, contained a concise and accessible editorial, “Unbottling the Genes,” outlining synbio’s next big goal, which seemed worth excerpting here:
“There are many views on what synthetic biology is, and what it should be, but one aspect that differentiates this field from previous genetic/metabolic engineering is [...]
Friday, December 11, 2009
To print up your own copy of this stellar one-sheeter written by Drew Endy and Seed editor Lee Billing, go here.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
It’s looking more and more like the first big proof-of-concept for commercial synthetic biology will be in biofuels or so-called white or green chemistry — the production of “clean” organic chemicals and materials with the aid of biotechnology, using the same sort of souped-up fermentation process being tried out for fuels.
The November 26th 2009 print [...]
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Life’s been too hectic lately to keep up with all the cool little synbio nuggets churned up by the Internet over the past couple of weeks. Just wanted to catch up with a few items I particularly enjoyed.
First, this interview from Gizmodo with Michael Specter, who recently wrote a piece on synthetic biology in the [...]
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Thanks to Mac Cowell for posting this link on the DIYbio blog. Sophia Roosth, a Ph.D. candidate at MIT, gave this talk at the Kennedy School of Government on November 9, 2009. With the provocative title “Crafting the Biological: Open-Sourcing Life Science, from Synthetic Biology to Garage Biotech,” Roosth’s talk offers an anthropological perspective on [...]
Thursday, November 5, 2009
In its sixth year, iGem certainly looks like a viable colony, actively self-replicating. Once containable within the disorienting confines of the Stata Center, the event is now a sprawling, all-over-campus thing. With more than 100 teams and some 1,700 participants, this year’s competition took over lecture halls in five separate buildings clustered along “iGem Lane.”
Getting [...]
Thursday, October 29, 2009
You can expect a veritable who’s who of the synthetic biology community — and a lot of geeky T-shirts — at this weekend’s iGem Jamboree, held on the MIT campus in Cambridge. The annual competition — conceived as a showcase for teams of undergraduate students to demonstrate their skill and creativity in developing genetically engineered [...]