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synthetic biology

Latest Articles

The Joy of Why

Can We Program Our Cells?

By Steven Strogatz
March 8, 2023
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By genetically instructing cells to perform tasks that they wouldn’t in nature, synthetic biologists can learn deep secrets about how life works. Steven Strogatz discusses the potential of this young field with researcher Michael Elowitz.

synthetic biology

Biologists Use Genetic Circuits to Program Plant Roots

By Joanna Thompson
September 28, 2022
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Using inserted genetic circuitry, synthetic biologists controlled the growth of plant roots for the first time.

Cells growing in a dish glow in seven different fluorescent colors.
synthetic biology

Simple Gene Circuits Hint at How Stem Cells Find New Identities

By Veronique Greenwood
May 19, 2022
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Synthetic biology experiments suggest a “MultiFate” model for how genetically identical cells become the many different types found in complex organisms like us.

Illustration that combines elements of three- and four-leaf clovers with the letter for nucleotides in codons.
synthetic biology

Life With Longer Genetic Codes Seems Possible — but Less Likely

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
April 11, 2022
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Life could use a more expansive genetic code in theory, but new work shows that improving on three-letter codons would be a challenge.

computational biology

Most Complete Simulation of a Cell Probes Life’s Hidden Rules

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
February 24, 2022
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A 3D digital model of a “minimal cell” leads scientists closer to understanding the barest requirements for life.

An illustration of a cell sitting atop a circuit diagram.
cell biology

Biologists Rethink the Logic Behind Cells’ Molecular Signals

By Philip Ball
September 16, 2021
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The molecular signaling systems of complex cells are nothing like simple electronic circuits. The logic governing their operation is riotously complex — but it has advantages.

Electron microscopy of T4 bacteriophages.
molecular biology

DNA Has Four Bases. Some Viruses Swap in a Fifth.

By Jordana Cepelewicz
July 12, 2021
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The DNA of some viruses doesn’t use the same four nucleotide bases found in all other life. New work shows how this exception is possible and hints that it could be more common than we think.

An illustration that shows a fanciful view of cells in terms of electrical circuitry.
synthetic biology

Math Reveals the Secrets of Cells’ Feedback Circuitry

By XiaoZhi Lim
September 18, 2019
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Maintaining perfect stability through negative feedback is a basic element of electrical circuitry, but it’s been a mystery how cells could do it — until now.

Abstractions blog

Gene Drives Work in Mice (if They’re Female)

By John Rennie +1 authors
Jordana Cepelewicz
January 23, 2019
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Biologists have demonstrated for the first time that a controversial genetic engineering technology works, with caveats, in mammals.


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