In Silico “Life”
Just over a week ago, researchers released the first in silico model of a living organism, the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium. This is the first time an entire organism’s metabolic processes have been integrated and modeled and it offers an unprecedented opportunity to do in silico experiments on the organism. Remarkably, the production of this model...
DNA Laser Printing
Abundance co-author Steven Kotler recently wrote in the Forbes Blog about a significant upshift in DNA synthesis technology. It’s called DNA Laser Printing. Created by a Bay Area startup called Cambrian Genomics, the technique solves a thorny problem with chemistry-based DNA synthesis: make a long enough oligonucleotide and it will contain errors. This happens...
DNA made into rewritable memory
Scientists have successfully turned DNA rewritable memory. Stanford researcher Drew Endy and his team have, using elements from a bacteriophage, built and demonstrated a rewritable recombinase addressable data (RAD) module. The system consists of a stretch of DNA flanked by sites that signal to enzymes made by the bacteriophage, instructing them to cut out the...
BGI a DNA Sequencing Powerhouse
BGI claims to have more DNA sequencing capacity than the entire US. Science magazine had a fascinating profile on the rise of BGI to this prominent position in high throughput science. A must read for bio-geeks.
Will.I.am and Intel seeks to TRANS4M the world
Feb. 10, 2012 – /PRNewswire/ — International recording artist will.i.am amplified his philanthropic side at TRANS4M, a forward-looking conference held Thursday, February 9, 2012 at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Musician and entreprenuer will.i.am co-hosted the first-time, invite-only conference he founded. Urging 250 attendees from various walks of life “to find smart ways...
First issue of ACS Synthetic Biology
Research in the inaugural issue of American Chemical Society (ACS) Synthetic Biology journal focuses on advances which utilize genetic engineering, computational analysis, and cellular machinery – three driving forces in the field of synthetic biology. The first issue features free downloads. Table of contents for Volume 1, Issue 1 (January 20, 2012) is here.
