Toward COVID-19 Testing Any Time, Anywhere
Toward COVID-19 Testing Any Time, Anywhere
Researchers are adapting CRISPR, synthetic biology, and other creative approaches to detect SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids outside of the lab or doctors’ offices, in the hopes of making diagnostics more affordable and accessible.
Toward COVID-19 Testing Any Time, Anywhere
Toward COVID-19 Testing Any Time, Anywhere

Researchers are adapting CRISPR, synthetic biology, and other creative approaches to detect SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids outside of the lab or doctors’ offices, in the hopes of making diagnostics more affordable and accessible.

Researchers are adapting CRISPR, synthetic biology, and other creative approaches to detect SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids outside of the lab or doctors’ offices, in the hopes of making diagnostics more affordable and accessible.

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Research Slated for Fall Will Stumble Without Undergraduates
Research Slated for Fall Will Stumble Without Undergraduates
Amanda Heidt | Aug 10, 2020
Junior faculty in particular may lose ground as undergrad students remain barred from university labs.
Opinion: Lab Work Under Isolation
Opinion: Lab Work Under Isolation
Kate Adamala | Apr 9, 2020
Here’s how my group put our research on pause and how we’ve continued our work from home.
Image of the Day: Biomimetic Arteries
Image of the Day: Biomimetic Arteries
Amy Schleunes | Apr 6, 2020
A newly engineered synthetic blood vessel offers a novel platform for developing drugs that treat high blood pressure.
Infographic: Building Bacteria to Fight Cancer
Infographic: Building Bacteria to Fight Cancer
Simone Schuerle, Tal Danino | Apr 1, 2020
Researchers are engineering microbes to deliver therapeutics specifically to tumors, maximizing the treatments’ efficacy while minimizing side effects.
Bacteria as Living Microrobots to Fight Cancer
Bacteria as Living Microrobots to Fight Cancer
Simone Schuerle, Tal Danino | Apr 1, 2020
Autonomous, living microrobots that seek and destroy cancer are not as futuristic as one might imagine, thanks to a fusion of robotics and synthetic biology.
Algorithm Designs Robots Using Frog Cells
Algorithm Designs Robots Using Frog Cells
Emma Yasinski | Jan 13, 2020
Scientists carve the shapes from piles of frog cells, like a sculptor building a statue.
Lab-Evolved <em>E. coli</em> Consume Carbon Dioxide
Lab-Evolved E. coli Consume Carbon Dioxide
Emily Makowski | Nov 27, 2019
Bacteria that take in inorganic carbon could have applications in sustainable biofuels.
Infographic: Building an Artificial Chromosome
Infographic: Building an Artificial Chromosome
Ruth Williams | Nov 1, 2019
Integrating a specialized histone into large segments of transgenic DNA enables centromere formation.
Streamlined Artificial Chromosome Creation
Streamlined Artificial Chromosome Creation
Ruth Williams | Nov 1, 2019
Recruiting an epigenetic instigator of centromere formation into large segments of cloned DNA facilitates their transformation into artificial chromosomes.
Timing and Order of Molecular Events Recorded in Live Cells&rsquo; DNA
Timing and Order of Molecular Events Recorded in Live Cells’ DNA
Ruth Williams | Aug 22, 2019
Genetic engineers have co-opted base editing machinery to enable information storage and processing in the DNA of bacterial and mammalian cells.
Image of the Day: Imitation Fish
Image of the Day: Imitation Fish
Chia-Yi Hou | Jun 20, 2019
Scientists create a soft-bodied robotic fish that pumps synthetic blood and swims on its own.
Most Extensive Synthetic Genome Project to Date
Most Extensive Synthetic Genome Project to Date
Ashley P. Taylor | May 16, 2019
Study shows the viability of bacteria with human-made, recoded DNA.
Opinion: How to Define Life
Opinion: How to Define Life
John D. Loike, Robert Pollack | May 2, 2019
As artificial life forms become more sophisticated, we propose a simple list of criteria to determine whether synthetic biological organisms and robots are living beings.