Replacing a genome boosts race to develop designer bugs: study
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Researchers have transformed one bacterial species into another by swapping their genomes, a move that will accelerate the race to develop custom-built synthetic bugs, a pioneer on genetics has said.
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Next-generation sequencing uncovers disease-causing microbes.
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A genetic switch that gives tadpoles three eyes could allow stem-cell scientists to eventually grow human eyeballs or at least create replacement parts needed for repair jobs.
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Researchers have identified more genetic mutations that appear to be linked with cot death.
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A newly decoded genome makes clear that the variation in the genetic programming carried by an individual is much greater than expected, researchers are reporting.
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Evolutionary biologists have long theorized that the pace of evolution quickens when a species faces great environmental stress. This idea, of course, is a tough one to âprove,â but we can see examples of it all around us. Just look at the IT security industry, where something akin to drastic environmental change is happening right now: Organized cybercrime groups are punching truck-size holes in enterprise security defenses as regulators, shareholders, and attorneys general are putting pressure on companies to lock down sensitive data. The pressure for change will make this weekâs RSA Security Conference in San Francisco less an industry shindig than a live experiment in evolutionary biology. So walk quietly and keep your field glasses handy to spot some exotic new species in these areas:
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Nature is pretty good at solving engineering problems, so designers are increasingly turning to biomimetics to improve their products and ideas. By Rowan Hooper.
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Genetic engineering can correct the worst symptoms in mice of Fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental retardation and autism, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
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Human skin teems with a zoo of strange microbes in colonies that are nearly unique from person to person and many of which are practically unknown to science, new research finds. Some of the bugs are permanent residents, while others come and go.
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An international scientific consortium decodes the chicken genome.
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Talk about identity theft: Scientists changed one species of bacteria into another by performing a complete gene swap.
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Forget genetic engineering. The new idea is synthetic biology, an effort to rewire the genetic circuitry of living organisms.
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Eye blinkingly fast Researchers on the island of Samoa have witnessed evolution in action, as the population of male "Blue Moon" butterflies has returned from the brink of extinction. The researchers, from Berkeley University, put the resurgence of the species down to an evolutionary arms race, in which the butterflies' latest weapon is a gene that fights off a parasite.â¦
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Altering a single gene can turn ordinary mice into marathon racers that can run for hours and eat huge amounts of food without getting fat, researchers say.
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Locusts are commonly associated with plagues, food shortages, and death. But they are also inspiring what may be the next wave in lifesaving collision-avoidance systems.
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It's not exactly light reading, but there's plenty of good news in a report from the National Academy of Engineering. It's a list of the "Grand Challenges" in engineering this century compiled by an array of experts like the genetics researcher J. Craig Ventner and Google's Larry Page. What's encouraging isn't so much the list [...].
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Scientists reconstruct part of the genetic code of a 75-million-year-old mammal ancestor.