Biotechnology news

• Mary-Dell Chilton Dies at 87; Helped Create First Genetically Modified Plant

  16-07-2026 18:38 via nytimes.com
  In 1982, she led the research team that figured out how to genetically alter plants, a discovery that would eventually transform global agriculture.
  
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• Gene-Editing Technology Offers New Ways to Create the Dogs of Our Dreams

  31-08-2026 11:02 via nytimes.com
  Technologies like CRISPR are giving us new ways to create the dogs of our dreams — and a reason to reckon with our past mistakes.
  
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• Europe Hurries to Fund More Cutting-Edge Businesses to Compete with China and U.S.

  19-08-2026 11:02 via nytimes.com
  European governments, facing a nearly $1 trillion gap in investment funding, are casting a wide net to back start-ups developing pioneering technologies.
  
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• After 2 Plasma Donor Deaths, Company Pauses Clinics in Canada

  14-08-2026 01:41 via nytimes.com
  Grifols, a Spanish company, said “unfounded attention” on its blood plasma business in Canada had led it to temporarily end collections at 17 clinics.
  
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• Prediction Market Betting on Drug Trials and Approvals Sparks Concern About Undermining Research

  28-07-2026 16:26 via nytimes.com
  Prediction markets on Kalshi and Polymarket now let people wager money on drug approvals. Kalshi also plans to allow bets on clinical trial results.
  
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• Chemical actuation expands the design space of living light materials

  21-07-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  Chemical stimulation represents a new strategy for controlling bioluminescence in engineered living materials (ELMs). Brachi et al. demonstrate that embedding the naturally bioluminescent dinoflagellate Pyrocystis lunula within 3D-printed hydrogels enables sustained, reusable optical responses through chemical and mechanical activation. This work expands the design strategies available for optically ELMs.
  
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• Programmable mycolysins expand the antimicrobial toolkit against mycobacteria

  18-06-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  In a timely advance for antimycobacterial biotechnology, Abouhmad et al. engineered modular ‘mycolysins’ that combine mycobacteriophage lysis functions with membrane-active peptides to efficiently breach the mycobacterial envelope and achieve pathogen intracellular killing. Their work opens a route that may accelerate the development of biologics against tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacterial diseases.
  
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• The New Race to Find Treatments for Measles

  17-06-2026 16:56 via nytimes.com
  As vaccination rates decline, biotech companies see a potential new market for measles drugs.
  
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• With Measles Roaring Back, the Search for a Drug is On

  11-06-2026 17:00 via nytimes.com
  As vaccination rates decline, biotech companies see a potential new market for measles drugs.
  
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• Better Sex, Better Hair, Better Sleep: ‘Humanmaxxing’ Is Here

  11-06-2026 11:07 via nytimes.com
  The biotech billionaire who wants to rebuild your body and blow your mind.
  
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• As Ebola Spreads in East Africa, Will China Step Up?

  06-06-2026 11:01 via nytimes.com
  China is well positioned to help stop the deadly virus, and could move into a gap left by U.S. retreat.
  
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• J. Craig Venter (1946—2026)

  04-06-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  In recent years, science and engineering have advanced at a relatively incremental rate, partly due to the reward system of academia and conservative funding environments [1,2]. A limited number of breakthrough biotechnologies have included directed evolution, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based ones, the mRNA Coronavirus vaccine, and AI-based protein design. Otherwise, there have been fewer disruptive discoveries and inventions in biology and biotechnology t
  
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• China’s Rise in Drug Development Looms Over U.S.

  31-05-2026 18:07 via nytimes.com
  Clinical trials in China are getting attention at an international oncology gathering in Chicago. China’s surging biotechnology industry is fueling alarm that U.S. dominance in the field is waning.
  
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• Reprogramming halophilic life for low-salt biomanufacturing

  16-05-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  By reengineering Halomonas bluephagenesis to grow and produce polyhydroxybutyrate under low-salinity, open conditions, Sun et al. transform salinity from a fixed physiological constraint into a bioprocess variable. This study reframes halophilic chassis design for more flexible and sustainable industrial biomanufacturing.
  
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• Biotechnologies based on the fungal bioluminescence pathway

  08-05-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  The originally published article contained figures that did not comply with the journal’s policies regarding the use of generative AI. Figures 1, 4, and 5 have been replaced, and the associated captions have been modified. The authors regret the error.
  
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• Blue at the edge

  07-05-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  ‘Blue at the Edge’ was created using C-phycocyanin (C-PC)-containing total soluble protein extract from extremophilic Galdieria. The painting portrays a moonlit desert, a quiet terrain that appears lifeless, but in a vibrant living blue made from algae. This visual contrasts the acidic, high-temperature environments where Galdieria thrives—inhospitable habitats that actually sustain metabolically versatile life. This alga thrives under elevated CO2 in complete darkness and very low pH on a
  
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• The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever

  24-04-2026 11:02 via nytimes.com
  From the Kremlin to Silicon Valley, some of the most powerful people in the world now want something more: eternal life.
  
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• Targeting the gut–joint axis: an oral Spirulina hydrogel as an adjuvant strategy for rheumatoid arthritis therapy

  10-04-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  Oral Spirulina hydrogel targets the gut–joint axis via barrier repair, microbiota remodeling, and immune balance, synergizing with standard rheumatoid arthritis therapies for enhanced efficacy.
  
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• Scientific breakthrough versus successful startup: teaching scientists to navigate bench to business

  08-04-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  Scientific breakthroughs infrequently translate into startups without structured training. Stanford’s BioEntrepreneurship Bootcamp teaches a practical framework for navigating bench-to-business translation. The curriculum integrates instruction on intellectual property, team formation, risk assessments, milestone-based funding, and investor communication, with the goal of equipping scientists to advance discoveries into viable ventures.
  
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• Synthetic plug-in fatty acid pathway for stress-adaptive lipid accumulation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

  07-04-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  Lipid production in microalgae usually comes at the cost of growth. This study shows that a modular ‘plsXYC’ plug-in pathway can maintain energy balance while sustaining lipid accumulation under environmental stress. The approach reframes stress from a limitation into an opportunity for resilient carbon conversion.
  
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• Harnessing diverse tRNAs and AI-guided mining for compact and efficient plant multiplex genome editing

  07-04-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  Harnessing endogenous tRNA genes as compact transcriptional and processing modules enables scalable, high-order genome editing in plants. Coupled with artificial intelligence-driven discovery of hidden tRNA elements, this strategy unlocks a programmable RNA resource poised to transform precision crop engineering.
  
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• Synthetic RNA–protein decoy granules prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection

  06-04-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  Synthetic phase-separated RNA–protein granules, displaying soluble human angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor, act as stable decoy targets that inhibit Delta and Omicron entry at low micromolar doses, outperforming soluble angiotensin-converting enzyme-2, while remaining functional over several days in biological media, offering a modular, pan-variant antiviral platform for prophylaxis and broad-spectrum potential for future pandemics.
  
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• Deciphering and harnessing promoter-driven feedback controllers to mitigate metabolic burden in Corynebacterium glutamicum

  06-04-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  A genomically encoded GFP-based monitor enables real-time sensing of metabolic burden in C. glutamicum. Early burden-responsive promoters, including the conserved Pcg1940, are identified and coupled to feedback circuits that dynamically regulate gene expression, thereby improving cell growth, protein biosynthesis, and bioproduction in engineered cells.
  
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• Sulfur assimilation determines S-adenosyl-l-methionine flux for enhancing methylation efficiency in heterologous biosynthesis

  02-04-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  This study reveals that sulfur assimilation—specifically, the first reduction step of sulfate—has a determined impact on S-adenosyl-l-methionine flux compared with the C4 skeleton (activated form of l-homoserine). These findings offer a broadly applicable engineering strategy for the high-efficiency synthesis of diverse methyl-containing natural products with extensive practical applications.
  
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• Selector adeno-associated viral vectors facilitate on-target precise genome editing and purge off-target chromosomal insertions

  02-04-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  This study establishes selector adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors for the targeted and precise installation of chromosomal gene-sized edits. The incorporation of a marker-free co-selection system based on a cheap small molecule permits selector AAV vectors to, next to fostering targeted DNA editing, purge off-target chromosomal insertions, improving the quality of engineered cell products.
  
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• Multigram-scale stereoselective synthesis of neurosteroid isomers by gut microbial isolates using plant biomass-derived medium

  02-04-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  This research establishes a sustainable microbial platform for neurosteroid production using gut bacteria and plant-based materials. Three gut microbes with distinct stereoselectivities produce high-purity neurosteroid isomers including isopregnanolone. Key proteins such as bacterial 5α-reductase were characterized. The inherent stereoselectivity of whole-cell biotransformations eliminates chiral chromatographic separation, enabling cost-effective, scalable neurosteroid manufacturing.
  
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• Engineered phage-derived lysins effectively kill mycobacterial pathogens

  30-03-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  Treatment of mycobacterial infections is difficult due to poor penetration of antibiotics across the complex cell envelope. We engineered phage-inspired lytic proteins, mycolysins, that selectively breach this barrier and enable rapid bacterial clearance in pulmonary and wound infection models, highlighting a programmable biologic platform to enhance and shorten existing therapies.
  
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• Clinical-scale bioreactor production of hiPSC-derived extracellular vesicles modulates miRNA and protein cargo to enhance angiogenic function

  30-03-2026 02:00 via cell.com
  A perfusion-based stirred-tank bioreactor enables scalable production of human induced pluripotent stem cell–derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) enriched in proangiogenic cargo. This approach overcomes key limitations of conventional EV production, delivering high yields and consistent quality, and represents an important step toward standardized, clinically relevant EV manufacturing for cell-free regenerative therapies.
  
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• Synthetic M13 phage engagers expand CAR-T cell antigen recognition to overcome tumor heterogeneity

  27-03-2026 01:00 via cell.com
  This work reports a bacteriophage-based engager platform that simultaneously addresses antigen heterogeneity and functional exhaustion of chimeric antigen receptor T cells in solid tumors. It enables modular antigen redirection and eliminates immune suppression to improve antitumor responses.
  
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• How to Turn a Chicken Egg Into a Drug Factory

  26-03-2026 14:00 via nytimes.com
  A biotech start-up is testing a novel way of efficiently producing pharmaceutical drugs.
  
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