Biotechnology news

• Omega-based mini prime- and base-editing systems in Escherichia coli

  16-03-2026 01:00 via Trends in Biotechnology
  Obligate mobile element-guided activity-based prime-editing and base-editing systems represent a significant advancement in gene editing and targeted mutagenesis, enabling precise, programmable mutations in target genes. These compact, high-efficiency systems seamlessly integrate with multiple high-throughput screening technologies, significantly accelerating directed evolution processes and offering powerful tools for genetic engineering and biotechnological applications.
  
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• Biotech Firm Claims Some Credit for Groundbreaking Virus Research

  06-11-2026 22:52 via NYT > Biotechnology
  Radical Numerics turned heads with its announcement about a novel treatment. Now a former partner, Tabula Bioscience, says it performed much of the research.
  
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• U.S. Restricts Trade With Chinese Genomics Company

  28-10-2026 14:05 via NYT > Biotechnology
  The move will block shipments from BGI, a major Chinese firm that U.S. officials allege is associated with forced labor and the abuse of minority groups.
  
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• Martin Shkreli Violated Lifetime Ban From Drug Industry, U.S. Says

  13-10-2026 20:48 via NYT > Biotechnology
  The attorneys general of New York and six other states joined the Federal Trade Commission in accusing the disgraced former pharmaceutical executive of repeatedly violating the ban.
  
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• Gene-Editing Technology Offers New Ways to Create the Dogs of Our Dreams

  31-08-2026 11:02 via NYT > Biotechnology
  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 NYT > Biotechnology
  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 NYT > Biotechnology
  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 NYT > Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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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• Mary-Dell Chilton Dies at 87; Helped Create First Genetically Modified Plant

  16-07-2026 18:38 via NYT > Biotechnology
  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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• Programmable mycolysins expand the antimicrobial toolkit against mycobacteria

  18-06-2026 02:00 via Trends in Biotechnology
  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 NYT > Biotechnology
  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 NYT > Biotechnology
  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 NYT > Biotechnology
  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 NYT > Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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 NYT > Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  ‘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 NYT > Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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 Trends in Biotechnology
  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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