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Cyanobacteria as a Key Ingredient in Sustainable Protein-Rich Foods

We all know that we ought to eat less meat and cheese and dig into more plant-based foods. But whilst perusing the supermarket cold display and having to choose between animal-based foods and more climate-friendly alternative proteins, our voices of reason don't always win.

28 Feb 2024

Novel Antibiotic Discovery: Harnessing Energy Compounds to Combat Bacterial Infections

About a decade ago, researchers in UC Santa Barbara chemistry professor Guillermo Bazan's lab began to observe a recurring challenge in their research: Some of the compounds they were developing to harness energy from bacteria were instead killing the microbes.

22 Feb 2024

Researchers Discover Core Genes for Bacteria Colonizing Plants

Using a novel experimental approach, Max Planck researchers have discovered a core set of genes required by commensal bacteria to colonize their plant hosts.

20 Dec 2023

Marine Bacteria Could Help Tackle Plastic Pollution in the Oceans

A bacterium that can degrade the common polymer polybutylene succinate (PBS), which naturally biodegrades to only a limited extent in marine environments, could lead to improved ways to recycle this polymer.

17 Oct 2023

Study Uncovers Genes in Gut Microbe That Play Key Role in Early Colonization After Fecal Microbe Transplant

Fecal microbe transplants from healthy donors can treat patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infections. However, after tens of thousands transplants,

16 Oct 2023

Researchers Develop Bio-Inspired Drug to Boost Efficacy of Cancer Immunotherapy

A new, bio-inspired drug restores the effectiveness of immune cells in fighting cancer, a team led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin has found.

10 Oct 2023

DNA Data Storage: The Next Frontier in Computer Technology

The hereditary molecule DNA can store a great deal of information over long periods of time in a very small space. For a good ten years, scientists have therefore been pursuing the goal of developing DNA chips for computer technology, for example for the long-term archiving of data.

25 Aug 2023

The BioICEP Project Turns Non-Biodegradable Plastics into New Biobased Materials for the Packaging and Pharmaceutical Industries

AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, forms part of the BioICEP project (Bio Innovation of a Circular Economy for Plastics), which started in February 2020 and is funded by the Horizon 2020 program.

23 Aug 2023

New Synthetic Catalyst Breaks Down Cellulose: Study

Yan Zhao gestured toward the trees outside his campus window on a rainy afternoon.

22 Aug 2023

Bioplastics From Black Soldier Flies: A Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Solution

Imagine using insects as a source of chemicals to make plastics that can biodegrade later -; with the help of that very same type of bug.

16 Aug 2023

Bioprocessing Breakthrough: Xheme Non-Toxic, Multifunctional Additive Eliminates Oxidative Stress

Oxidative stress, caused by an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants, regularly reduces the yield of pharmaceuticals and therapeutics produced via bioprocessing by about 10-15%. Now, Xheme, Inc.'s Xheme Multifunctional Additive (XMA), a programmable non-toxic nanoporous microparticle, has demonstrated the ability to significantly reduce or eliminate the damage of oxidative stress in bioprocessing conditions.

25 Jul 2023

Rensselaer Professor Receives $400,000 Grant to Study Deep Sea Enzymes

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Catherine Royer, Constellation Chair Professor of Bioinformatics and Biocomputation at the Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D. Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) and professor of biological sciences, has received a grant of over $400,000 from the National Science Foundation to investigate enzymes from organisms living in deep sea environments.

14 Jul 2023

Exploring How Molecules Organize in Cells

Large, complex molecules crowd the inside of a living cell. Recent research into how these molecules instantaneously organize themselves could assist in understanding how cells manage their vital biochemistry in a crowded environment.

12 Jul 2023

New Nanoparticle Developed Helps Improve the Delivery of mRNA-Based Vaccines

Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have developed a nanoparticle -; an extremely tiny biodegradable container -; that has the potential to improve the delivery of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-based vaccines for infectious diseases such as COVID-19, and vaccines for treating non-infectious diseases including cancer.

29 Jun 2023

Reengineering the Cellular Synthetic Machinery to Produce Never-Before-Seen Polymers

Synthetic biologists have become increasingly creative in engineering yeast or bacteria to churn out useful chemicals -; from fuels to fabrics and drugs -; beyond the normal repertoire of microbes.

14 Jun 2023

AIMPLAS Coordinates a New EU Project to Valorize Slaughterhouse Waste and Paper and Pulp Sludge for Agricultural and Personal Care Applications

AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, coordinates a new European project to valorize slaughterhouse waste (bellygrass or rumen content) and paper and pulp sludge, to produce cost-efficient polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) for agricultural and personal care applications, by the coprocessing with other organic wastes (OW) such as sludge from the dairy industry and glycerol from the biodiesel industry, as well as recovering nutrients to produce bio-based fertilizers (BBFs).

13 Jun 2023