A group of researchers from the University of Nottingham and the University of Maastricht have succeeded to employ a bacterium that is widespread in soil in order to fight cancer. They managed to modify a bacterial strain to specifically targets tumors without harming healthy tissue, and it could be used as a vehicle to deliver… »
Technology developed during the long-running research conducted on the International Space Station is opening up a new way to keep hospital patients safe from infections. By using plasma (superheated, electrically charged gas), Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics director Gregor Morfill is developing ways to kill bacteria and viruses that can cause infections in hospitals…. »
Making living logic gates today is not as hard as it was previously predicted by scientists. As we mentioned in one of our previous articles regarding genetically modified yeast cells, these systems suffer from the signal noise that occurs after a single cell has been stuffed with many functions. A team of researchers from the… »
A bacteria that can knit together cracks in concrete structures by producing a special ‘glue’ has been developed by a team of students at Newcastle University. The genetically-modified microbe has been programmed to swim down fine cracks in the concrete. Once at the bottom, BacillaFilla produces a mixture of calcium carbonate and a bacterial glue… »
Within the sludge of wastewater treatment plants is an invisible world teeming with microbes. Here, diverse species of bacteria convert solid and liquid wastes into gases, some of which contribute to global warming. Two Stanford University engineers are developing a new sewage treatment process that would actually increase the production of nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”)… »
Although the potential benefits of the technology could have have been over-stated, and it could introduce the dangers posed by synthetic organisms, it is a scientific landmark that deserved to become an article in our archive. Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first living cell to be controlled entirely by synthetic DNA…. »
It is estimated that there are between 15,000 and 20,000 annual casualties caused by landmines and unexploded explosive devices, according to the charity Handicap International. Some 87 countries contain minefields including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Somalia, Mozambique, Cambodia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Scientists have developed a simple, cheap, and yet accurate test to find undetected landmines. Students… »
