SK8-18-2 human derived cells, fluorescence microscopy (29942101073)

An Official CRISPR Library For Genetic Silencing Guidance

While genetic modification tools like CRISPR have opened up new doors to making changes to genomes, it is still not as simple of a task as putting the CRISPR complex into a cell and having it go to work. It first must be given a target DNA sequence to focus on and, in most cases, […]

Root cyst nematode infection

Parasites Hijack Plant Stem Cells For Gall Tumor Growth

The horrors of nematodes may never cease, but they can teach us some surprising things, including a method of plant control that may completely alter our approach in dealing with the nematodes themselves. Infestation and Takeover The first step to explaining this new insight is to break down how the nematodes infect plants in the […]

Neural Stem Cells and Growth Hormone Receptor

Using CRISPR Proteins To Record A Video Clip Into Bacterial Genomes

Analyzing biological phenomena is often difficult to accomplish, even with modern technology. In many cases, for the actions of small biomolecules and other hard to see functioning parts of a cell, we can only take snapshots that tell us a moment in time. But that’s not all that helpful for understanding the actions of enzymes […]

Smallpox CAM

A Controversy of Biosafety and Bioethics: Horsepox and the Risks of Smallpox

The topic has been raised time and again over the years, especially with the advent of medical biotechnology and the capability to reconstruct genomes wholecloth. Even if science has the capability to make something, should it? Smallpox In The Room In this case and in several prior instances, the discussion has been about the reconstruction […]

Nicotiana tabacum 002

Plant Growth Is Mathematically Similar To Brain Neuron Development

Plant growth is such that plants always strive to maximize the amount of sunlight, their energy source, that is hitting their leaves at all times. Due to the often dense growing of many types of plants, it is a constant battle between them to either grow higher to overshadow the rest or seek other methods […]

Golden Rice

Vitamin Biofortification: Using Biotechnology To Improve Nutrition

Vitamin deficiencies plague practically every civilization in the world. Even in countries that are well-off, members of the population still have to watch their food intake and ensure that they are consuming an array of foods in order to meet their needs. Governments and food producers often supplement this by adding necessary vitamins into most […]

Corn and walnuts (26245603811)

First CRISPR Gene-Edited Crop Expected By 2020

Science in the field of biotechnology is changing rapidly and the effects of new technology is rippling out to affect many other parts of biology and medicine as a whole. It cannot be overstated how much of a revolution CRISPR tools have been and continue to be to dozens of scientific fields. While it may […]

HeLa-II

Increasing The Diversity of Life: The DOE’s Genome Project

The diversity of life on Earth is staggering to attempt to comprehend in its entirety. And the species that we are already aware of likely are but a fraction of the true multitude still to discover. This is especially so for the most numerous group in the kingdoms of life: bacteria. A Lack of Gene […]

E coli at 10000x

How To Control GMOs: Biocontainment and Genetically Modified Bacteria

When dealing with bacteria in a lab setting, it is often a requirement to ensure that the risk of the bacteria escaping from containment is as minimized as possible. This is especially so if developing bacteria that produce a substance that one wouldn’t want to allow to get into the wild. Escape Risk and Non-Competitiveness […]