Two years ago, a consortium of scientists, lawyers, and entrepreneurs announced a plan to synthesise an artificial human genome from scratch – an extremely ambitious endeavour that’s struggled to secure funding. Project organisers have now disclosed details of a scaled-down version of the venture, but with a goal that’s still quite audacious: creating human cells that are invulnerable to infections.
In 2018, We Will CRISPR Human Beings
Ever since 2012, when researchers first discovered that bacterial immune systems could be hijacked to edit DNA in living creatures, CRISPR has been hailed as a maker of revolutions. This was the year that prediction felt like it was starting to come true.
Microsoft To Use DNA To Store Data In The Cloud
An article at MIT Technology Review says some early work at Microsoft Research is looking at how to encode documents in DNA. The aim is to have some sort of working model by the end of this decade, with the tagline “Your Storage with DNA” being bandied about.
Scientist Live-Blogs His Lab’s Attempts to Generate New Type of Stem Cells
In the latest twist in the story of STAP cells, a new kind of stem cell described in two Nature papers in January, a scientist is live-blogging his latest attempt to generate the cells.
A powerful new way to manipulate DNA
In the late 1980s, scientists at Osaka University in Japan noticed unusual repeated DNA sequences next to a gene they were studying in a common bacterium. They mentioned them in the final paragraph of a paper: “The biological significance of these sequences is not known.”
‘Grow your own’ stem cells a game changer, say scientists
London: In experiments that could open a new era in stem cell biology, scientists have found a simple way to reprogram mature animal cells back into an embryonic-like state that allows them to generate many types of tissue.
Google tackles immortality with launch of health company Calico
Google is looking for the Fountain of Youth in its latest expansion beyond internet search.
Cambridge Consultants works on project designed to catch rhino poachers
A technology consulting firm with a 35-person office in Kendall Square is now testing an early-warning system designed to protect Kenyan rhinos and elephants from poachers.
Electronic Skin May Help Amputees Sense Touch, Temperature, Humidity
This post was originally published on Mashable.
A team of scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has discovered a medical breakthrough that could allow amputees to glean a better sense their surroundings.
Flexible Solar Panels 3D Printed By Australian Scientists
Australian scientists have found a way to print large but extremely lightweight and flexible solar panels like money.