Featured
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Letter |
Optogenetic regulation of engineered cellular metabolism for microbial chemical production
Finely tuned optogenetic control of engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae enhances the biosynthesis of valuable products such as isobutanol in laboratory-scale fermenters.
- Evan M. Zhao
- , Yanfei Zhang
- & José L. Avalos
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Letter |
Rewriting yeast central carbon metabolism for industrial isoprenoid production
Yeast central carbon metabolism has been engineered to achieve a more efficient isoprenoid biosynthesis pathway, an advance that brings commodity-scale production of such compounds a step closer.
- Adam L. Meadows
- , Kristy M. Hawkins
- & Annie E. Tsong
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Outlook |
Antibiotic resistance: An infectious arms race
Winning the fight against infectious bacteria requires staying ahead of the organisms' uncanny ability to flank our frontal assaults. By Karyn Hede.
- Karyn Hede
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Outlook |
Perspective: The age of the phage
It's time to use viruses that kill bacteria again, say Shigenobu Matsuzaki, Jumpei Uchiyama, Iyo Takemura-Uchiyama and Masanori Daibata.
- Shigenobu Matsuzaki
- , Jumpei Uchiyama
- & Masanori Daibata
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Outlook |
Perspective: Synthetic biology revives antibiotics
Re-engineering natural products provides a new route to drug discovery, says Gerard Wright.
- Gerard Wright
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Outlook |
Diagnostics: Detection drives defence
Devices that quickly identify bacterial infections would benefit health and slow the spread of resistance.
- Rebecca Kanthor
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Outlook |
Drug development: Time for teamwork
In the face of more drug-resistant bugs and fewer new drugs, partnerships promise a resurgence of antibiotics.
- Mike May
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Outlook |
Public health: The politics of antibiotics
Policy-makers and medical experts need to think globally if we are to prevent an antibiotic 'tragedy of the commons'.
- Megan Cully
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Outlook |
Microbiology: Resistance fighters
Science goes back to nature to decipher and disrupt the mechanisms by which germs evade antibiotics.
- Bill Cannon
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Outlook |
Drug discovery: Leaving no stone unturned
New antibiotic treatments could be found by combining novel and existing drugs, in drug-free nanoparticles, or at the bottom of the sea.
- Katharine Gammon
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Outlook |
Crop pests: Under attack
The threat of insects to agriculture is set to increase as the planet warms. What action can we take to safeguard our crops?
- Amy Maxmen
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Letter |
Integration of chemical catalysis with extractive fermentation to produce fuels
The integration of biological and chemocatalytic routes can be used to convert acetone–butanol–ethanol fermentation products efficiently into ketones by palladium-catalysed alkylation, leading to a renewable method for the alternative production of petrol, jet and diesel blend stocks in high yield.
- Pazhamalai Anbarasan
- , Zachary C. Baer
- & F. Dean Toste
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News |
Enzymes grow artificial DNA
Synthetic strands with different backbones replicate and evolve just like the real thing.
- Helen Shen
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Outlook |
Modernization: One step at a time
The repertoire of traditional Chinese medicine could offer rich pickings for modern drug developers, but researchers must first define and test herbal concoctions.
- Zhiguo Xu
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News |
Electrified bacterial filaments zap uranium
Mechanism by which microbes scrub radioactive contamination revealed.
- Lee Sweetlove
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Letter |
Engineered reversal of the β-oxidation cycle for the synthesis of fuels and chemicals
- Clementina Dellomonaco
- , James M. Clomburg
- & Ramon Gonzalez
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Outlook |
Algae: The scum solution
The green slime that covers ponds is an efficient factory for turning sunlight into fuel, but growing it on an industrial scale will take ingenuity.
- Neil Savage
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Research Highlights |
Bacterial chemical factories
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News |
Algae holds promise for nuclear clean-up
Organism's ability to distinguish strontium from calcium could help in dealing with nuclear waste.
- Richard A. Lovett
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News |
Marine microbes digest plastic
A 'little world' eating ocean garbage might be a mixed blessing.
- Gwyneth Dickey Zaikab
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Q&A |
Turning point: Louise Glass
Microbiologist Louise Glass's new fellowship will help her pursue a longstanding interest in converting fungi to bioenergy.
- Virginia Gewin
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Feature |
Public health: Food-safety sentinels
Disease outbreaks in recent years have revealed the vulnerability of food supplies. But they offer opportunities for those interested in waging war on microbes.
- Laura Cassiday
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Books & Arts |
Agriculture: Greenhouses in the sky
Emma Marris is intrigued by an optimistic vision of high–rise farms.
- Emma Marris
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Research Highlights |
Microbiology: Bacteria for breakfast
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News |
The mystery of the missing oil plume
Confounding reports seed confusion over long-term effects of the spill.
- Amanda Mascarelli
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Research Highlights |
Biotechnology: Fuel from microbes
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News |
Soil bacteria could yield drug to treat roundworm
The natural insecticide Bt treats infections in mice.
- Janet Fang
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News |
Altered microbe makes biofuel
Bacterium could work directly on grass or crop waste.
- Jeff Tollefson
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Letter |
Microbial production of fatty-acid-derived fuels and chemicals from plant biomass
The increasing cost of energy and concerns about the environment have emphasized the need to find new sources of fuel, with the microbial production of high-energy fuels a promising approach. Here, Escherichia coli is engineered to produce more complex biofuels — fatty esters (biodiesel), fatty alcohols and waxes — directly from simple sugars. Some cells are further engineered to express hemicellulases, a step towards producing these compounds directly from hemicellulose.
- Eric J. Steen
- , Yisheng Kang
- & Jay D. Keasling
Biosynthesis of medicinal tropane alkaloids in yeast
Antibiotics
Silk evolution untangled