News & Views |
Featured
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Four steps to avoid a synthetic-biology disaster
Assess the ecological risks of synthetic microbes before they escape the lab, say Genya V. Dana, Todd Kuiken, David Rejeski and Allison A. Snow.
- Genya V. Dana
- , Todd Kuiken
- & Allison A. Snow
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Outlook |
Q&A: Circuit capacity
A Boston University biomedical engineer, Collins reprograms organisms to endow them with novel or improved functions. Nature Outlook asks him how things are evolving.
- James Collins
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Outlook |
Synthetic Biology: Bits and pieces come to life
Scientists are combining biology and engineering to change the world.
- James Collins
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Article |
A sensing array of radically coupled genetic ‘biopixels’
Thousands of quorum-sensing Escherichia coli colonies are synchronized over centimetres using redox signalling to create ‘biopixels’ that can sense trace amounts of arsenic in water.
- Arthur Prindle
- , Phillip Samayoa
- & Jeff Hasty
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Research Highlights |
Two-in-one biofuel maker
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News |
Bioengineers debate use of military money
US Department of Defense’s call for greener ways to make explosives worries synthetic biologists.
- Erika Check Hayden
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News |
Rice seed yields blood protein
Human serum albumin from transgenic rice could ease shortages of donated blood.
- Lauren Gravitz
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News & Views |
A yeast for all reasons
Scientists have begun to overhaul a yeast's genome to make it more stable, engineerable and evolvable. Remarkably, the part-natural, part-synthetic yeast cells function and reproduce without obvious ill effects. See Letter p.471
- Peter J. Enyeart
- & Andrew D. Ellington
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News |
Yeast thrives with partially synthetic genome
Study paves way for large-scale engineering of complex cells.
- Roberta Kwok
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Letter |
Synthetic chromosome arms function in yeast and generate phenotypic diversity by design
- Jessica S. Dymond
- , Sarah M. Richardson
- & Jef D. Boeke
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Research Highlights |
Bacteria engineered to kill
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News |
Set a bug to kill a bug
Engineered bacteria attack lethal infection with its own weapons.
- Marian Turner
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Research Highlights |
RNA scaffolds boost biosynthesis
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News |
Life hackers seek new tools
Field aims to enlist techniques from molecular biology to attack fundamental challenges.
- Erika Check Hayden
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Technology Feature |
The next step for the synthetic genome
Biologists have copied an existing genetic code, but haven't yet commercialized it or written their own. What will it take for a tour de force to reach industrial force?
- Monya Baker
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Letter |
A synthetic homing endonuclease-based gene drive system in the human malaria mosquito
- Nikolai Windbichler
- , Miriam Menichelli
- & Andrea Crisanti
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News |
US report sets ground rules for artificial life
Synthetic biology needs oversight not over-regulation, commission finds.
- Meredith Wadman
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Research Highlights |
Synthetic biology: Bacterial cyborg transmits electrons
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Books & Arts |
Synthetic biology: Living quarters
Synthetic biology could offer truly sustainable approaches to the built environment, predict Rachel Armstrong and Neil Spiller.
- Rachel Armstrong
- & Neil Spiller
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News Feature |
Garage biotech: Life hackers
Amateur hobbyists are creating home-brew molecular-biology labs, but can they ferment a revolution?
- Heidi Ledford
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Column |
World view: Not by experts alone
More and earlier public involvement is required to steer powerful new technologies wisely, says Daniel Sarewitz.
- Daniel Sarewitz
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News |
DNA factory builds up steam
First reliable components for synthetic biology could be available by the end of the year.
- Alla Katsnelson
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News |
Bioethics gets an airing
Amy Gutmann, chair of the US presidential bioethics commission, discusses the challenges of bringing synthetic biology to the public arena.
- Meredith Wadman
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Column |
World view: Talking the talk
Without effective public engagement, there will be no synthetic biology in Europe, says Colin Macilwain.
- Colin Macilwain
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News |
Synthetic genome resets biotech goals
The assembly of a genome that can 'reboot' cells of a closely related species is one step in a much longer path.
- Alla Katsnelson
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Opinion |
Life after the synthetic cell
Nature asked eight synthetic-biology experts about the implications for science and society of the “synthetic cell” made by the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI). The institute's team assembled, modified and implanted a synthesized genome into a DNA-free bacterial shell to make a self-replicating Mycoplasma mycoides.
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News |
Sizing up the 'synthetic cell'
Nature asked eight experts about the implications of the J. Craig Venter Institute's latest creation.
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Research Highlights |
Synthetic biology: Search and destroy
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Editorial |
Ten years of synergy
Contributions to and from basic science are the part of synthetic biology that most deserves celebration.
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News & Views |
Synchronized bacterial clocks
By synchronizing clocks, humans make more efficient use of their time and orchestrate their activities in different places. Bacteria have now been engineered that similarly coordinate their molecular timepieces.
- Martin Fussenegger
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News Feature |
Five hard truths for synthetic biology
Can engineering approaches tame the complexity of living systems? Roberta Kwok explores five challenges for the field and how they might be resolved.
- Roberta Kwok
Favouring the unfavoured
Double whammy for HIV