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Synthetic Biology Weekly Mashup – 6/01/2014
This is the first mashup of 2014 – Happy New Year from the whole Synbio Consulting team!
The Synthetic Biology mashup is a weekly review of articles and pieces of news related to synthetic biology. While we share most of this on our twitter feed, if you need to catch up on this week’s headlines just read on!
Glow-In-The-Dark Piglets Developed at the University of Hawaii-Manoa
Moisyadi’s lab (http://www.ibr.hawaii.edu/faculty/moisyadi.html) at the University of Hawaii-Manoa in collaboration with researchers from the South China Agricultural University successfully injected pig embryos with DNA coding for a green fluorescent protein, resulting in healthy “glow-in-the-dark” piglets. This technique, already successful in rabbits in August 2013 is an interesting first step towards human gene therapy and Moisyadi’s team is already looking into possible haemophilia treatments.
Rothamsted Research develops Plants Producing Omega-3 Fatty Acids
The UK biotech company, Rothamsted Research (http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/), has engineerd transgenic Camelina sativa specifically producing omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids into their seeds. There is hope that the genetically modified plant can be used for the production of healthier foods and for potential biofuels, as well as the relief of fish stocks. The findings were published in The Plant Journal.
“The GMO Stigma” an interesting article by Henry Miller.
The GMO debate was elegantly addressed this week by addressed by Henry I. Miller, a Robert Wesson Fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at Stanford University, in an article named “The GMO Stigma” that highlights the indistinguishable nature of food considered “natural” and “genetically modified”, based on a long history of human manipulation
Intrexon to Collaborate with Agilis Biotherapeutics and Johnson & Johnson
On New Year’s Eve Agilis Biotherapeutics, a synthetic biology company focused on rare genetic diseases, and Intrexon, announced an Exclusive Channel Collaboration to develop DNA-based therapeutics for Friedreich’s ataxia, a genetic neurodegenerative disease caused by a mutation in the frataxin gene. The two companies are planning to use an inducible gene switch technology to precisely regulate the expression of therapeutic proteins and bioactive RNAs. Intrexon has also agreed to collaborate with Johnson & Johnson , in the creation of a new range of skin and hair products that will be developed using synthetic biology techniques.
Using Synthetic Biology to lower american bats mortality rate caused by virulent fungal disease
Bats are very important ecologically, controlling insect populations and fertilizing crops. American bats are currently decimated by an important fungal disease with an almost 100% fatality rate. In the above article, Rob Carlson discusses a recent conference that brought together conservationists and synthetic biologists to find a solution to the epidemy. Advanced genetic engineering, whereby resistant European bats genes would be introduced into American bats was proposed in order to restore the natural population.
That’s it for this week’s Synthetic Biology Mashup! A suggestion or a question? Shoot us an email.
Synthetic Biology Weekly Mashup – 23/12/2013
The Synthetic Biology mashup is a weekly review of articles and pieces of news related to synthetic biology. While we share most of this on our twitter feed, if you need to catch up on this week’s headlines just read on!
Intrexon to Acquire Medistem for its Stem Cell Technology platform
This week Intrexon Corporation announced that it had agreed with Medistem Inc., a producer of endometrial regenerative cells (ERCs), to acquire it for $26 million. ERCs are adult stem cells capable of generating different tissues such as heart, brain, liver, bone and lung, proven to be safe and superior to other stem cells. Within Intrexon’s synthetic biology platform these cells could be engineered to produce specific therapeutic proteins and bioactive RNAs to treat cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Nobel Laureate Ramakrishnan Defends Genetic Engineering
In the recent debate over GM food, the Nobel laureate and fellow of the Royal Society,Venkataraman Ramakrishnan, spoke in favor of genetic modifications of agricultural crops. While observing the need for regulation, he believes in the benefit in developing drought resistant varieties, crops with more nutrients and with greater shelf life which could help reduce hunger.
New Protein Quantification Platform Published
The Maerkl Lab from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne published a paper this week presenting a new platform that combines microarrays and microfluidic techniques to quantify protein biomarkers in serum samples. The technique is significantly cheaper than currently available ELISA, while also providing higher throughput.
SynBio axlr8r partnering with Hello Tomorrow challenge
SynBio axlr8r a venture fund focusing on synthetic biology entrepreneurs is partnering with Hello Tomorrow challenge, a large European startup competition. SynBio axlr8r offers $30,000 in seed funding lab space as well as mentorship to help take an idea to a product. The new partnership should foster a new wave of synthetic biology startups.
That’s it for this week’s Synthetic Biology Mashup! A suggestion or a question? Shoot us an email.
Synthetic Biology Weekly Mashup – 16/12/2013
Shamees Aden synthetic biology running shoes concept
Germany-based Evonik Industries, an industrial biotechnology company, and US-based LanzaTech, a synthetic biology and gas fermentation industry, signed this week a 3-year research cooperation agreement. They are combining their expertise to develop a route for the production of bioprocessed precursors for specialty plastics from waste derived carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. They are planning to use LanzaTech proprietary microorganisms in fermenters to turn these gases from different waste streams, such as forestry, into chemical products. Through the use of synthetic biology tools, waste streams can be harvested and both companies aim to reduce the current dependence on fossil fuels and promote the use of green chemicals.
New Fungal Molecule with Anticancer Properties Identified through Crowdsourcing
Unusual fungal metabolites with antitumor activity were discovered through crowdsourcing, the cooperation of a number of lay citizens. A research group from the University of Oklahoma headed by Robert H. Cichewicz asked non-scientists to take part in the collection process by submitting soil samples from their properties along with the specific location. Using this approach, Andrew Miller at the University of Illinois uncovered a new fungal strain, Tolypocladium species, in a soil sample from Alaska. The strain was uniquely responsive to environmental changes, and produced several new compounds, including a metabolite with antitumor activity named maximiscin. The article published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition highlights the current contribution of citizen scientists in drug discovery.
Synthetic Biologics and Intrexon Target a Subset of Irritable Bowel Syndrome Cases
Synthetic Biologics, a biotechnology company focussed on the prevention and treatment of diseases, and Intrexon Corporation, a leader in synthetic biology, announced this week that they have initiated the development of novel biologic approach for a subset of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) pathologies caused by auto-antibodies. Some IBS cases can be caused by encounters with acute infectious gastroenteritis which have been observed by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Hospital to lead to an autoimmune response due to the cross-reaction of antibodies produced for the bacterial toxins and antibodies produced for a protein important for controlling gastrointestinal motility. Synthetic Biologics plans to use the available data, and by accessing Intrexon’s proprietary technologies, to develop a vaccine against the bacterial toxin that would not interfere with the gastrointestinal motility protein. Such treatment would be particularly beneficial for the subset of IBS patients that have so far no other option than supportive care. This is the third collaboration between these two companies since 2012 for the treatment of pathogen-specific diseases.
The iGEM Competition as a General Education Paradigm
This week Forbes published an article promoting the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition as an essential component of synthetic biology education. iGEM gathers every year teams of students from all over the world competing to design, build and test of synthetic organisms with useful properties The article presents iGEM as an innovative and unique way to best prepare the future leaders of synthetic biology through hands-on experience. It goes on to suggest that similar educational models could be adapted in other disciplines in order to best follow the exponential knowledge curve of the 21st century.
Synbo Consulting has been following really closely the development of iGEM and recently released the first interactive map of all iGEM projects ever done, providing an in-depth view at the Synthetic Biology ecosystem.
That’s it for this week’s Synthetic Biology Mashup! A suggestion or a question? Shoot us an email.