All Articles Tagged As: genetic engineering

Genetically engineered tobacco plant cleans up environmental toxin (3/8/2010)

Tobacco might become as well known for keeping us healthy as it is for causing illness thanks to researchers from the UK. In a new research report appearing in the March 2010 print issue of the FASEB Journal scientists explain how they developed a genetically modified strain of tobacco that helps temper the damaging effects of toxic pond scum, scientifically known as microcystin-LR which makes water unsafe for drinking, swimming or fishing. ...> Full Article

NSF grant to launch world's first open-source genetic parts production facility (1/24/2010)

Bioengineers from UC Berkeley and Stanford are ramping up efforts to characterize the thousands of control elements critical to the engineering of microbes so that eventually, researchers can mix and match these "DNA parts" in synthetic organisms to produce new drugs, fuels or chemicals. Their new lab, called BIOFAB, was seeded with funds from NSF, and will provide tools, standardized parts, support and legal and ethical guidelines to further the field of synthetic biology. ...> Full Article

Research in green genetic engineering is indispensable (5/27/2009)

Science and business in Germany demand more reliable legal and political frameworks and a more open social climate in order to be able to better exploit the opportunities offered by green genetic engineering. With this objective, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft released a joint memorandum on May 13 in Berlin. ...> Full Article

Programming Biomolecular Self-Assembly Pathways (2/17/2008)

Nature knows how to make proteins and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) dance to assemble and sustain life. Inspired by this proof of principle, researchers at the California Institute of Technology have demonstrated that it is possible to program the pathways by which DNA strands self-assemble and disassemble, and hence to control the dynamic function of the molecules as they traverse these pathways. ...> Full Article

Benefits outweigh risks from genetically modified plants (1/24/2008)

New study urges public not to ban commercial production of genetically modified plants and animal as the risks are alarmist and exaggerated ...> Full Article

In diatom, scientists find genes that may level engineering hurdle (1/23/2008)

Denizens of oceans, lakes and even wet soil, diatoms are unicellular algae that encase themselves in intricately patterned, glass-like shells. Curiously, these tiny phytoplankton could be harboring the next big breakthrough in computer chips. ...> Full Article

Genetically modified carrots provide more calcium (1/17/2008)

Genetically modifying carrots to express increased levels of a gene that enables the transport of calcium across membranes of plant cells can make the vegetables a better source of calcium, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M University. Their report appears today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ...> Full Article

Molecular Evolution: Mice Given Bat-like Forelimbs Through Gene Switch (1/16/2008)

A research team led by Dr. Richard Behringer at MD Anderson Cancer Center reports that they have successfully switched the mouse Prx1 gene regulatory element with the Prx1 gene regulatory region from a bat -- and although these two species are separated by millions of years of evolution -- the resulting transgenic mice displayed abnormally long forelimbs. ...> Full Article

Genetically Engineered Corn May Harm Stream Ecosystems (10/9/2007)

A new study indicates that a popular type of genetically engineered corn--called Bt corn--may damage the ecology of streams draining Bt corn fields in ways that have not been previously considered by regulators. The study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, appears in the Oct. 8 edition of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ...> Full Article