Using mycelium to create a self-healing wearable leather-like material
Apr 2023, phys.org
Mushroom leather made of mycelium mats
via Newcastle and Northumbria Universities: Elise Elsacker et al, Fungal Engineered Living Materials: The Viability of Pure Mycelium Materials with Self‐Healing Functionalities, Advanced Functional Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202301875
Image credit: AI Art - Bioalchemy Neural Net 1 - 2023
New biocomputing method uses enzymes as catalysts for DNA-based molecular computing
May 2023, phys.org
Traditional computer hardware is limited in its ability to interface with living organs, which has constrained the development of medical devices. Through the use of biological molecules such as DNA or proteins, biocomputing has the potential to overcome these limitations.Biocomputing is typically done either with live cells or with non-living, enzyme-free molecules. This team has developed a platform for a third method of biocomputing: Trumpet, or Transcriptional RNA Universal Multi-Purpose GatE PlaTform."Trumpet is a non-living molecular platform, so we don't have most of the problems of live cell engineering. We don't have to overcome evolutionary limitations against forcing cells to do things they don't want to do."
via University of Minnesota: Judee A. Sharon et al, Trumpet is an operating system for simple and robust cell-free biocomputing, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37752-x
Scientists make common pain killers from pine trees instead of crude oil
Jul 2023, phys.org
Using the "biorefinery" approach, the precursors for paracetamol and ibuprofen, as well as beta-blockers and an asthma inhaler drug, as well as other chemicals for perfumes and cleaning products have all been made from biorenewable β-pinene, a component of turpentine and by-product from the paper industry. (Because using oil to make pharmaceuticals is unsustainable.)
via University of Bath: Joshua Dale Tibbetts et al, Sustainable Syntheses of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen from Biorenewable β‐pinene, ChemSusChem (2023). DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202300670
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| AI Art - Bioalchemy Neural Net 2 - 2023 |
3D-printed 'living material' could clean up contaminated water
Sep 2023, phys.org
"Engineered living material" - 3D-printed structure made of a seaweed-based polymer called alginate and bacteria that have been genetically engineered to produce an enzyme that transforms various organic pollutants into benign molecules. The bacteria were also engineered to self-destruct in the presence of a molecule called theophylline, which is often found in tea and chocolate. "What's innovative is the pairing of a polymer material with a biological system to create a living material."
via University of California San Diego Materials Research Science and Engineering Center: Debika Datta et al, Phenotypically complex living materials containing engineered cyanobacteria, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40265-2
Metal-loving microbes offer a green way to refine rare earth elements
Oct 2023, phys.org
Cornell scientists have characterized the genome of Shewanella oneidensis - a metal-loving bacteria with an affinity for rare earth elements - to replace the harsh chemical processing with a benign practice called biosorption.
via Cornell: Sean Medin et al, Genomic characterization of rare earth binding by Shewanella oneidensis, Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42742-6
New pipeline makes valuable organic acid from plants—saving money and emissions
Oct 2023, phys.org
They're making succinic acid from sugarcane using Issatchenkia orientalis, a yeast like Saccharomyces cerevisiae or the bacteria Escherichia coli, but one that thrives in pH 3-4 acidic conditions. This means it doesn't produce unwanted by-products that need to be separated-out at high cost.The researchers did extensive metabolic engineering to rewire I. orientalis to produce robust levels of succinic acid, which is widely used additive for food and beverages.
via University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation, and Princeton: Vinh G. Tran et al, An end-to-end pipeline for succinic acid production at an industrially relevant scale using Issatchenkia orientalis, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41616-9
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| AI Art - Bioalchemy Neural Net 3 - 2023 |
Scientists report completion of chromosome XI, a major step towards creating the world's first synthetic yeast
Nov 2023, phys.org
World's first synthetic yeast genome -- The synthetic chromosome has replaced one of the natural chromosomes of a yeast cell and, after a painstaking debugging process, now allows the cell to grow with the same fitness level as a natural cell. The synthetic genome will not only help scientists to understand how genomes function, but it will have many applications.
via University of Nottingham and Imperial College London: Synthetic yeast chromosome XI design provides a testbed for the study of extrachromosomal circular DNA dynamics, Cell Genomics (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2023.100418.
Charged 'molecular beasts' as the foundation for new chemical compounds
Nov 2023, phys.org
They are modifying mass spectrometers to synthesize new molecules.
Note that a mass spectrometer is supposed to break things apart so you can look at them one by one, but this is now making entirely new chemicals with parts of the broken molecules.
The basic strategy of controlling reactive chemicals in mass spectrometers is not new, but the substances are only produced in tiny quantities and cannot be extracted. They are destroyed when the signal used for analyses is generated.
They're doing "preparative mass spectrometry" and making new molecules.
via Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at Leipzig University: Markus Rohdenburg et al, Chemical Synthesis with Gaseous Molecular Ions: Harvesting [B12Br11N2]− from a Mass Spectrometer, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2023). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202308600
New antibiotic approach proves promising against Lyme bacterium
Nov 2023, phys.org
Change some of the words, or not even, and it sounds like the most diabolical scifi weapon scenario:
"This transport mechanism gets internalized in the bacterium and brings in a molecule that causes what we've described as a berserker reaction - a programmed death response," said lead author Timothy Haystead, Ph.D., professor in Duke's Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology. "It wipes out the bacteria - sterilizes the culture with a single dose of light. And then when you look at what occurs with electron microscopy, you see the collapse of the chromosome."
via Duke University Medical Center: Dave L. Carlson et al, Targeting Borrelia burgdorferi HtpG with a berserker molecule, a strategy for anti-microbial development, Cell Chemical Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2023.10.004
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