https://phys.org/biology-news/biotechnology/ en-us The latest science news on biotechnology The latest company to spin out of a Stanford Medicine lab is a biotech undertaking with 37,000 employees—and none of them are human. There's no lab space, no lunch breaks and no payroll. It's an artificial intelligence-powered virtual biotech company that's the brainchild of associate professor of biomedical data science James Zou, Ph.D., who is also the principal investigator of a virtual lab that launched in 2025, and graduate student Harrison Zhang. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-virtual-biotech-company-thousands-ai.html Biotechnology Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:00:10 EDT news708781621 Cephalopods are a group of soft-bodied marine mollusks that include cuttlefish, octopuses, squid and nautiluses. Many of these mollusks have muscular suckers on their arms that allow them to seize prey or grip other surfaces in their surroundings. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-cuttlefish-suckers-reveal-rough-prey.html Plants & Animals Thu, 17 Sep 2026 07:40:04 EDT news708600523 The ocean's aphotic zone—the dark, high-pressure region below the surface, where sunlight cannot reach—is home to a vast wealth of microbial life. Yet scientists know relatively little about the genetic makeup, growth and function of many of these enigmatic organisms. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-global-database-reveals-hidden-diversity.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:50:01 EDT news708793021 In recent years, numerous attempts have been made to use artificial intelligence to decipher the communication of bats, whales, birds and other animals. However, a new study led by a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University points to a fundamental problem with this approach: AI models focus on the physical properties of a sound, but this does not mean they understand the meaning attributed to it by the animal receiving it. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ai-struggles-decipher-animal-language.html Ecology Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:40:05 EDT news708786001 Scientists, clinicians, seed companies and others may soon have a new tool in their toolkit for detecting bacterial pathogens, thanks to a new study by researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. The research—published in Journal of Microbiological Methods—details a new method for detecting Pseudomonas syringae, a common bacterium that infects a wide variety of crops, vegetables and woody ornamentals. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-bacterial-invasion-proteins-crop-pathogens.html Biotechnology Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:20:08 EDT news708784504 Researchers at Queen Mary University of London are closer to understanding tendinopathy, a common condition that can cause persistent pain and impaired movement in people and many animals. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tendon-cells-rebound-stiffness-softer.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 16 Sep 2026 16:50:01 EDT news708789361 Genomic editing holds great potential yet continues to have limitations. Current methods either rely on untargeted gene delivery or short DNA edits that need to be individualized for each patient. A new paper published today in Nature describes a novel genome engineering method called prime assembly that allows long DNA fragments to be stitched into precise, programmable target positions within living cells. This approach may allow for the development of universal gene therapies that can be used for many patients. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-prime-multiple-mutations-universal-gene.html Biotechnology Wed, 16 Sep 2026 13:20:04 EDT news708776401 The mammalian gut microbiome teems with a delicate balance of bacteria and the viruses that keep them in check, called bacteriophages, or phages. Each bacterial species usually has its own set of phage partners. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-kind-phage-therapy-results-salmonella.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 16 Sep 2026 05:00:13 EDT news708701041 Microorganisms can do remarkable things—for example, nitrogen fixation, the conversion of nitrogen gas (N₂) into a form that organisms can use. Although nitrogen gas makes up around 78% of Earth's atmosphere, plants and animals cannot directly use it. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-stable-enzyme-deep-sea-microbe.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 15 Sep 2026 14:00:06 EDT news708691262 Deep in the ocean, brown algae and diatoms produce a complex carbohydrate molecule called fucoidan, which helps form their protective outer layers. The fucoidan molecule is very difficult for microbes to break down because its chemical structure may include dozens of different linkages and branching patterns that vary from one algal species to another. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-marine-bacteria-team-ocean-toughest.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:00:04 EDT news708689641 Cell membranes and the proteins within them control many vital processes and play a key role in health and disease. But studying them in 3D images of cells has so far meant slow, manual work. A team from Helmholtz Munich, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Biozentrum of the University of Basel has developed MemBrain v2, an AI tool that automates this task—cutting work that once took weeks down to a few hours. The study is published in Nature Methods. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ai-automates-3d-membrane-manual.html Cell & Microbiology Sun, 13 Sep 2026 14:00:06 EDT news708084515 A study by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons has found that new cutting-edge techniques can accurately edit genes in human embryos—giving scientists indispensable tools for understanding normal human development—but has also uncovered important risks that currently preclude the use of the techniques in the clinic. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-human-embryo-base-cells-unpredictable.html Cell & Microbiology Sat, 12 Sep 2026 12:00:01 EDT news708186452 New research shows how artificial intelligence, combined with advanced experimental science, can help find "hidden" and unexplored proteins in the human body and reveal what they actually do, according to a new study published in Nature. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ai-hidden-human-proteins-reveals.html Biotechnology Fri, 11 Sep 2026 17:40:05 EDT news708351781 Researchers from the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMCAS) have characterized the structural and functional properties of the emerging SARS-CoV-2 sublineage BA.3.2.2 by studying RE.2.2, the lineage designation for the BA.3.2.2 branch gaining prevalence after prolonged low detection in European surveillance datasets. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-emerging-sars-cov-sublineage-re22.html Biotechnology Fri, 11 Sep 2026 17:20:01 EDT news708348902 Body weight monitoring is one of the most important tools for poultry farmers. It provides valuable information about growth, uniformity, feed conversion efficiency—how well birds turn feed into meat—and the occurrence of diseases in a flock. But obtaining frequent and accurate body weight measurements is a significant challenge in commercial poultry production, according to researchers at Penn State who may have developed a solution. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-turkey-ai-body-weight-weeks.html Biotechnology Fri, 11 Sep 2026 11:20:08 EDT news708339304 Editing a plant's genes is only half the battle. Before a new, improved trait can ever reach a farmer's field, scientists must be able to grow a whole plant from just a few edited cells—a process that can be slow, unreliable and, for some plant species, impossible. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-crispr-combo-regeneration-hard-perennial.html Biotechnology Thu, 10 Sep 2026 17:20:05 EDT news708263041 Researchers have developed an AI-based system that automatically and objectively detects the moment when fish experience loss of equilibrium (LOE) due to temperature stress. The system combines DeepLabCut, a deep-learning AI that captures animal posture from video, with ResNet34, a deep-learning AI-based image classification technology. Their system is expected to help predict the effects of climate change on fish. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ai-fish-thermal-limit.html Plants & Animals Thu, 10 Sep 2026 05:00:06 EDT news708104701 Cadmium is a naturally occurring, toxic heavy metal found in many soils across Latin America and the Caribbean, where cacao trees are widely cultivated. It makes its way into cocoa seeds, called beans, that are roasted and made into chocolate, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)—but some cacao varieties take up less of the toxic element than others. An international team of researchers, including Penn State scientists, found genetic differences in how two varieties managed cadmium uptake and facilitated the metal's movement throughout the plant. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-cacao-genetics-breeders-heavy-metal.html Biotechnology Wed, 09 Sep 2026 17:00:06 EDT news708179226 University of Missouri researchers are paving the way as artificial intelligence transforms biomedical research. A team from the College of Engineering and collaborators recently published one of the most comprehensive reviews to date of an emerging AI approach for biology known as flow matching. The work, published in Nature Machine Intelligence, provides scientists around the world with a roadmap for applying the technology to accelerate drug discovery, precision medicine and other biomedical advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ai-powered-biomedical-discoveries.html Biotechnology Wed, 09 Sep 2026 16:40:05 EDT news708177607 It can't be heard, but different parts of the human body are in constant conversation, communicating to keep the entire system running efficiently. For biologists, being able to listen in on this discussion is a long-sought-after goal. Over the years, researchers have caught snippets of these exchanges, but the complete dialogue has remained out of reach. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-wholistic-view-cellular-communication-entire.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 09 Sep 2026 11:00:15 EDT news708168661 Every cell relies on ribosomes, the molecular machines that read genetic instructions and use them to assemble proteins. A cell needs thousands of types of proteins at any one time, so ribosomes must be generalists, capable of using instructions to produce any protein. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-rewire-ribosomes-specialize-protein.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 08 Sep 2026 19:40:01 EDT news708105962 From repairing damaged tissues to developing better implants, many medical developments depend on materials that can mimic the complex properties of human tissue. Meta-biomaterials are among the most promising candidates. By tailoring their geometry, researchers can create materials with properties similar to those of natural tissues. But there is a catch: Changing one property often changes several others at the same time. TU Delft scientists have now developed a method to decouple these properties. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-untangling-meta-biomaterial-puzzle-property.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 08 Sep 2026 19:00:07 EDT news708103801 A new fluorescence microscopy technique that generates super-resolution images from a single camera exposure could help researchers study rapid movements within cells that are difficult to capture with existing methods. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-super-resolution-imaging-reveals-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 08 Sep 2026 08:40:08 EDT news708075481 Conformational changes in proteins are vital to their function yet remain challenging for state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, such as AlphaFold3, to predict. Researchers at the Institute for Molecular Science (IMS), and the Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI introduced a repulsive force between predicted structures, allowing AlphaFold3 to sample the multiple conformational states that its default settings rarely capture. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-alphafold-limits-proteins.html Biotechnology Sat, 05 Sep 2026 17:00:05 EDT news707472556 In recent years, scientists have developed methods to measure a cell's transcriptome, or all the RNA produced by a cell, to study the cell's identity and genetic activity. However, these methods rely on killing the cell to access the bits of RNA within and offer only a one-time snapshot. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-virus-particles-enable-gene-tracking.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:00:02 EDT news707739962 When a patient's DNA is read, it is compared with a reference version of the human genome. This allows geneticists and rare disease experts to look at a list of places where the patient's DNA differs. Most variations will be harmless and shared with millions of other people, but some can cause illness. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tools-rare-mutations-dangerous.html Biotechnology Thu, 03 Sep 2026 17:20:07 EDT news707660881 Scientists have revealed a bizarre microscopic creature that reproduces in a way reminiscent of the horror film" Alien." The microbe grows one or more new cells inside its own body before the outer "mother" cell ruptures to release them, a reproductive strategy never before seen in its group of organisms. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-scottish-pregnant-grandmother-microbe-offspring.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 03 Sep 2026 14:40:01 EDT news707654402 A broken rib from Scotty, the largest T. rex skeleton discovered, is helping scientists uncover new information about life on Earth 66 million years ago. Scotty's rib preserves something rarely seen in the fossil record: a healing injury frozen in time. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-neutron-bone-imaging-rex-life.html Biotechnology Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:20:11 EDT news707652061 There are millions of species of bacteria and archaea on Earth, remarkably little is known about most of them. Now, researchers have mined the genomes of thousands of microorganisms preserved at the RIKEN BioResource Research Center (BRC) to find organisms that may be capable of capturing CO2. BRC, located in Tsukuba—one of Japan's largest centers of scientific research—is a unique, world-class research facility. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-microbial-dark-yields-potential-carbon.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 03 Sep 2026 11:40:09 EDT news707649132 In the ocean, plastic waste collects to form large garbage patches that endanger marine life. This is partly because the synthetic plastic polymers used today can only be broken down biologically—that is, by microorganisms—at a very slow rate. Instead, the physical fragmentation of these materials leads to the formation of microplastics and nanoplastics. However, microorganisms do colonize plastic waste in the environment, forming biofilms and creating a unique microbial habitat that researchers refer to as the "plastisphere." https://phys.org/news/2026-09-pac-enzyme-bioplastics-penicillin-laboratory.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 02 Sep 2026 16:00:07 EDT news707579701