See also stories tagged with Biological Engineering
Changing market conditions are increasing the need for cost-effective ways to produce biorenewable chemicals, biofuels and materials that can serve as alternatives to oil-based products. According to Costas Maranas, Robert ...
Cell function is determined by how DNA is expressed into proteins. That process includes two main steps—transcription, when messenger RNA (mRNA) makes copies of active genes; and translation, when mRNA guides protein assembly.
Proteins are critical to life—and to industry. There are countless proteins that could be engineered to treat and even cure serious diseases and cellular dysfunctions. Industrial applications are similarly promising, with ...
Just as the human body relies on organs such as the heart or liver for essential functions, cells depend on their own tiny organs, or organelles, to carry out vital tasks, including transporting nutrients, removing waste, ...
In tissue engineering, the tiniest bit of improper force can harm a living culture. Spheroids—3D clumps of cells—can be used to model complex human tissues, because they can re-create specific cell-to-cell and cell-to-matrix ...
For most of their lives, plants get their energy from photosynthesis. But during the seed to seedling stage, when they can't absorb light just yet, they rely on other sources, like fatty acids. To process the fatty acids, ...
There's a surprising amount of science in a bag of potato chips. Researchers have spent decades developing potatoes for chip makers that can grow in all kinds of climates, avoid diseases and pests, sit in storage for months ...
Enzymes called proteases act like molecular scissors for proteins in the body and play a role in therapies to stop viruses from replicating and to kill cancer cells. The development of these medicines, however, has been slowed ...
University of California San Diego researchers have developed a new tool for understanding and modifying any microbiome, including the human microbiome. The approach, called Microbial Interaction and Niche Determination (MIND), ...
Biological tissues have a remarkable ability to organize and change shape, driven by forces generated by their own cells. One of the major challenges in bioengineering is harnessing this natural behavior to design synthetic ...
