Researchers create artificial mother-of-pearl using bacteria
The strongest synthetic materials are often those that intentionally mimic nature.
Materials Science
Apr 23, 2019
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Page 6 - News tagged with synthetic
Bioengineers add cooperative molecules to their toolkit for programming signal processing
Elaborate molecular networks inside living cells enable them to sense and process many signals from the environment to perform desired cellular functions. Synthetic biologists have been able to reconstruct and mimic simpler ...
Biotechnology
Apr 18, 2019
1
115
Yeast produce low-cost, high-quality cannabinoids
University of California, Berkeley, synthetic biologists have engineered brewer's yeast to produce marijuana's main ingredients—mind-altering THC and non-psychoactive CBD—as well as novel cannabinoids not found in the ...
Biotechnology
Feb 27, 2019
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Lefty or righty molecules lend a hand to material structures
As below, so above. That seems to be an operating principle for molecules that start with a basic chirality—or "handed-ness"—and pass it on as they combine into larger structures.
Materials Science
Feb 11, 2019
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69
Scientists coax proteins to form synthetic structures with method that mimics nature
Scientists have long dreamed of creating synthetic structures out of the same raw material that nature uses in living systems—proteins—believing such an advance would allow for the development of transformative nanomachines, ...
Biochemistry
Jan 14, 2019
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165
Scientists bring polymers into atomic-scale focus
From water bottles and food containers to toys and tubing, many modern materials are made of plastics. And while we produce about 110 million tons per year of synthetic polymers like polyethylene and polypropylene worldwide ...
Polymers
Nov 12, 2018
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137
Secondary building units (SBUs)—the turning point in the development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)
There is an urgent need to control materials on the molecular level to make "materials on demand." A strategy to develop such materials is in development in reticular chemistry, derived from the Latin translation "reticulum" ...
Computer model for designing protein sequences optimized to bind to drug targets
Designing synthetic proteins that can act as drugs for cancer or other diseases can be a tedious process: It generally involves creating a library of millions of proteins, then screening the library to find proteins that ...
Biochemistry
Oct 16, 2018
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81
Custom circuits for living cells
A team of Caltech researchers has developed a biological toolkit of proteins that can be assembled together in different ways, like Legos, to program new behaviors in cells. As a proof-of-concept, they designed and constructed ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 24, 2018
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220
In a first, scientists precisely measure how synthetic diamonds grow
Natural diamond is forged by tremendous pressures and temperatures deep underground. But synthetic diamond can be grown by nucleation, where tiny bits of diamond "seed" the growth of bigger diamond crystals. The same thing ...
Condensed Matter
Aug 3, 2018
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304
