/ en-us Âé¶čÒùÔș internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Âé¶čÒùÔșics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Inside our cells, ribosomes—the tireless "protein factories" of life—have just shown off a new skill they haven't used in billions of years. A research team has become the first in the world to successfully expand the range of ring-shaped backbones in proteins using ribosomes, which have traditionally only produced linear backbones. /news/2025-07-ribosomal-synthesis-cyclic-peptides-avenues.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 08 Jul 2025 16:15:04 EDT news671210101 In a world overrun with plastic garbage, causing untold environmental woes, University of Houston assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, Maksud Rahman, has developed a way to turn bacterial cellulose—a biodegradable material—into a multifunctional material with the potential to replace plastic. /news/2025-07-plastic-bacteria-cellulose.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 08 Jul 2025 13:10:01 EDT news671198855 If humans are ever going to live beyond Earth, they'll need to construct habitats. But transporting enough industrial material to create livable spaces would be incredibly challenging and expensive. Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) think there's a better way, through biology. /news/2025-07-bioplastic-algae-growth-mars-conditions.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 02 Jul 2025 14:00:16 EDT news670655882 A team of researchers at Rowan University has developed an injectable biomaterial that could significantly improve recovery outcomes following spinal cord injuries. The study, recently published in the journal Biomaterials, introduces a multifunctional hydrogel system designed to address the complex biological environment that hinders regeneration in the central nervous system. /news/2025-06-biomaterial-dual-therapies-nerve-spinal.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:19:04 EDT news670504741 A team of molecular and cellular chemists and biologists from Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego, has found that at least one type of octopus has taste sensors on its sucker cups that allow it to detect harmful chemicals. In their study, published in the journal Cell, the group tested the sensing ability of California two-spot octopuses. /news/2025-06-octopus-species-sensors-sucker-cups.html Plants & Animals Ecology Fri, 20 Jun 2025 06:50:01 EDT news669568279 Researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), UC Irvine, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), have used biology to convert human urine into a valuable product. The team genetically modified yeast to take the elements present in urine and create hydroxyapatite—a calcium and phosphorus-based mineral naturally produced by humans and other animals to build bones and teeth. /news/2025-06-genetically-yeast-valuable-materials-urine.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 17 Jun 2025 13:11:26 EDT news669384682 Researchers have identified a form of molecular motion that has not previously been observed. When what are known as "guest molecules"—molecules that are accommodated within a host molecule—penetrate droplets of DNA polymers, they do not simply diffuse in them in a haphazard fashion, but propagate through them in the form of a clearly-defined frontal wave. The team includes researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and the University of Texas at Austin. /news/2025-06-molecular-motion-guest-molecules-dna.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 12 Jun 2025 16:00:03 EDT news668962430 A team of biomedical researchers led by Michael Mak, Ph.D., in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, has developed a new method of bioprinting physiological materials. Called TRACE (Tunable Rapid Assembly of Collagenous Elements), the method solves previous problems of bioprinting natural materials of the body. /news/2025-06-collagen-based-method-previous-problems.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Mon, 09 Jun 2025 12:04:04 EDT news668689442 Inspired by the way viruses attach to cells, EPFL scientists have developed a method for engineering ultra-selective aptamers. /news/2025-06-ultra-aptamers-viruses-medicine.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 06 Jun 2025 09:03:03 EDT news668419381 Boise State University researchers have developed a new technique and platform to communicate with cells and help drive them toward cartilage formation. Their work leverages a 3D biocompatible form of carbon known as graphene foam and is featured on the cover of Applied Materials and Interfaces. /news/2025-06-graphene-foam-lab-grown-cartilage.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Wed, 04 Jun 2025 15:54:03 EDT news668271241 Scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC), in collaboration with national and international research centers, have identified a key immune cell subtype involved in the development of atherosclerosis. In a study published in Circulation Research, the team tested an experimental therapy in animal models based on immunosuppressive nanoparticles and demonstrated that it can slow disease progression. /news/2025-06-immunosuppressive-nanoparticles-atherosclerosis-animal.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 02 Jun 2025 16:59:04 EDT news668102342 Cardiovascular disease and kidney disease are two of the most urgent issues in global public health. In the United States alone, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than one in seven adults is affected by chronic kidney disease, while cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death. /news/2025-05-naturally-derived-nanoparticles-cardiovascular-kidney.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 29 May 2025 11:17:04 EDT news667736221 Since the discovery of penicillin nearly a century ago, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a stealthy, pervasive enemy in the fight against bacterial infections. AMR claims an estimated 1.27 million lives a year and contributed to nearly five million deaths in 2019, placing drug-resistant bacterial infections ahead of HIV and malaria as a global health threat. /news/2025-05-mirror-image-molecules-superbugs-infections.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 28 May 2025 11:52:00 EDT news667651914 Throughout its nearly 100-year manufacturing history, the crack resistance of natural rubber—one of the world's most widely used biomaterials—hasn't improved much. Until now. Materials researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have devised a way to produce natural rubber that retains its key properties of stretchiness and durability while greatly improving its ability to resist cracking, even after repeated cycles of use. /news/2025-05-rubber-material-ten-stronger-resistant.html Polymers Thu, 22 May 2025 13:11:41 EDT news667138295 A team led by scientists at the University of Nottingham's School of Pharmacy demonstrated a new cryogenic mass spectrometry approach for depth profiling frozen tiny lipid nanoparticles to reveal the layers and orientation of the constituent molecules. /news/2025-05-mass-spectrometry-method-surface-lipid.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 22 May 2025 11:42:04 EDT news667132921 Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a scalable, non-viral technology that efficiently delivers genetic material into human immune cells. The platform, called Nanostraw Electro-actuated Transfection (NExT), uses tiny hollow nanostructures and electrical pulses to insert a wide variety of biomolecules—proteins, mRNA and gene-editing tools—into immune cells with high efficiency and minimal disruption. /news/2025-05-gene-delivery-nanostraws-electrical-pulses.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 22 May 2025 11:35:05 EDT news667132501 Natural enzymes are remarkable molecular machines that enable all sorts of essential biochemical reactions. For decades, scientists have sought to create artificial versions of these catalysts for industrial and biomedical applications. However, they have struggled to match nature's efficiency and simplicity. This, in turn, has hindered the development of environmentally friendly catalysts for sustainable chemistry. /news/2025-05-efficient-artificial-enzymes-protein-cages.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Mon, 19 May 2025 12:43:04 EDT news666877382 Researchers at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) have developed a technique that could help advance treatments in tissue engineering. The study, published in the journal Small, introduces a technique for producing tissues with precise cellular organization designed to mimic the natural structure of human tissue. /news/2025-05-3d-hydrogels-cell-growth-functional.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 13 May 2025 12:27:02 EDT news666358021 A team of researchers from Brown University has developed a new nanotechnology-based approach that could improve treatment of fungal infections, particularly those caused by the increasingly drug-resistant Candida species. /news/2025-05-nanoparticles-effective-antifungal-treatments.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 12 May 2025 14:16:21 EDT news666278172 The University of Bayreuth's Biomaterials research group has, for the first time, successfully applied the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool to spiders. Following the genetic modification, the spiders produced red fluorescent silk. /news/2025-05-genetic-spiders-crisprcas-yields-silk.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 08 May 2025 09:55:03 EDT news665916901 What if doctors could guide life-saving treatments through the body using only a magnet? An interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering is bringing that concept closer to reality with the development of silk iron microparticles (SIMPs)—tiny, magnetic, and biodegradable carriers designed to precisely deliver drugs and treatments to sites in the body, like aneurysms or tumors. /news/2025-04-tiny-magnetic-silk-iron-particles.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 29 Apr 2025 16:54:04 EDT news665164442 If you haven't heard of a tardigrade before, prepare to be wowed. These clumsy, eight-legged creatures, nicknamed water bears, are about half a millimeter long and can survive practically anything: freezing temperatures, near starvation, high pressure, radiation exposure, outer space and more. Researchers reporting in the journal Nano Letters took advantage of the tardigrade's nearly indestructible nature and gave the critters tiny "tattoos" to test a microfabrication technique to build microscopic, biocompatible devices. /news/2025-04-scientists-tattoo-tardigrades.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 23 Apr 2025 09:20:04 EDT news664618802 Researchers at the University of Oxford have developed a new drug delivery system using ultrasound-activated nanoparticles to break through and destroy bacterial biofilms. This offers a promising solution that could address the global crisis of chronic antibiotic-resistant infections affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The work is published in npj Antimicrobials and Resistance. /news/2025-04-ultrasound-nanoparticles-biofilm-infections-lab.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 22 Apr 2025 10:10:06 EDT news664535402 A research team led by Prof. Liu Xuanyong from the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has introduced a pioneering antibacterial strategy that disrupts bacterial energy metabolism by interfering with proton and electron transfer in bacterial membranes. /news/2025-03-strategy-combats-implant-infections-starving.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 20 Mar 2025 14:03:04 EDT news661698182 Xolography is a novel light printing technique that has been explored for dental products and in-space manufacturing. At Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), this technique has now been adapted to 3D print living cells. This research can pave the way for 3D-printed kidneys and muscle tissue. The team pioneered the Xolography-based method to produce tiny structures with features as small as 20 ”m—approximately the size of a human cell. /news/2025-02-xolography-based-method-enables-3d.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Thu, 27 Feb 2025 15:55:28 EST news659894124 Novel protein cage systems can control and visualize orientational changes in aromatic side chains upon ligand binding, as reported by researchers at the Institute of Science, Tokyo. By inducing coordinated molecular changes, this approach enables precise control over protein dynamics while also enhancing fluorescence properties. /news/2025-02-protein-cage-conformational-aromatic-side.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Thu, 27 Feb 2025 11:10:06 EST news659877001 In a new study, scientists at UmeĂ„ University have found a way to break open the protective walls of pollen grains—one of the hardest biomaterials in the world—without damaging the inside cell and its components. /news/2025-02-scientists-toughest-biomaterials-clues-pollen.html Plants & Animals Cell & Microbiology Tue, 18 Feb 2025 12:56:03 EST news659105761 Synthetic biologists from Yale were able to re-write the genetic code of an organism—a novel genomically recoded organism (GRO) with one stop codon—using a cellular platform that they developed enabling the production of new classes of synthetic proteins. These synthetic proteins, researchers say, offer the promise of innumerable medical and industrial applications that can benefit society and human health. /news/2025-02-scientists-recode-genome-programmable-synthetic.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 06 Feb 2025 14:12:05 EST news658073521 A biomaterial that can mimic certain behaviors within biological tissues could advance regenerative medicine, disease modeling, soft robotics and more, according to researchers at Penn State. /news/2025-02-biomaterial-regenerative-medicine-scientists-acellular.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 03 Feb 2025 11:35:03 EST news657804901 Researchers from POSTECH and Kyungpook National University have developed a novel inhalable therapeutic delivery system for lung cancer, leveraging mucoadhesive protein nanoparticles inspired by the adhesive properties of marine mussels. /news/2025-01-inhalable-therapy-mussel-nanoparticles-lung.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 09 Jan 2025 12:58:04 EST news655649881