Lifeboat Foundation

Because of their unique physical, photonic, thermal, and electronic capabilities, two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures have exhibited tremendous promise in the domains of bioengineering, sensing, and energy storage.

Study: Two Dimensional Silicene Nanosheets: A New Choice of Electrode Material for High-Performance Supercapacitor. Image Credit: Quardia/Shutterstock.com.

Nonetheless, combining silicon-based nanomaterials into high-performance power storage systems remains a largely undeveloped subject because of the complex manufacturing process. New work published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces hope to address this problem by effectively integrating silicene nanosheets into a high-voltage supercapacitor.

Multiple gene editing of soybean can improve photosynthesis and boost crop yields by 20%, according to a study by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Summary: Researchers have developed a cornea implant from the collagen protein of pig skin. The implant restored the vision of 20 people with diseased corneas. The new implant could be a viable alternative to human cornea transplantation.

Source: Linkoping University.

Researchers and entrepreneurs have developed an implant made of collagen protein from pig’s skin, which resembles the human cornea. In a pilot study, the implant restored vision to 20 people with diseased corneas, most of whom were blind prior to receiving the implant.

For the first time, RIPE researchers have proven that multigene bioengineering of photosynthesis increases the yield of a major food crop in field trials. After more than a decade of working toward this goal, a collaborative team led by the University of Illinois has transgenically altered soybean plants to increase the efficiency of photosynthesis, resulting in greater yields without loss of quality.

Results of this magnitude couldn’t come at a more crucial time. The most recent UN report, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022, found that in 2021 nearly 10% of the world population was hungry, a situation that has been steadily worsening over the last few years and eclipsing all other threats to global health in scale. According to UNICEF, by 2030, more than 660 million people are expected to face food scarcity and malnutrition. Two of the major causes of this are inefficient food supply chains (access to food) and harsher growing conditions for crops due to climate change. Improving access to food and improving the sustainability of food crops in impoverished areas are the key goals of this study and the RIPE project.

Continue reading “Bioengineering better photosynthesis increases yields in food crops” »

As a scientist, I am driven by the power of technological breakthroughs to make positive change for humanity. While I also take immense pleasure in the artistic/creative aspects of technology design, my motivation is centered on helping people and on protecting the future of the human species. For this reason, I am interested in a wide array of contemporary challenges as described in this outline. Because I am a synthetic biologist and synthetic biology has many applications, I have the ability to explore solutions to such diverse challenges despite their highly multidisciplinary nature.

That said, one of the tools in any good researcher’s repertoire is collaboration. Since I am just one person, my knowledge can only go so deep in so many areas. Interdisciplinary projects are much more likely to succeed when experts from multiple areas work together. So, I leverage collaboration extensively when carrying out my projects and will continue to do so in the future.

It should be noted that, though I am publicly presenting a number of conceptual explanations of possible solutions to important problems via this list, I have deliberately stated them in somewhat vague language to prevent their public disclosure from precluding outside investment.

O.o!!!!!

Changing the number of chromosomes an animal has can take millions of generations to happen in nature through the course of evolution – and now, scientists have been able to make these same changes in lab mice in a relative blink of an eye.

The new technique using stem cells and gene editing is a major accomplishment, and one that the team is hoping will reveal more about how the rearrangement of chromosomes can influence the way that animals evolve over time.

Continue reading “Scientists Just Genetically Edited a Million Years of Evolution Into Mouse DNA” »

Mathematical models suggest that with just a few more genes, it might be possible to define hundreds of cellular identities, more than enough to populate the tissues of complex organisms. It’s a finding that opens the door to experiments that could bring us closer to understanding how, eons ago, the system that builds us was built.

The Limits of Mutual Repression

Developmental biologists have illuminated many tipping points and chemical signals that prompt cells to follow one developmental pathway or another by studying natural cells. But researchers in the field of synthetic biology often take another approach, explained Michael Elowitz, a professor of biology and bioengineering at Caltech and an author of the new paper: They build a system of cell-fate control from scratch to see what it can tell us about what such systems require.

Matthew Cobb’s latest book is a disturbing history of genetic engineering, which asks whether it is worth the money – or the risk.

This finding “proved” the significance of chromosomal rearrangement, a crucial evolutionary indicator of the emergence of a new species.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) claim to have found a novel technique for programmable chromosome fusion successfully producing mice with genetic changes “that occur on a million-year evolutionary scale” in the laboratory.

The findings could shed light on how chromosome rearrangements—the tidy packages of organized genes provided in equal numbers by each parent, which align and trade or blend traits to produce offspring—influence evolution, reported Phys.org on Thursday.

Continue reading “Researchers engineer first sustainable chromosome changes in mice” »