Hacker News with Generative AI: Biotechnology

The disease-fighting promise of mRNA (phys.org)
In recent years, mRNA technology enabled the rapid development of vaccines to fight COVID-19, saving millions of lives.

mRNA Vaccines, COVID-19, Medicine, Science, Biotechnology

11 points by PaulHoule 3 days ago | 0 comments

Bite-sized chunks of chicken with the texture of whole meat can be grown in lab (phys.org)
A bioreactor that mimics a circulatory system can deliver nutrients and oxygen to artificial tissue, enabling the production of over 10 grams of chicken muscle for cultured meat applications. These results are published in Trends in Biotechnology.

Cultured Meat, Food Technology, Biotechnology, Science

8 points by gmays 4 days ago | 1 comments

Acoustic levitation of diamond inspires biotech automation innovation (phys.org)
Engineers at a University of Bristol spin-out company have created a new technology that can move cells without touching them, enabling critical tasks that currently require large pieces of lab equipment to be carried out on a benchtop device.

Biotechnology, Engineering, Automation, Physics

5 points by PaulHoule 7 days ago | 0 comments

Human teeth grown in a lab for first time (independent.co.uk)
Scientists have successfully grown human teeth in a lab for the first time, according to a new study.

Biotechnology, Medical Research, Dentistry

9 points by Sontho 11 days ago | 0 comments

Human teeth grown in a lab for first time by scientists (independent.co.uk)
Scientists have successfully grown human teeth in a lab for the first time, according to a new study.

Science, Biotechnology, Dentistry, Health

12 points by geox 12 days ago | 1 comments

'Low-sugar' vaccine can provide broad immunity against coronavirus variants (medicalxpress.com)
Sugar coatings aren't only for candies; they also help viruses, like the ones that cause COVID-19, hide from their hosts' immune system. Now, researchers have developed a universal vaccine that targets coronaviruses and the sugars that they use as cover.

Vaccines, Coronavirus, Immunology, Medical Research, Biotechnology

9 points by PaulHoule 12 days ago | 4 comments

Boltz-1 (github.com/jwohlwend)
Boltz-1 is the state-of-the-art open-source model to predict biomolecular structures containing combinations of proteins, RNA, DNA, and other molecules. It also supports modified residues, covalent ligands and glycans, as well as conditioning the prediction on specified interaction pockets or contacts.

Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source, Scientific Research, Machine Learning

14 points by gone35 14 days ago | 1 comments

One of the Most Egregious Ripoffs in the History of Science – The Race to DNA (nautil.us)
A new history of the race to decipher DNA reveals Shakespearean plots of scheming.

Science, History, DNA, Genetics, Biotechnology

38 points by robaato 15 days ago | 11 comments

Engineered bacteria emit signals that can be spotted from a distance (news.mit.edu)
Bacteria can be engineered to sense a variety of molecules, such as pollutants or soil nutrients. In most cases, however, these signals can only be detected by looking at the cells under a microscope, making them impractical for large-scale use.

Biotechnology, Engineering, Science, Remote Sensing

5 points by geox 15 days ago | 0 comments

Ethically sourced "spare" human bodies could revolutionize medicine (technologyreview.com)
Human “bodyoids” could reduce animal testing, improve drug development, and alleviate organ shortages.

Medicine, Biotechnology, Ethics, Organ Transplantation

29 points by iancmceachern 21 days ago | 61 comments

Mitochondria transplants could cure diseases and lengthen lives (economist.com)
Organ transplants are a familiar idea. Organelle transplants, less so. Yet organelles are to cells what organs are to bodies—specialised components that divvy up the labour needed to keep the whole thing ticking over. Swapping old organelles for new in cells where the machinery has switched from ticking to tocking thus makes sense in principle. And, for one type of organelle, that principle is now being tested in practice.

Biotechnology, Health, Medicine, Science

9 points by Brajeshwar 23 days ago | 0 comments

Scientists witness living plant cells generate cellulose and form cell walls (phys.org)
In a groundbreaking study on the synthesis of cellulose—a major constituent of all plant cell walls—a team of Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers have captured images of the microscopic process of cell-wall building continuously over 24 hours with living plant cells, providing critical insights that may lead to the development of more robust plants for increased food and lower-cost biofuels production.

Science, Biology, Plants, Biotechnology, Research

109 points by PaulHoule 24 days ago | 3 comments

First Retinal Treatment to Restore Damaged Vision (businesskorea.co.kr)
A research team of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) has developed the world's first retinal disease treatment that can restore damaged vision.

Biotechnology, Medicine, Vision, Korea

8 points by geox 24 days ago | 0 comments

Industry Voices Alarm as Peter Marks Departs FDA (genengnews.com)
The sudden but not altogether surprising departure of Peter Marks, MD, from the FDA has prompted a chorus of criticism and despair from industry leaders and trade organizations.

FDA, Biotechnology, Regulatory Affairs

33 points by gnabgib 26 days ago | 1 comments

What happens to DNA data of millions as 23andMe files bankruptcy? (pbs.org)
The bankruptcy of 23andMe is raising concerns about the future of its DNA information.

Genetics, Privacy, Consumer Data, Biotechnology, Business

18 points by ajdude 29 days ago | 6 comments

Paralysed man stands again after receiving 'reprogrammed' stem cells (nature.com)
A paralysed man can stand on his own after receiving an injection of neural stem cells to treat his spinal cord injury.

Biotechnology, Medical Research

11 points by alexcos 30 days ago | 0 comments

Good drug news – More important things happening in biotechnology and medicine (worksinprogress.news)
We recently released Issue 18 of Works in Progress. Read about prehistoric psychopaths, fertility on demand and the king of fruits here. Today on Links in Progress Asimov Press’s Niko McCarty and our own Saloni Dattani return to review more important things happening in the world of biotechnology and medicine.

Biotechnology, Medicine, Science, News, Health

12 points by therabbithole 32 days ago | 2 comments

American Science Should Take a Lot More Risks (nytimes.com)
In the early 1990s, Katalin Karikó was obsessed with an idea most of her fellow scientists dismissed: Could messenger RNA, or mRNA, a genetic molecule that helps cells synthesize proteins, be harnessed to create new kinds of treatments?

Science, Research, Risk, Biotechnology, mRNA

6 points by ryan_j_naughton 37 days ago | 1 comments

Bio science lab in home for brain and body was launched in indiegogo (indiegogo.com)
Indiegogo is committed to accessibility.

Biotechnology, Crowdfunding, Science, DIY

12 points by leisanrain 51 days ago | 0 comments

Melbourne startup launches 'biological computer' made of human brain cells (abc.net.au)

Biotechnology, Startups, Neuroscience, Melbourne

54 points by Gustomaximus 52 days ago | 37 comments

First "Synthetic Biological Intelligence" runs on living human cells (newatlas.com)
The world's first "biological computer" that fuses human brain cells with silicon hardware to form fluid neural networks has been commercially launched, ushering in a new age of AI technology.

Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience, Computing

7 points by wjSgoWPm5bWAhXB 53 days ago | 1 comments

Designing Self-Destructing Bacteria to Make Effective Tuberculosis Vaccines (weill.cornell.edu)
Working toward more effective tuberculosis (TB) vaccines, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed two strains of mycobacteria with "kill switches" that can be triggered to stop the bacteria after they activate an immune response.

Tuberculosis, Vaccines, Medicine, Biotechnology

4 points by justinc8687 59 days ago | 0 comments

CRISPR transforms ordinary fat cells into cancer killing machines (thebrighterside.news)
Scientists use CRISPR to turn fat cells into cancer-fighting machines, cutting off tumors’ nutrient supply and halting growth.

CRISPR, Cancer Treatment, Biotechnology, Medicine, Scientific Breakthrough

5 points by amichail 59 days ago | 1 comments

The Birth of Wetware (2018) (proto.life)
Forget what you may have heard about neural networks in software. This startup is making a computer with living neurons.

Biotechnology, Neuroscience, Startups, Artificial Intelligence

3 points by Gooblebrai 60 days ago | 0 comments

The quest for a "communication device" that tells cells to regenerate the body (bigthink.com)
What if medicine could harness this innate healing ability with precision, using technology to direct the body to repair damaged tissues and organs, or even regenerate them entirely?

Biotechnology, Medicine, Regenerative Medicine, Cellular Regeneration

6 points by Anon84 61 days ago | 0 comments

New reviews for Lumina Probiotic, the genetically engineered toothpaste (sfstandard.com)
In January of last year, a handful of tech elites flew to Honduras to try a single-use toothpaste that wasn’t available in the U.S. Shelling out up to $20,000 for a dose, they hoped the genetically engineered dental rinse might permanently ward off cavities.

Genetics, Biotechnology, Dental Health, Consumer Products, Social Commentary

4 points by tomwiddles 62 days ago | 0 comments

Modern Synthesis is making compostable materials that last a lifetime (techcrunch.com)
Jen Keane’s claim to fame is that she grew a shoe using bacteria, coaxing the microbes to deposit their nanocellulose materials in the shape of a sneaker. But she’s kind of over that.

Biotechnology, Sustainability, Materials Science, Composting

7 points by PaulHoule 62 days ago | 1 comments

Design of Coq₁₀ crops based on evolutionary history (sciencedirect.com)
Engineering CoQ10 production in crops would benefit human health, but this is hindered by the fact that the specific residues of the enzyme Coq1 that control chain length are unknown.

Science, Biotechnology, Engineering, Agriculture

9 points by PaulHoule 62 days ago | 0 comments

How Unfair Is the Coin: Lessons from Building a Biotech Startup (ankitg.me)
I’m reviving my blog after some time away — it’s been an eventful 12 months. In February 2024, Reverie Labs, the startup I co-founded in 2017, was acquired by Ginkgo Bioworks. I’m now on leave from Ginkgo and I’ve joined Y Combinator as a Visiting Partner, giving me the chance to work with the next generation of companies. Especially in this new role, I’ve been thinking a bit about what worked, what didn’t work, and what lessons I can take forward.

Biotechnology, Startups, Entrepreneurship, Acquisitions

5 points by chaosprint 67 days ago | 0 comments

I Left Florida to Try Lab-Grown Meat (reason.com)
A company based in San Francisco just became the first in the world to sell direct to consumers what its founders call "cultivated meat," meaning it didn't originate from an animal that lived on a farm or in a muddy feedlot but from a giant steel vat.

Food Technology, Consumerism, Biotechnology

12 points by frankish 71 days ago | 1 comments