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By Category: Research

What’s the Future of Synthetic Biology?

(MIT) Last July, scientists created the first “synthetic cell,” an organism that’s controlled by a chemically synthesized genome edited on a computer and stitched together in the lab. One year later, biologists at the Fifth Annual Synthetic Biology conference at Stanford University are still struggling to take the next step in the field. Holding them Read More »

June 21, 2011
| Filed under North America, Biotechnology, and Research
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The Dirty 11: Panel Names Pathogens That Pose Biggest Security Risk for Research

(Science AAAS) — A United States federal panel of scientists and security experts has identified 11 microorganisms that it wants designated as Tier 1 select agents, a new category of biological agents that would be subject to higher security standards than other pathogens and toxins used in biomedical research. The category would include anthrax, Ebola, Read More »

June 16, 2011
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Scientists Shed Light on Germany’s Deadly Pathogen

(Food Safety News) As the devastating outbreak of E. coli began unfolding in Germany, there was an urgent need to learn more about the unusual pathogen that was making hundreds of people sick.So data from the genome sequencing of the rare E. coli serotype O104 were instantly released via the Internet to researchers around the Read More »

June 15, 2011
| Filed under Europe, Public Health, and Research
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The National Academies Press Makes All PDF Books Free to Download

NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS — As of June 2, 2011, all PDF version of books published by the National Academies Press (NAP) will be downloadable to anyone free of charge. That’s more than 4,000 books plus future reports produced by NAP. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Read More »

June 14, 2011
| Filed under North America and Research
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UTSA gets $4.6 million for disease research

San Antonio Express — The University of Texas at San Antonio has been awarded a $4.6 million grant from the Department of Defense to study the genetic structure of infectious diseases, officials announced Monday. The five-year grant will establish the Center of Excellence in Infection Genomics, or CEIG, to study the genetic structure of organisms Read More »