SynBioWatch

  • Berkeley Fire douses 2-alarm blaze at Potter Street lab

    Note: We post this article about a fire at a biolab in West Berkeley because it  serves as a reminder of the fallibility of human engineering. While such labs may be considered safe under ‘normal’ conditions, normal conditions are increasingly rare in this, the Age of Disasters. — Synbiowatch Cross-posted from Berkeleyside Berkeley firefighters put out […]

  • Biology Poised to Lose its Innocence?

    NOTE:  Back in 2004, we were not following synthetic biology, and have just come upon one of the most comprehensive and critical notes on the emerging industry that we know of, which was wriiten back then, and which we post below. The article was written by former Nature editor Phillip Ball. After reading a current […]

  • Life on Mars? Scientists hope to find it by decoding Martian DNA

    Note: Aside from our many concrete concerns with the emergence of synthetic biology — questions of accountability, corporate-driven science research, ethics, security, ecological leakage, and so forth — one of our driving concerns is the priority being given to investments in far-flung, high-risk research, at a time when fully one-sixth of the human population is […]

  • Hacking the President’s DNA

    Cross-posted from The Atlantic The U.S. government is surreptitiously collecting the DNA of world leaders, and is reportedly protecting that of Barack Obama. Decoded, these genetic blueprints could provide compromising information. In the not-too-distant future, they may provide something more as well—the basis for the creation of personalized bioweapons that could take down a president […]

  • Algae biofuel not sustainable now-U.S. research council

    Cross-posted from Thomsen/Reuters, by Roberta Rampton and Deborah Zabarenko WASHINGTON | Wed Oct 24, 2012 6:48pm EDT (Reuters) – Biofuels made from algae, promoted by President Barack Obama as a possible way to help wean Americans off foreign oil, cannot be made now on a large scale without using unsustainable amounts of energy, water and fertilizer, the U.S. National […]

  • Biohacking: The next great wave of innovation

    NOTE: in this post, another observer thrilled by the apparently limitless horizons of synthetic biology makes the point that the DIY biohacker ‘revolution’ is where the real innovations will happen, beyond the corporate sphere of influence. Of course, the computer revolution spearheaded by guys in garages in the 1970’s would never have taken off if […]

  • Sugar Makers Bunge to Sao Martinho Try Biotech: Corporate Brazil

    By Stephan Nielsen – Oct 9, 2012, cross-posted from Bloomberg Sugar-cane growers from Bunge Ltd. (BG) to Sao Martinho SA (SMTO3) propose building plants in Brazil to convert crops into chemicals for products as varied as face cream and industrial lubricants. A joint venture between Bunge and U.S. biotechnology company Solazyme Inc. (SZYM) will start late next year to produce oils from sugar. […]

  • Build a Mars base with a box of engineered bugs

    By  Andy Coghlan, cross-posted from New Scientist THE next time humans set foot on an alien world, they may not travel alone. Small, lightweight “bug boxes” packed full of engineered microbes could make life on hostile planets a lot more liveable. Pioneering settlers on a distant world will require food, fuel and shelter if they […]

  • How synthetic biology will change us

    Note: The future they talk about is just like the horizon — the closer you get to it, the further away it grows. To place bets on what’s over the horizon is called, aptly enough, speculation. — ed. By Alan Boyle, from NBC News In the future, genetically modified organisms could be making our medicines, […]

  • The Sweet Smell Of Microbes

    NOTE: Well, all you patchouli lovers out there — your synthetic ship is coming in! Synthetic fragrances coming your way. Just what the world needs…  — ed. Flavor and fragrance molecules made by fermentation promise abundance regardless of the weather By Melody M. Bomgardner, from Chemical & Engineering News ORANGE YOU SMART Richard Burlingame of Allylix […]