Synthetic biology and molecular machines – Page 2
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FeatureHow protocells bridge the gap from chemistry to biology
Rachel Brazil talks to the scientists trying to recreate what the first cells were like, or to make their own versions
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OpinionNed Seeman’s legacy
A system based on DNA ‘tiles’ can embody Darwinian evolution, raising new possibilities for understanding natural selection and materials development
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ResearchProkaryotes programmed to produce paracetamol avoid pervasive petrochemicals
Genetically modified E. coli serve as green factories for painkillers
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OpinionTaking the right inspiration from nature
Scientists need to be selective about their sources of inspiration
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Research‘Self-inflating’ synthetic cells can capture, store and release cargo
Entirely artificial system can use chemical energy to ‘swallow’ payloads like bacteria
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BusinessBrewing up plant-inspired medicines
Antheia reconstructs complex biochemical pathways in yeasts to speed up production of natural product-based drugs
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ResearchSortase A strategy could see ribosomal products reach further across chemical space
Compound libraries set to benefit from process that harnesses promiscuity of post-translation enzymes
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ResearchGenetically engineered microbes convert waste plastic into vanillin
Plastic bottle becomes industrially useful product thanks to biosynthetic transformation
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NewsExplainer: What is Crispr and why did it win the Nobel prize?
The science behind the prize-winning gene editing tool that could change our lives
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NewsCrispr–Cas9 gene-editing inventors win chemistry Nobel prize
2020 chemistry award goes to Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier
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FeatureUnnatural selection in chemical systems
Great strides have been made in the lab with chemical systems that ape life’s behaviour
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FeatureArtificial enzymes: catalysis by design
Enzymes are nature’s ultimate catalysts and chemists are now on the verge of making their own versions from scratch
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FeatureArtificial photosynthesis: solar water splitting
The chemistry to mimic ones of nature’s greatest feats still has some hurdles to overcome
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ResearchFruit flies’ protective corneal coatings reproduced
Anti-reflective and anti-adhesive nano-coating that covers the eyes of insects could find uses in medical implants and contact lenses
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ResearchSimple lipid networks combine self-assembly, replication, competition and inhibition
Artificial cells have previously lacked the complexity that is distinct to natural life but scientists are edging closer
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ResearchViewpoint shift designs drug binding proteins from scratch
New method focuses on the groups touching amino acid side chains
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OpinionEdgar Cahoon: ‘There is still so much basic knowledge to learn’
The biochemist and plant scientist talks about growing up on a dairy farm in Eastern Virginia, gardening, biking and Cornhusker football
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ResearchLight-harvesting wheel reinvented by chemists copying bacterium
Synthetic mimic of complex at the heart of photosynthesis offers new ways to capture solar energy
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ResearchUnnatural reaction benefits from computational tool that teaches an old enzyme new tricks
Method could generate artificial enzymes that are more suitable for directed evolution