Synthetic Biology from an editor’s perspective: Interview with Ross Cloney

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6828-1000   If you submit you synthetic biology paper to Nature Communications, Ross Cloney is the person that will handle your case. After obtaining his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Sussex and

Biosecurity: Do synthetic biologists need a licence to operate?

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6828-1000 A recent article in New York Times about DIY biology and biohacking sparked a vigorous discussion about biosecurity and regulation of synthetic biology. The article starts with the rather sensationalist title, As D.I.Y. Gene

GP-write has big goals for synthetic genomes

0000-0003-0319-5416 We continue to improve our ability to read, write, and edit DNA on larger and larger scales. GP-write wants to gather and coordinate the global enthusiasm around large-scale genome engineering to bring about some

A new synbio initiative: interview with the Synbio Canada steering committee

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6828-1000 Canada is known for several things: cold weather, Niagara Falls, kind residents, maple syrup… but a new initiative, SynBio Canada, aims to make the country a reference point in Synthetic Biology. Canada is strong

Custom-built DNA could be used as a sensor probe

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6828-1000   Researchers believe that DNA – the molecule that stores information about life – could one day be used as a type of sensor, to record information based on its surroundings. Synthetic DNA (not

Making the World Go Round: Building a Circular Bioeconomy with Synthetic Biology

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6828-1000 Written by EUSynBioS steering committee members Daniel Bojar, Adam Amara and Clea Lachaux. On April 2010, the Gulf of Mexico turned black. The largest marine oil spill initiated by an explosion of methane gas

Synthetic biology approaches to improving immunotherapy

0000-0003-0319-5416 The AACR 2018 Meeting in Chicago is ending today and has featured the major new results in cancer treatment and immunotherapy treatments in particular. Immunotherapy, the use of the patient’s own immune system to

Curing the world with CRISPR: Where we are at and where we ’re headed

0000-0002-8715-2896https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6828-1000   written by Thomas Clements CRISPR has been hailed as one of the most promising gene editing technologies and promises to revolutionize precision medicine and eradicate genetic diseases. However, the technique is not perfect

The role of synthetic biology as a basic research facilitator

0000-0002-8715-2896https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6828-1000   Last December, a very interesting journal article was published in Science about the reconstitution of functional plant RuBisCo in E. coli [1]. In this work, the authors expressed the plant RuBisCo complex by

Jennifer Doudna’s Journey of Discovery: “A Crack in Creation” book review

0000-0002-8715-28960000-0003-0319-5416 Famed CRISPR researcher Jennifer Doudna, along with a past student Samuel Sternberg (starting his own lab in at Columbia University), wrote an account of her CRISPR discoveries and the possibilities the technology unleashes. The