Biosingularity

Scientists from Novozymes have now found the mechanism by which plectasin, an anti-microbial peptide, kills bacteria that cause severe infections in humans. Peptide antibiotics such as plectasin have retained antibiotic activity throughout evolution. The new knowledge shows that plectasin and other related peptides from invertebrates such as flies and mussels, targets the ‘Achilles heel’ of bacteria. Basically [...]

Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute JCVI, a not-for-profit genomic research organization, published results today describing the successful construction of the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell. The team synthesized the 1.08 million base pair chromosome of a modified Mycoplasma mycoides genome. The synthetic cell is called Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 and is the proof of [...]

People with diabetes who eat plenty of bran-rich whole grains appear to have a reduced risk of death from heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular causes, a new study shows. Researchers from Harvard University followed almost 8,000 nurses with type 2 diabetes for almost three decades. They found that women who ate the most bran [...]

Despite decades of research into cancer biology, researchers still dont fully understand what happens to the malignant cells DNA as they mutate. Its not an idle question: The better biologists appreciate how DNA changes, the better they can create therapies that specifically target the disease. Now scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, in Cold Spring [...]

Two or three tablespoons a day of olive oil may help protect against ulcerative colitis, preliminary research suggests.In a new study, people with the highest consumption of oleic acid — a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid found in olive oil, peanut oil, and grapeseed oil, as well as in butter and certain margarines — had an [...]

Variation in our microbial inhabitants could help tailor efforts to treat illness. via Technology Review: You Are Your Bacteria.

In the depths of a former copper mine in Northern California dwell what may be the smallest, most stripped-down forms of life ever discovered.