November 20, 2016
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AUSTIN, Texas — Scientists studying how microbes evolve have long assumed that nearly all new genetic mutations get passed down at a predictable pace and usually without either helping or hurting the microbe in adapting to its environment. In a new … Continue reading
January 11, 2015
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Joint BioEnergy Institute Researchers Combine Systems Biology with Genetic Engineering to Improve Production of Isopentenol in E.Coli In the on-going effort to develop advanced biofuels as a clean, green and sustainable source of liquid transportation fuels, researchers at the U.S. … Continue reading
October 24, 2014
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Biologists have worked with the lambda virus as a model system for more than 50 years but they’ve never had an overarching picture of the molecular machines that allow it to insert or remove DNA from the cells that it … Continue reading
January 23, 2014
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How’s this for innovative: A Berkeley Lab-led team hopes to engineer a new enzyme that efficiently converts methane to liquid transportation fuel. “There’s a lot of methane available, and we want to develop a new way to harness it as … Continue reading
November 17, 2013
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The first dynamic regulatory system that prevents the build-up of toxic metabolites in engineered microbes has been reported by a team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). The JBEI researchers used their system … Continue reading
August 10, 2013
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Berkeley Lab scientists image cell-to-cell connections between soil microbes The next time your Facebook stream is filled with cat videos, think about Myxococcus xanthus.The single-cell soil bacterium also uses a social network. But forget silly distractions. M. xanthus relies on … Continue reading
March 13, 2013
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Berkeley Lab scientists discover the balance that allows electricity to flow between cells and electronics Just like electronics, living cells use electrons for energy and information transfer. Despite electrons being a common “language” of the living and electronic worlds, living … Continue reading
February 25, 2013
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Species facing widespread and rapid environmental changes can sometimes evolve quickly enough to dodge the extinction bullet. Populations of disease-causing bacteria evolve, for example, as doctors flood their “environment,” the human body, with antibiotics. Insects, animals and plants can make … Continue reading