Synthetic biologists have successfully engineered microbes to make chemicals cheaply and more sustainably. However, researchers have been limited by the fact that microbes can only make molecules using chemical reactions seen in nature.
A collaboration between scientists at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley has engineered the microbe E. coli to produce a molecule that, until now, could only be synthesized in a laboratory.
Scientists at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) are using synthetic biology to give plants the ability to create molecules never seen before in nature. New research led by Patrick Shih, director of Plant Biosystems Design at JBEI, and Beth Sattely of Stanford University describes success in swapping enzymes between plants to engineer new synthetic metabolic pathways. These pathways gave plants the ability to create new classes of chemical compounds, some of which have enhanced properties.
On August 29, the DOE Joint Genome Institute hosted the latest installment of the Biosciences Area Entrepreneurship Program entitled, “Eyes on the Prize – Launching & Sustaining Startups in Synthetic Biology.” Some 40 attendees engaged with a panel organized by Robin Johnston and JGI Director Nigel Mouncey, who also moderated the discussion.
Biosciences CSTO Jay Keasling and the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), which he oversees as CEO and Director of New Pathways and Metabolic Models, were profiled for the MIT Technology Review website. In the feature entitled “The Scientist Still Fighting for the Clean Fuel the World Forgot,” Keasling discusses the progress made in the quest for affordable advanced biofuels, and underscores the need for continued research.
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