Biotech & Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology represents an intersection of biology and engineering that focuses on the modification or creation of novel biological systems. The current state of synthetic biology is mostly the result of research in biology, engineering, computer science, and information technology dating back to the mid-1900s. Synthetic biology has drawn increasing …

In 2006 the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) asked America’s scientists to submit “innovative proposals to develop technology to create insect-cyborgs.” The Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (HI-MEMS) program, also known as the cybug program, was a proposal from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to encourage the …

The Internet-of-Things is an emerging revolution in the ICT sector under which there is shift from an “Internet used for interconnecting end-user devices” to an “Internet used for interconnecting physical objects that communicate with each other and/or with humans in order to offer a given service”. This includes everything from …

“It was in the oceans that life first evolved and where complex animals have thrived for over 600 million years. Marine animals survive in environments as diverse as tropical coral reefs, polar ice-capped oceans, and the lightless abyssal depths,” says Frank E. Fish from West Chester University and Donna M. …

Neuro- or Biohybrid systems are systems formed by at least one biological component – i.e. already existing in living systems – and at least one artificial – newly engineered – component. Biological and artificial components are not independent but are passing information either in one or both directions, thereby forming …

The life of a plant that we depend on for food, clean air, and materials are challenged by myriad threats, natural and man-made including Viruses, pests, fungi, herbicides, drought, pollution, salinity, flooding, and frost. These rapid or unexpected emergence of these threats put human food security at risk and could …

The purpose of a biosensor is the detection of biologically-relevant targets such as proteins, DNA, pathogens, cells, bacteria, pollutants, hormones and enzymes. In most cases, their presence and/or concentration in samples such as blood, urine, saliva, sweat or tears can be an early indicator of disease, so that the sensor …

Biostasis is the ability of an organism to tolerate environmental changes without having to actively adapt to them. The word is also used as a synonym for cryostasis or cryonics. It is found in organisms that live in habitats that may encounter unfavourable living conditions (i.e. drought, freezing, a change …

DARPA has launched a new surveillance program which plans to use genetically engineered plant as battlefield surveillance sensors. DARPA’s new Advanced Plant Technologies (APT) program looks to seemingly simple plants as the next generation of intelligence gatherers. Traditional sensors are not always optimal for  obtaining timely, accurate information as national security …