Biology Biotechnology

News

21 Apr 2025
New light-powered DNA detection enables more accessible, affordable genetic analysis
11 Apr 2025
Scientists at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University and colleagues have developed a promising new approach to cancer treatment. By using tiny, naturally occurring particles called extracellular vesicles (EVs), they have created a way to boost the body’s immune system to fight tumors more effectively. This breakthrough could lead to more targeted cancer therapies with fewer side effects.
19 Mar 2025
Constructed strain achieves record-high yield from methanol, advancing eco-friendly biomanufacturing
Biometric palm identification
06 Mar 2025
Hyperspectral imaging and AI can identify individuals using blood vessels in palms
Editor's Choice
20 Feb 2025
Asteroid contains life’s building blocks, How fish detect color, Eco-friendly artificial muscles, Cell imaging gets a glow-up, Quantum gem, Healing skin with milkfish. Plus the 2025 Magazine is here, Read all in the latest Editor's Choice.
The pineal gland of zebrafish is located atop the head
14 Jan 2025
Zebrafish arrestins take turns inactivating key protein depending on intensity of light
13 Jan 2025
A new treatment with iron nanoparticles and nitric oxide gas shows promise in destroying oral cancer cells.
virus cells
13 Jan 2025
A newly designed model system simulates how viruses exit cells, offering potential advancements in targeted drug delivery and biotechnology.
08 Jan 2025
Ateneo researchers are looking to turn milkfish skin, a common waste byproduct of the Philippine fishing industry, into an invaluable medical resource.
Efficient cycle of green algae and yeast in wastewater treatment
05 Nov 2024
Combination enhances microorganisms’ growth environment, uptake of ammonium and phosphate ions
A low-power laser can cause bubbles to form and convection to move nanoparticles so that they gather at an assembly site on an antibody-coated substrate, accelerating their detection.
18 Sep 2024
Light-induced immunoassay coated with novel coronavirus spike proteins found highly sensitive even with weak light like a laser pointer
Modifying euglena for biofuel-ready wax esters
10 Sep 2024
Mutant microalgae produce wax esters for biofuel feedstock with improved cold flow
Compounds found in citrus and coconut could be the solution to oral disease in children and the elderly.
26 Aug 2024
A nonirritant, antibacterial solution to prevent oral inflammation may lie in citrus and coconut chemical compounds
30 Jul 2024
Applied Microbiology International has announced that it has recruited 11 new Global Ambassadors from around the world.
29 Jul 2024
A research group led by Associate Professor Katsuya Sakai, Researcher Nichole Marcela Rojas-Chaverra, and Professor Kunio Matsumoto of the Cancer Research Institute and Nano-Life Science (WPI-NanoLSI) at Kanazawa University has developed a long-acting, subcutaneously injectable artificial hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) mimetic molecule using a fusion technology of cyclic peptides and protein engineering. They demonstrated in a mouse model that it improves liver fibrosis, lipid accumulation, and inflammation caused by non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). This research result provides an option for the development of NASH therapeutics as well as a technology for creating growth factor and cytokine mimetic molecules with improved pharmacokinetics.
Persimmon tannin powder
15 May 2024
Naturally derived antioxidants improve growth of yeast strain in presence of ethanol
Zinc Finger Nucleases
14 May 2024
Genome editing is making inroads into biomedical research and medicine. By employing biomolecule modeling tools, a Japanese research team is accelerating the pace and cutting the cost of zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology, a primary gene editing tool.
11 Apr 2024
Researchers have identified 14 genes that thale cress express more when responding to five specific stressors, as well as eight genes that the plant suppresses.
Starch
19 Mar 2024
The 12th Starch Value Chain ASIA conference was held in Vientiane, at Crowne Plaza Hotel, from February 27 to 29, 2024. The conference encompassed four key themes: Asia’s starch markets, industrial and food-grade tapioca starch in Laos with expansion plans, sustainable climate-smart agri-technology for rice and cassava cultivation, and challenges for future growth in Asia's biogas-to-energy sector.
05 Mar 2024
A novel method for studying genes in testicular cells of living animals could lead to breakthroughs in male contraception and fertility treatments.
11 Jan 2024
Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo create customizable polymer molds to produce cost-effective arrays of microneedles that can be used to uniquely identify pets with alphanumeric symbols instead of tags or collars.
08 Dec 2023
Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences a computational method to predict the placement of proteins on AFM substrates based on electrostatic interactions.
Revolutionary nanovalve enables active control of single-molecule flows
01 May 2023
A joint research group at Osaka Metropolitan University has succeeded in regulating the flow of single molecules in solution by opening and closing the nanovalve mounted on the nanofluidic device by applying external pressure. The research group fabricated a device with a ribbon-like, thin, soft glass sheet on the top, and at the bottom a hard glass substrate having nanochannels and nanovalve seats. By applying external pressure to the soft glass sheet to open and close the valve, they succeeded in directly manipulating and controlling the flow of individual molecules in solution. They also observed an effect of fluorescence signal amplification when single fluorescent molecules are confined in the tiny nanospace inside the valve. The effect can be ascribed to the nanoconfinement, which suppresses the random motion of the molecules.
  Should a "Brain Organoid" be treated as a person by law?
28 Apr 2023
Researchers discuss whether a "brain organoid" should be treated as a person by law, and suggest the need for legal and social discussions uncoupled from debates on consciousness.
Overview of rare earth recovery using P-yeast
13 Apr 2023
A research group at Osaka Metropolitan University has succeeded in selectively recovering trace rare earth elements in synthetic seawater and environmental water, such as hot spring water, using baker’s yeast with a phosphate group added. The phosphorylated yeast is expected to be utilized as a material for recovering useful metals and removing toxic metals, thereby contributing to the realization of a metal resource-circulating society.
red light streaks
04 Mar 2023
Scientists have shown that swarming molecular robots can deliver cargo five times more efficiently than a robot working on its own.
Hiroshima University Yasufumi Yamada bat ears direction detection research
02 Mar 2023
Bioengineers formulated a mathematical model that clarified the importance of bat ear motions in direction detection, making way for lean, mean sonar navigation machines.
Red perilla cultivar Hoko-3
11 Jan 2023
A team of Japanese researchers created a high-quality genome assembly of red perilla, a step toward harnessing the plant’s potentially useful bioactive chemicals — and its medicinal properties.
Aspergillus aculeatus
10 Jan 2023
An Osaka Metropolitan University research team analyzed the regulatory mechanisms of carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzyme production in Aspergillus aculeatus, a filamentous fungus that produces enzymes with an excellent ability to degrade plant biomass. The team found that UDP-glucose 4-epimerase (Uge5), an enzyme known for its involvement in galactose metabolism, also regulates the expression of degrading enzyme genes in A. aculeatus. This is the very first report of Uge5’s roles in selective gene expression in response to different types of inducing sugars in filamentous fungi.
22 Dec 2022
Osaka Metropolitan University scientists discovered the principle of light-induced acceleration of antigen–antibody reaction, allowing for simple, ultrafast, and highly sensitive detection of proteins. The researchers introduced target proteins and probe particles with modified antibodies selectively binding to the target proteins into a small channel and applied irradiation with infrared laser light. They achieved, for the first time, the rapid measurement of trace amounts of attogram-level target proteins after only 3 minutes of laser irradiation. These findings will potentially contribute to breakthroughs in the development of systems for ultra-early diagnosis of various diseases.

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Researchers

Fabien Grasset
Dr Fabien Grasset is a Research Director at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and currently serving as Director of Research for Rennes Institute of Chemical Sciences (ISCR). His areas of expertise include materials chemistry, solid-state chemistry, nanotechnology, nanoparticles, optical coatings and thin films.
Zong-Hong Lin
Dr. Zong-Hong Lin is a Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University and at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University.
Cheng Siang Tan
Dr. Cheng-Siang Tan is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). He is an expert in infectious and emerging diseases and biosafety and biorisk management.
So Iwata
Dr. So Iwata is a Professor at the Graduate School of Medicine Kyoto University and the Group Director of the SACLA Science Research Group, RIKEN SPring-8 Center. He has investigated how specialized membrane channels remove antimicrobial drugs from inside bacterial cells.
Robert Mitchell of UNIST
Dr. Mitchell is a professor at the Department of Biological Sciences, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST). His primary research interest is the study of bacterial strains that attack and prey on other bacteria, including antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
Department of Microbiology / Biomolecular Sciences Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia
Dr. Wookbong Kwon
Dr. Wookbong Kwon is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Division of Biotechnology of Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST)
Prof. (Dr.) Pranay Dilip Abhang
Professor and Head Department of Food Science and Technology K.J.E.I's Trinity College of Arts, Commerce and Science Pune, Maharashtra, India
Ana Carina Manjua
Ana Carina Manjua's current PhD work is in the design and fabrication of a biological inspired artificial microfluid platform for drug screening.
Frederico C. Ferreira
Frederico Castelo Ferreira's current research interest balances between fundamental and applied research, with potential translation into the market of sustainable products and processes.
Dr. Tengku Haziyamin Tengku Abdul Hamid
Dr. Tengku Haziyamin Tengku Abdul Hamid's recent discovery of a novel strain has enabled a new patent to be drafted and was awarded gold medal in Malaysian Technology Expo 2021 for his new probiotic prototype called ProAquaVcare.
Associate Professor Hajin Kim is a biomedical engineer at the Single Molecule Biophysics Laboratory, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea.
Yoon-Kyoung Cho is currently a group leader in the Center for Soft and Living Matter at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and a full professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in the Republic of Korea.
Dr NK Prasanna
Dr NK Prasanna is currently working as Sr. Scientist & Editor, Indian Journal of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Research Journals Division at CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research, New Delhi. Before joining CSIR (NIScPR), she was at IIT Guwahati. Dr Prasanna completed her Ph.D from Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. In CSIR-NIScPR, She served one important flagship journals viz. Indian journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics (IJBB; ISSN: 0301-1208) It is pertinent to mention that the journal ranks first among all the NIScPR journals as per the available Journal Metrics by international agencies such as Thomson Reuters and Scopus. Details of remarkable academic achievements of IJBB which she spearheading, both nationally and globally. The Indian journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics (IJBB) is a premier SCI-indexed bimonthly peer-reviewed research journal that publishes original research articles in the subject area of biochemistry and biophysics
Aparna B. Gunjal is a microbiologist at Dr. D.Y. Patil, Arts, Commerce & Science College, India.
Michitaka Notaguchi is an assistant professor at the Bioscience and Biotechnology Center, Nagoya University, Japan.
Professor and Head of Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Lincoln University College (LUC) Malaysia.

Giants in history

Filipina chemist María Orosa (29 November 1892–13 February 1945) fought malnutrition and food insecurity in the Philippines by devising over 700 culinary creations including Soyalac, a nutrient rich drink made from soybeans, and Darak, rice cookies packed with Vitamin B1, which could prevent beriberi disease caused by Vitamin B1 deficiency. She was also a partisan of the guerrilla movement resisting Japanese occupation during World War II, and died after being struck by shrapnel while working in her laboratory during the Battle of Manila.
Chinese agronomist Yuan Longping (7 September 1930 – 22 May 2021) developed the first varieties of the high-yield, hybrid rice that brought food security to multiple countries including China, which had been ravaged by food shortages as recently as the mid-20th century.
A Japanese surgeon, Tetsuzo Akutsu (20 August 1922 – 9 August 2007) built the first artificial heart capable of keeping an animal alive.