http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/biobricks http://io9.com/tag/biobricks

Tailor-made microbes could save thousands of lives a year in poor nations, but not in the way you would think. A new breed of bioengineered bacteria can spot buried explosives. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5408576&view=rss&microfeed=true

A team of students from Houston's Rice University are a virtual lock for a Nobel Prize with their latest research. They've bioengineered a beer that has anticancer properties. Each sip of their new brew contains resveratrol, the chemical found in wine and believed to be responsible for reduced cancer rates in lab tests. How long before you can find Resveratrol IPA on store shelves? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5064860&view=rss&microfeed=true

io9 wants to encourage mad scientists in every field, but especially in the area of synthetic biology. That's because synthetic biologists are the people who are going to build new life forms, like ligers and unicorns and people with claws and glowing eyes. OK, they might build bacteria that can clean up oil spills and repair damaged kidneys too. The point is, building new lifeforms is the science of the future and therefore you can never have too many garage laboratories and mad scientists devoted to it. That's why io9 is sponsoring a contest to find two of the best synthetic life forms you can design for us. You've had almost two months to build that lifeform, and now the contest deadline looms! You've got until Monday, Aug. 25, at midnight to hand in your contest entry. All the details are below. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5039995&view=rss&microfeed=true

In a few years, your weekend hacking project will involve bits of DNA and a PCR machine instead of a soldering iron or glue. With the help of the Open Wetware Project, and the Registry of Standard Biological Parts Wiki, you too can become an amateur synthetic biologist. But this isn't about evil mad scientist stuff. People using these new open-source biohacking tools are trying create helpful life forms, like insulin-producing bacteria or drought-tolerant crops. Here's a quick introduction to the biohacking tools everybody will be using tomorrow. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=362616&view=rss&microfeed=true