A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, discloses the results from phase 1 of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine trials.
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The results from the phase 1 trial are a promising first step in showing that the mRNA vaccine is a viable candidate, but there are unanswered questions and it is still early in the process.
Does CRISPR really make it easier for all scientists to produce gene edited crops and animals?
Maywa Montenegro
A new biotech regulation allows companies to self-police and decide which crops should be regulated. The new rule is likely to amplify greater distrust of GM crops.
Golden Rice – a controversial genetically modified product designed to combat malnutrition – has been approved as safe in the Philippines. But key questions remain unanswered.
The groundbreaking Xenobots were created by a team from Tufts University and the University of Vermont.
Douglas Blackiston, Tufts University
Xenobots have been called the world’s first “living robots”. They are made entirely of living tissue, and can be programmed to move towards a certain object.
Not all blueberries are the same. A variety called Ridley 1111 is at the centre of an important lawsuit for intellectual property and plants.
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Most universities focus on teaching basic sciences with little reference to commercialisation of ideas and new technologies.
A government-commissioned report estimated that South Australia’s ban on genetically modified crops cost canola growers A$33 million since 2004.
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South Australia has lifted its moratorium on GM crops, while Tasmania has extended its ban. But the question should no longer be a simple binary of being “for” or “against” GM technology.
World’s first lab-grown beef burger. Would you eat it?
David Parry / PA Wire
Surveys suggest fewer than half of Americans are looking forward to lab-grown meat. A moral psychologist examines common objections and why for the most part they’re not logical.
Despite many claims, nobody knows for sure how the environmental footprint of lab-grown meat compares to livestock. An animal scientist says the issue is not black and white.
Interested in a juicy burger grown in the lab?
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Cultured meat comes from cells in a lab, not muscles in an animal. While regulatory and technological aspects are being worked out, less is known about whether people are up for eating this stuff.
Imagine using synthetic DNA as a sensor recording device.
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In 2003 the Human Genome Project “cracked the code of life”, yet parts of our DNA remained unidentified. A new study fills out our genetic blueprint by using a nanotechnology-based technique.
Victor Frankenstein’s mistakes serve as cautionary lessons.
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If Mary Shelley wrote the book today, Victor would surely be a synthetic biologist. But those fiddling with living things in 2018 have hopefully learned from her cautionary tale.
CRISPR provides a very targeted tool for editing DNA in plants.
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Professor - Emerging Technologies (Stem Cells) at The University of Melbourne and Group Leader - Stem Cell Ethics & Policy at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The University of Melbourne