All Stories by Patrick Barry
- Tech
I, computer
Bacteria that can "flip pancakes" with their DNA are the first microbes engineered to be living computers.
- Life
Protective protein
Discovering how bacteria defend themselves from foreign DNA might improve techniques for using microbes as little factories to make human proteins.
- Life
It’s the network, stupid
The complexity of humans may lie not in genes but in the web of interactions among the proteins they make.
- Health & Medicine
Sticky when wet
An improved way to make the sticky protein that mussels use to cling to underwater rocks could lead to better cardiac stents.
- Health & Medicine
Smart microbes
Bacteria are smarter than you might think. Single-celled microbes can learn to predict changes in their environments and prepare themselves.
- Earth
Challenging ethanol’s dirty reputation
An inexpensive way to make ethanol from wood chips reduces net greenhouse gas emissions as much as more costly methods.
- Life
Leaf clippings as protein factories
Using plants to mass produce proteins for vaccines and other purposes may soon be possible without genetically engineering whole plants.
- Earth
Molten salts give biofuels a boost
Making biofuels from the chemical energy locked in plant cell walls has proven difficult, but molten salts may help.
- Health & Medicine
Tripping up avian flu
Developing an effective vaccine for avian flu has been difficult, but small rings of DNA that hinder virus replication could offer an alternative.
- Health & Medicine
Stem Cell Snag: Implanted cells may show signs of Parkinson’s
After as many as 16 years, nerve cells transplanted into the brains of Parkinson's patients still thrive, but some show signs of acquiring the disease.
- Health & Medicine
Curbing Chemo: Fasting cushions drug’s side effects in mice
Two days of starvation kicks mice's cells into repair mode and helps them endure high doses of chemotherapy.
- Health & Medicine
You, in a Dish
Human cells grown in conditions that mimic life inside the body are beginning to replace lab animals for testing drug candidates and industrial chemicals.
