Biochemistry

Self-Powered Electronic Pill Monitors Gut Chemistry

IEEE Spectrum: A battery-free electronic pill that can help doctors wirelessly analyze molecules generated during vital bodily chemical reactions in the gut has been demonstrated for the first time, say the researchers behind a new study. The team of engineers, from…

Shankar Balasubramanian is thinking beyond DNA’s four-letter code

C&EN: As one of the inventors of next-generation DNA sequencing, Sir Shankar Balasubramanian could claim to be responsible for a revolution in the life sciences. Balasubramanian and chemist David Klenerman, both at the University of Cambridge, founded the start-up Solexa…

Surprise discovery as clam found to be producing complex antibiotic

Chemistry World: A clam has been found to be synthesising erythromycin, making it the first known animal to make such a complex antibiotic. Erythromycin had been thought to be made by only actinobacteria. Now, it seems that the Asiatic hard clam…

Biotech labs are using AI inspired by DALL-E to invent new drugs

Technology Review: The explosion in text-to-image AI models like OpenAI’s DALL-E 2—programs trained to generate pictures of almost anything you ask for—has sent ripples through the creative industries, from fashion to filmmaking, by providing weird and wonderful images on demand. The…