What are the benefits and downsides of synthetic biology? We'll explore the ethical issues that arise as part of our monthly ethics segment.

Systems biology aims to fit equations to living matter, creating mathematical models that promise new insight into disease and cures.

With synthesis technology becoming less expensive, more accurate, and faster every year, it is foreseeable that by 2020 malefactors will have the ability to manipulate genomes in order to engineer new bioterrorism weapons.

The announcement of an altered bacterium with fuel-production abilities is the latest breakthrough in the fast-expanding field of synthetic biology.

IN AN age when the world is flat, global guidelines are needed to stop rogue science research and practice, said representatives of an international bioethics summit on Tuesday. For instance, new technology allows scientists to engineer biological systems not found in nature, in a field called synthetic biology.

Modular Genetics, Inc. announced today the appointment of Joseph Grimm to the position of Chief Financial Officer.

Today Pollack published an overview on algal biofuels that features two San Diego algae biofuels startups—Synthetic Genomics and Sapphire Energy—and mentions the concerns raised in some quarters about growing genetically engineered algae in open ponds.

How nice would it be if you could create something that would simply eat the oil that's polluting the Gulf of Mexico? Don't laugh or roll your eyes. The ridiculous is becoming a reality.

In a laboratory where almost all the test tubes look green, the tools of modern biotechnology are being applied to lowly pond scum. Foreign genes are being spliced into algae and native genes are being tweaked.

Hundreds of companies are pursuing different technologies and strategies they believe will yield a winning next-generation biofuel. To increase its odds of backing a winner, Khosla Ventures has made no less than nine investments in this sector.

Six months since it launched, the world's first factory for making professional-quality biological DNA 'parts' is beginning to stock its shelves. More than 60 people joined the staff at the International Open Facility Advancing Biotechnology (BIOFAB) to discuss the facility's progress so far and its aims over the next few years.

A team of students from ENSIMAG, an engineering school in Grenoble, France, and Virginia Tech is using bioinformatics to implement federal guidance on synthetic genomics.

Last week, the United States began the highest review to date—in the president's bioethics commission—of problems that could come out of the young field of synthetic biology. Close oversight is needed, they said; others worried that new rules could stifle research.