To enhance the safety and security of the US bioeconomy, a new public–private partnership should be established to facilitate information sharing and threat analysis among industry, government and academia, and to develop and deploy safeguards.

After two decades of experience with biosimilars, physicochemical and in vitro biological comparison with their reference products appear sufficient to guarantee clinical safety and efficacy. Hence, the regulation of biosimilars has become redundant, and biopharmaceuticals should now be regulated through the generic pathway available for small molecules.

RNA-targeting CRISPR screens reveal hundreds of functional long non-coding RNAs that are crucial for cell survival and implicated in cancer progression.

2'-Fucosyllactose (2'-FL) is the most abundant human milk oligosaccharide and plays significant roles in gut microbiome balance, neural development, and immunoregulation. However, current fermentation schemes using multiple carbon sources increase production cost and metabolism burden. This study reported the development of an engineered Bacillus subtilis strain that produces 2'-FL using glucose as

Sparxell has made cellulose nanocrystals and could replace the shine in synthetic dyes, microplastics and unsustainable mined glitters such as titania or mica with natural, biodegradable components. Its cellulose nanocrystals reflect light to produce vibrant colors, just as in butterfly wings and peacock tails but using wood pulp or other plant waste instead. The colors are durable and fade resistant

Generative artificial intelligence models of molecular biology are often restricted to individual molecules or DNA segments and are built in a way that makes them computationally demanding when applied to long sequences. The ability to capture broader genomic interactions will be crucial for both the understanding and engineering of complex biological processes. Writing in Science, Nguyen et al. introduce

Beam Therapeutics’ early clinical data on its base-editing therapy BEAM-101 shows for the first time that the technology restores functional hemoglobin in people with sickle cell disease. In four patients treated with BEAM-101, functional fetal hemoglobin levels increased to over 60% at 1–6 months follow-up, and patients’ red blood cells had less sickling, reduced cell adhesion and improved flow properties

Recent patents relating to compositions, methods of preparation and use of stem cells.

The domestication of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) has led to a massive increase in fruit size but at the cost of decreased sugar levels, a negative correlation that is probably the consequence of a loss of high-sugar alleles. In a study published in Nature, Zhang et al. engineer a sweet tomato that maintains its high yield and weight by mutating a gene that encodes a protein that regulates sugar accumulation

One year after partnering with clinical-stage Biotheus on a bispecific antibody targeting PD-L1 and VEGF-A, BioNTech announced the acquisition of the Zhuhai, China–based company for $800 million, with up to $150 million in potential milestone payments. The purchase gives BioNTech full global rights to Biotheus’s lead candidate PM8002, also known as BNT327; a pipeline of ten programs in various stages

The human genome contains thousands of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), of which very few have been linked to a functional role. Although DNA-targeting CRISPR screens have identified functional lncRNAs, these screens suffer from limited specificity as DNA-based perturbation of lncRNA loci might also suppress nearby protein-coding genes and other regulatory elements. Writing in Cell, Liang et al. overcome

Cuba provides a rare example of a publicly owned biotech sector in a low-income country. Since its founding in 1986, Cuba’s Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) has overseen the development of the country’s biopharmaceutical sector, from the initial conception of a drug through preclinical studies, clinical trials, licensing, manufacturing and export. We outlined the achievements

Implementation of intellectual property education in academic institutions can result in increased opportunities for protecting intellectual property and limit costs, but to be successful technology transfer offices must also adapt.

Recent moves of note in and around the biotech and pharma industries.

Correction to: Nature Biomedical Engineering https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-024-01258-8, published online 17 October 2024.

Ethylene glycol is a promising substrate for bioprocesses which can be derived from widely abundant CO2 or plastic waste. In this work, we describe the construction of an eight-step synthetic metabolic pathway enabling carbon-conserving biosynthesis of threonine from ethylene glycol. This route extends the previously disclosed synthetic threose-dependent glycolaldehyde assimilation (STEGA) pathway

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Measurement of antibody and antibody fusion protein concentration is vital for process development and manufacturing. Continuous, in‐line monitoring of antibody concentration could be useful in a variety of applications, such as controlling the loading of protein A columns to prevent breakthrough, monitoring bioreactor titer, and detecting leaks past ultrafiltration/diafiltration membranes. Molecule‐specific

The concept of sustainable production necessitates the utilization of waste and by‐products as raw materials, the implementation of biotechnological processes, and the introduction of automated real‐time monitoring for efficient use of resources. One example is the biocatalyzed conversion of the reusable by‐product glycerin by acetic acid bacteria to dihydroxyacetone (DHA), which is of great importance

Mevalonate is a biochemical precursor to a wide range of isoprenoids. The mevalonate pathway uses three moles of acetyl‐CoA, and therefore native pathways which metabolize acetyl‐CoA compete with mevalonate synthesis. Moreover, the final step in mevalonate formation, mediated by hydroxymethylglutaryl‐CoA reductase, requires NADPH as a co‐substrate. This study focuses on chromosomal modification of

Adeno-associated viruses (AAV) are promising vectors for gene therapy due to their efficacy in vivo. However, there is room for improvement to address key limitations such as the pre-existing immunity to AAV in patients, high-dose toxicity, and relatively low efficiency for some cell types. This study introduces a metabolic engineering approach, using knockout of the enzyme phosphatidylserine synthase