Each year, Nature Biotechnology highlights companies that have received sizeable early-stage funding in the previous year. Gate Bioscience wants to tailor gates that stop problematic proteins at the source.

Harmonizing unit operations in the downstream process of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has a high potential to overcome throughput limitations and reduce manufacturing costs. This study proposes a streamlined clarification and capture (S‐CC) process concept for the continuous processing of cell broth harvested from a connected bioreactor. The process was realized with a fluidized bed centrifuge connected

In modern bioprocessing, cell culture media is one of the most significant cost drivers, yet the nutrients and other critical factors in the media are often not fully utilized. With the renewed emphasis on reducing the cost of bioprocessing, there is much interest in reducing the overall use of cell culture media. In this work, we introduce a mesoscale microfluidic separation device based on the ion

A water-soluble dye that absorbs blue light strongly makes it easier to turn mice transparent.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are a major class of biopharmaceuticals manufactured by well‐established processes using Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Next‐generation biomanufacturing using alternative hosts like Komagataella phaffii could improve the accessibility of these medicines, address broad societal goals for sustainability, and offer financial advantages for accelerated development of new

Correction to: Nature Biotechnology https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-022-01637-z, published online 19 January 2023.

Wageningen-based agbiotech KeyGene, in collaboration with Chiquita and Wageningen University, develops a banana plant resistant to both Fusarium tropical race 4 (TR4), a fungus capable of devastating entire plantations, and black sigatoka, a widespread leaf disease. The new variety, named Yelloway One, was produced by combining traditional crossbreeding techniques and modern DNA analysis technology

Neoantigen cancer vaccines hold great promise for cancer treatment but are often limited by the immunosuppressive tumor environment. Now, as described in Nature, Redenti et al. have overcome this issue by harnessing the natural capacity of bacteria to colonize tumors and trigger immune responses. They have developed a microbial system that produces and delivers distinct sets of neoantigens to elicit

The first clinical results for an RNA-editing oligonucleotide designed to correct a disease-causing single-base mutation in mRNA have been released. The company, Wave Life Sciences, says the agent WVE-006 restored more than 60% of wild-type functional protein in two individuals with the genetic disorder alpha-1 antitrypsin (ATT; encoded by SERPINA1) deficiency. ATT deficiency affects the liver owing

The US Department of Energy (DOE) in October conditionally committed nearly $3 billion to two companies to scale up the production of sustainable jet fuel made from crops, vegetable oils and animal fats. Gevo in Englewood, Colorado, could receive a loan guarantee of nearly $1.5 billion to build a new jet fuel refinery in Lake Preston, South Dakota. And Montana Renewables could receive about the same

Over 10% of patients with a fatal neurodegenerative disease who received bluebird bio’s FDA-approved gene therapy Skysona (elivaldogene autotemcel) have developed hematological cancers, further highlighting the well-known risks of using lentiviral vectors. The patients were treated with Skysona to slow the progression of cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD), an X-linked rare inherited neurodegenerative

In this episode, Associate Editor Cláudia Vilhena sits down with Ali Shaib, the lead author of an exciting new study showcasing expansion microscopy and the visualization of individual protein shapes using standard laboratory microscopes. Tune in as Ali and Cláudia explore the “accidental” origins of the study, the importance of mentorship and collaboration, and the democratization of super-resolution

Beer lovers can now enjoy their wildest drink yet thanks to a yeast carried by wasps. AB Biotek from Peterborough in the UK has launched Pinnacle Crisp Sour — a brewer’s ingredient made from Lachancea thermotolerans, a yeast found in the bellies of wasps. Traditional beer uses just four ingredients: grain, hops, yeast and water. Hops add the distinctive bitter flavor, and yeast converts sugar from

Recent patents relating to retroviruses, transposons and other virus-like elements for use in gene transfer and gene therapy.

RNA viruses are omnipresent and can infect a wide range of hosts. Recent efforts to sequence ecological samples have identified tens of thousands of new species, yet uncovering the complete spectrum of RNA virus diversity remains challenging. In a new paper published in Cell, Hou et al. describe a deep learning algorithm, called LucaProt, to advance RNA virus discovery at global scale. LucaProt is

Using insulin to control diabetes can lead to dangerously low blood glucose levels (hypoglycemia). For many years, researchers have worked to engineer an insulin that avoids this risk by adjusting its activity in response to glucose, but so far without success. Writing in Nature, Hoeg-Jensen et al. describe an insulin with a glucose-sensitive switch that reversibly responds to ambient glucose levels

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

Amyloid deposits are present in the brains of cognitively impaired individuals, but also accumulate throughout the body. Some biotechs aim to keep these misfolded proteins in check to treat a range of diseases, including heart failure, ALS and Alzheimer’s disease.

Fusarium is genetically diverse and widely distributed geographically. It is one of the genera with more endophytes (which cause no damage to the host plants). This review highlights the capability of Fusarium species to degrade environmental pollutants and describes the biodegradation pathways of some of the emerging environmental contaminants. Some Fusarium species use metabolic strategies enabling

We propose here that acylation modification of actinomycete proteins is a restrictive system that limits the excessive synthesis of secondary metabolites, its mechanism has not been clearly elucidated before. We used crotonylation as an example to investigate the acylation effect in the daptomycin biosynthesis by Streptomyces roseosporus. Our experiments revealed abundant crotonylation of numerous

Inducible transcription systems are essential tools in genetic engineering, where tight control, strong inducibility and fast response with cost-effective inducers are highly desired. However, existing systems in yeasts are rarely used in large-scale fermentations due to either cost-prohibitive inducers or incompatible performance. Here, we developed powerful xylose and arabinose induction systems

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Zurier, H. S., & Goddard, J. M. (2023). A High-Throughput Expression and Screening Platform for Applications-Driven PETase Engineering. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 120, 1000–1014. https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.28319 In the originally published article, one of the references was cited incorrectly. The incorrect reference is: Ebersbach, H., Geisse, S., Vincent, K. J., Zurini, M., McNeely, P. M., Naranjo

Corynebacterium glutamicum, a well-studied industrial model microorganism, has garnered widespread attention due to its ability for producing amino acids with a long history. In recent years, research efforts have been increasingly focused on exploring its potential for producing various organic acids beyond amino acids. Organic acids, which are characterized by their acidic functional groups, have

Currently, global annual CO2 emissions from fossil fuel consumption are extremely high, surpassing tens of billions of tons, yet our capacity to capture and utilize CO2 remains below a small fraction of the amount generated. Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) systems, an integration of microbial metabolism with electrochemistry, have emerged as a highly efficient and promising bio-based carbon-capture-and-utilization

Biological production of 5‐aminolevulinic acid (5‐ALA) has received growing attention over the years. However, there is the tradeoff between 5‐ALA biosynthesis and cell growth because the fermentation broth will become acidic due to the production of 5‐ALA. To address this limitation, we engineered an acid‐tolerant yeast, Issatchenkia orientalis SD108, for 5‐ALA production. We first discovered that

Europe’s first field trial of gene-edited vines began in northern Italy on 30 September 2024. Developed by EdiVite, a spinoff from the University of Verona, these Chardonnay vines have undergone gene inactivation to enable them to better defend themselves against downy mildew, a major fungal disease. The trial is being conducted on university land, with plans to expand to another site in the Veneto

A strategic move by lawyers acting for Doudna and Charpentier is the latest twist in the battleground for CRISPR–Cas9 technology.

Deaminases, ubiquitous enzymes found in all living organisms from bacteria to humans, serve diverse and crucial functions. Notably, purine and pyrimidine deaminases, while biologically essential for regulating nucleotide pools, exhibit exceptional versatility in biotechnology. This review systematically consolidates current knowledge on deaminases, showcasing their potential uses and relevance in the

The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded for the discovery of miRNA, but miRNA therapeutics have a long way to go before they outcompete other therapies.

Engineering of a specialized metabolic pathway in plants is a promising approach to produce high-value bioactive compounds to address the challenges of climate change and population growth. Understanding the interaction between the heterologous pathway and the native metabolic network of the host plant is crucial for optimizing the engineered system and maximizing the yield of the target compound.

The non-conventional yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus is a promising microbial host for industrial biomanufacturing. With the recent development of Cas9-based genome editing systems and other novel synthetic biology tools for K. marxianus, engineering of this yeast has become far more accessible. Enzyme colocalization is a proven approach to increase pathway flux and the synthesis of non-native products

Raffinose, a trisaccharide abundantly found in soybeans, is a potential alternative carbon source for biorefineries. Nevertheless, residual intermediate di- or monosaccharides and low catabolic efficiency limit raffinose use through conventional microbial hosts. This study presents a Vibrio-based platform to convert raffinose efficiently. Vibrio sp. dhg was selected as the starting strain for the Adaptive