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Tag Archives: bioengineer

A switch for a living computer

By Stephen Ornes / April 19, 2013

Scientists used DNA to build biological switches called transcriptors, which act like transistors found on computer chips. Credit: iStockphoto

Scientists build a transistor from DNA

Posted in Computers & Electronics | Tagged bacteria, bio chip, biochip, biocomputer, biocomputing, bioengineer, bioinvention, biological computing, biological switch, bioswitch, Cambridge, computer, DNA, DNA switch, flash memory, germ, getinvolved, Jerome Bonnet, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Palo Alto, Stanford University, Timothy Lu, topstories, transcriptor, transistor

Microscopic caffeine fiends

By Sid Perkins / April 15, 2013

Scientists tweaked the genes of a bacterium so that it requires caffeine to live and reproduce. Now, they can use this microbe to measure concentrations of caffeine in beverages such as soda, coffee and energy drinks. When the microbes are added to a water-weakened version of one of those drinks, the bacteria grow and the liquid turns cloudy — but only if the drink contained caffeine. In caffeine-free Coke (top left), no cloudiness appears. Credit: Barrick Lab/University of Texas at Austin

Researchers create a bacterium that can’t live or reproduce without a stimulant found in soft drinks, chocolate, coffee and tea

Posted in Microbes, Fungi & Algae | Tagged biochemist, bioengineer, caffeine, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), E. coli (Escherichia coli), gene, Genetic engineering, getinvolved, Jeffrey Barrick, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); guanine, topstories, University of Texas at Austin; Christopher Voigt

Feeling the invisible

By Sid Perkins / February 18, 2013

A rat with an infrared-detecting sensor wired into its brain soon learned that it could find water at a door marked with an invisible infrared light.
Credit: Thomson et al., Nature Communications (2013)

Sensor wired into a rat’s brain lets it detect light it can’t see

Posted in Animals, Light & Radiation, Tech & Math, Technology & Engineering | Tagged bioengineer, brain, Duke University, electromagnetic radiation, getinvolved, infrared light, Miguel Nicolelis, neuroscientist, plasticity, rat, San Diego, sight, spectrum, Todd Coleman, topstories, touch, University of California