2010
Lab-Built Body Parts
Nanotechnology
Robotics
Stem Cells
Also TryBooks
- -Genomes - To Know Ourselves (US Department of Energy and the Human Genome Project)
- Provides information on recent research to sequence human genomes. 9-05
- Cells (Awesome Library)
- Provides information on genes, cells, chromosomes, DNA, and more.
- Cells - Dictionary of Cell Biology (Virtual Library of Biochemistry and Cell Biology - Fenteany)
- Provides sources of information on basic cell structure and activity at an advanced high school or beginning college level. 07-12
- Chromosomes (Awesome Library)
- Provides information on genes and more.
- DNA (Awesome Library)
- Provides information on DNA.
- Genetics (Awesome Library)
- Provides information on genes.
- -Spelling Checkers for Biotechnology (Awesome Library)
- Checks online for correct spelling and offers alternatives if the spelling is incorrect. Also offers glossaries for browsing terms.
- Biotech News (AccessExcellence.org)
- Provides biochemistry news.
- Genetics and Genome Mapping (Nature.com)
- "Biology has become an increasingly data-rich subject, and NPG is committed to helping the community mine those data for novel insight. Many of the emerging fields of large-scale, data-rich, biology are designated by the suffix '-omics' added onto previously used terms." Provides news on genetics and genome mapping.
- Science News (Nature.com)
- Provides refereed articles.
- "Brain Work" to Make Games More Realistic (MSNBC News)
- "Just imagine being rendered the rough equivalent of a radio-controlled toy car."
"Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Japans top telephone company, says it is developing the technology to perhaps make video games more realistic. But more sinister applications also come to mind." 10-05
- "Electric" Bacteria (NewScientist.com)
- "Unlike any other life on Earth, these extraordinary bacteria use energy in its purest form – they eat and breathe electrons – and they are everywhere."
- Bioinformatics Definitions and History (Bioinformatics)
- " 'The mathematical, statistical and computing methods that aim to solve biological problems using DNA and amino acid sequences and related information.' " 1-04
- Biomimicry (Time.com - Amory B. Lovins)
- "[Janine] Benyus draws her design inspiration from nature's wisdom, not people's cleverness. Some 3.8 billion years of evolution have exposed the design flaws of roughly 99% of nature's creations — all recalled by the Manufacturer. The 1% that have survived can teach powerful lessons about how things should be built if they're to last. For example, nature's design genius has led to the creation of bat-inspired ultrasonic canes for the blind, synthetic sheets that collect water from mist and fog as desert beetles do, and paint that self-cleans like a lotus leaf. Little plastic-film patches have been designed using adhesiveless gecko-foot technology, so that carpet tiles can be stored in a big roll, but also easily removed. Equally promising, we'll soon make solar cells like leaves, supertough ceramics that resemble the inner shells of abalone, and underwater glue that mimics the natural as forests." 10-07
- Brain Implant Improves Thinking in Monkeys (New York Times)
- "Scientists have designed a brain implant that sharpened decision making and restored lost mental capacity in monkeys, providing the first demonstration in primates of the sort of brain prosthesis that could eventually help people with damage from dementia, strokes or other brain injuries."
"The device, though years away from commercial development, gives researchers a model for how to support and enhance fairly advanced mental skills in the frontal cortex of the brain, the seat of thinking and planning." 09-12
- Chemistry Nobel Laureates - Biochemistry (Nobel Foundation)
- Provides short autobiographies of the Nobel laureates Paul Berg, Walter Gilbert, and Frederick Sanger for their seminal work with nucleic acids and recombinant DNA. Their work has formed a foundation for modern biochemistry. 9-00
- Cloning - The Process (CNN - Kellan)
- Provides information on the process of cloning used in the breakthrough scientific discovery.
- Cloning and Bioethics (CNN)
- President Bill Clinton asks bioethics commission to look at sheep cloning. Provides links on bioethics related to cloning.
- Cloning and Bioethics (Center for Bioethics)
- Presents a forum for discussing ethical issues related to biological research.
- Company Gives Away Stem Cell Line (China View)
- "An Australian biotech company announced Monday that it is to release the embryonic stem cell line it has developed to world researchers for free."
"The Stem Cell Sciences Ltd. (SCS) made the announcement when opening a new laboratory at Monash University's Clayton Campus in Melbourne, capital of Victoria state." 11-04
- Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Human Genetics Research (ELSI)
- Provides articles and a history of ELSI. 2-01
- Ethics - Bioethics Resources (National Institutes of Health)
- Provides articles and organizations addressing bioethics as it relates to biotechnology. 2-01
- First Head Transplant to Be Attempted (ABC News)
- "A team of researchers led by an Italian surgeon say they are planning to perform the first human head transplant in 2017 and have even recruited a volunteer, but experts remain skeptical of the experimental procedure." 11-15
- Genes and Disease (National Center for Biotechnology Information)
- Provides an introduction to the importance of sequencing the human gene for preventing future diseases. Includes a colorful photograph of a complete set of human genes from a leukemia patient. 05-09
- Genes and Miniaturization - Beyond Biology (US Department of Energy and the Human Genome Project)
- Describes how information from genes applies to miniaturization and helping humans.
- Genetically Modified Monkey (National Geographic Society)
- Provides news on a rhesus monkey that was given a genetic marker during fertilization. Scientists believe that the procedure can be used to introduce medical conditions, such as diabetes, into monkeys in order to speed research efforts for cures for humans. 1-01
- Lewis, Edward B. (BBC History)
- Provides a short biography of the Nobel Prize winner for his work in genetics. 5-02
- Microbes May Be Most Plentiful (PBS)
- Provides a description of the microbe Sar 11, recently discovered by Dr. Steven Giovannoni, that may be the most abundant life form on earth. It is also one of the smallest microbes ever discovered and one of the hardest to grow in the lab. 1-01
- Pain Reduced with Brain Electrons (San Francisco Chronicle - Hall)
- Describes a new therapy for intractable pain. 5-02
- Paralyzed Man Walks Again (BBC News)
- "A paralysed man has been able to walk again after a pioneering therapy that involved transplanting cells from his nasal cavity into his spinal cord."
- Robotic Arm Directed by Thoughts (BBC News)
- "Scientists in the US have created a robotic arm that can be controlled by thought alone." 06-06
- Scientists Clone Glowing Dogs (CBS News)
- "South Korean scientists say they have engineered four beagles that glow red using cloning techniques that could help develop cures for human diseases." 04-09
- Scientists Create First Artificial Genome (ABC News)
- "It may not quite be 'Frankenstein,' but for the first time scientists have created an organism controlled by completely manmade DNA."
"Using the tools of synthetic biology, scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute installed a completely artificial genome inside a host cell without DNA. Like the bolt of lightening that awakened Frankenstein, the new genome invigorated the host cell, which began to grow and reproduce, albeit with a few problems." 05-10
- Search GeneBank, Genomes, Proteins, and Structures (National Center for Biotechnology Information)
- "Established in 1988 as a national resource for molecular biology information, NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information - all for the better understanding of molecular processes affecting human health and disease." 2-02
- Software Emulates Lifespan of Entire Organism (New York Times)
- "For medical researchers and biochemists, simulation software will vastly speed the early stages of screening for new compounds. And for molecular biologists, models that are of sufficient accuracy will yield new understanding of basic cellular principles." 07-12
- Using CRISPR to Alter Human Gene Defects (ScienceMag.org)
- "CRISPR opens the door to an unprecedented level of control over the human genome. Older techniques for editing DNA have been blunt and unreliable at best; CRISPR, on the other hand, is quickly emerging as the precision blade to those butter-knife approaches."
"CRISPR allows scientists to precisely snip out and replace genes, and for the first time, the newly green-lit experiment will apply this to the so-called germline cells in an embryo—the DNA in an embryo so early in its development that all of its resulting cells will carry the change—and pass it on to the next generation. Monday’s decision has been eagerly anticipated by scientists around the world." 02-16
- Yellowstone Park's Extremophile Microbes (Time.com)
- "Yellowstone Park's bizarre steam vents and odiferous boiling pools are more than just tourist attractions and geological curiosities. They are home to unique microbes — living organisms that thrive in extreme heat. More than that, they are valuable resources for industries searching for fresh and big profits." 11-07
- Cell Biology (Cell Press)
- Provides research results in cell biology. College Level. 07-12
- Development (The Company of Biologists, LTD)
- "Development is a primary research journal providing an insight into mechanisms of plant and animal development, covering all aspects from molecular and cellular to tissue levels." Provides full text of issues back to 1992. Does not include full text of current issue. College Level. 5-01
- Journal of Cell Science (The Company of Biologists, LTD)
- Provides full text of issues back to 1992. Does not include full text of current issue. College Level. 5-01
- Journal of Experimental Biology (The Company of Biologists, LTD)
- Provides full text of issues back to 1992. Does not include full text of current issue. College level. 12-02
- New Scientist (Planet Science)
- Provides a bridge to the latest interesting research.
- New Antibiotics Successful Against Superbugs (Scientific American)
- "Doctors first identified methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria in the 1960s and hospitals have been fighting to control their spread ever since. MRSA carry a unique protein called PBP 2a on the cell membrane that plays a key role in helping to defend against antibiotics. In February, Shahriar Mobashery of Notre Dame University and his colleagues identified specific components of the bacterial cell wall that interact with PBP 2a to form a chemical barricade. The team has now made three new synthetic antibiotics based on cephalosporin, a close relative of penicillin. The compounds contain protein components that mimic the crucial parts of the cell wall that cooperate with PBP 2a, which leads to its deactivation and forces the bacterium to succumb to the medication." 9-05