Synthetic biology
Interdisciplinary branch of biology and engineering
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We include updates on Mycoplasma genitalium, Cultured meat, Recombinant DNA, Adam Rutherford, Organoid intelligence, Biopunk, Feng Zhang, Cerebral organoid, Industrial fermentation, 3D bioprinting, Jack W. Szostak, Protocell, Mirror life, James J. Collins, International Genetically Engineered Machine, Artificial gene synthesis ... and more.
| 2025 | Received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, jointly with Jennifer Doudna. |
| February 2025 |
Drew Endy
Testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
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| February 7 2025 |
Cultured meat
THE PACK's cultivated chicken product will be released into Pets at Home stores.
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| February 6 2025 |
Cultured meat
UK Pet-food company THE PACK announced the first commercially available pet product containing cultivated chicken made by Meatly.
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| 2024 |
Cultured meat
Dutch start-up Meatable planned to introduce cultivated pork sausages in several Singapore restaurants.
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| 2024 | Anticipated first human clinical trial of engineered live yeast for treating Clostridioides difficile infection, to be sponsored by Fzata, Inc. |
| 2024 | Collaborated with the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute to develop custom scents for the exhibition 'Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion'. |
| 2024 |
International Genetically Engineered Machine
Marburg from Germany and Aachen won top prizes in the iGEM Overgraduate Division competition.
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| 2024 |
International Genetically Engineered Machine
Heidelberg (Germany) won the Grand Prize in the Undergraduate Division of the iGEM Competition.
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| 2024 |
International Genetically Engineered Machine
GEMS-Taiwan won the Grand Prize in the High School Division of the iGEM competition.
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| October 2024 |
Adam Rutherford
The Curious Cases programme returned as 'Curious Cases', with Hannah Fry continuing and Dara O'Briain replacing Rutherford as co-presenter.
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| October 2024 |
Cultured meat
Alabama enacted a law making cultured meat illegal to manufacture, sell, or distribute.
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| August 2024 |
Cultured meat
Upside Foods filed a lawsuit against Florida in an attempt to challenge the state's ban on cultured meat production and sales.
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| April 2024 |
Cultured meat
Australian start-up Vow obtained Singaporean approval for its cultured quail.
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| April 2024 |
Cultured meat
Dutch start-up Meatable became the first company in the EU to receive EFSA regulatory approval for a public proof of concept tasting of cultured meat sausage, attracting significant international and national media attention.
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| January 2024 |
Cultured meat
The Israeli Ministry of Health granted regulatory approval for cultured beef to Aleph Farms, marking a significant milestone in the commercialization of cultured meat in Israel.
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| 2023 |
Adam Rutherford
Aired the 21st series of The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry on BBC Radio 4.
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| 2023 |
Cultured meat
The Chief Rabbi of Israel made a ruling on cultured meat, determining that some types are kosher and can potentially have pareve status if not made to resemble meat.
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| 2023 | Researchers successfully created the first synthetically made human embryos derived from stem cells. |
| 2023 | Significant advancements in RNA therapeutics, including improved safety and efficiency in synthetic biology, with RNA-based systems showing faster and potentially safer genetic modification capabilities. |
| 2023 |
From Fauna
Released 'Modern Meat', a comprehensive 600-page textbook, which was the first of its kind on the subject of cultured meat, marking a significant educational milestone in cellular agriculture.
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| 2023 |
International Genetically Engineered Machine
Estonia-TUIT and Leiden from Netherlands were top performers in the iGEM Overgraduate Division competition.
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| 2023 |
International Genetically Engineered Machine
McGill (Canada) won the Grand Prize in the Undergraduate Division of the iGEM Competition.
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| 2023 |
International Genetically Engineered Machine
Japan-United won the Grand Prize in the High School Division of the iGEM competition.
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| November 2023 |
Cultured meat
Italy became the first country to officially ban cultured meat when the government approved the bill, marking a significant regulatory stance against cultivated meat technology.
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| October 2023 |
Cultured meat
The Italian government withdrew the Technical Regulation Information System notification for the anti-cultured meat bill, with Minister Francesco Lollobrigida claiming it was not a step back.
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| June 2023 |
Cultured meat
Upside Foods and Good Meat received USDA approval for cultivated chicken, enabling their market entry in the United States.
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| March 2023 |
Cultured meat
Italy's Meloni government approved a draft bill banning the production and commercialization of cultivated meat, citing protection of food heritage while facing criticism from scientists for potentially worsening climate change.
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| February 2023 |
Cultured meat
No cultured meat producers had yet submitted a novel food dossier for approval to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), despite ongoing regulatory efforts.
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| January 2023 |
Cultured meat
Singapore Food Agency granted regulatory approval to Eat Just's subsidiary GOOD Meat for cultured meat production using serum-free media, considered a milestone for scalable and efficient cultivated meat production.
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| 2022 |
Cultured meat
A study estimated potential optimistic large-scale production costs of cultured meat could fall to $63 per kilogram, with key cost drivers being growth medium, labor, and bioreactor repairs.
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| 2022 | Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. |
| 2022 | Elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. |
| 2022 |
Adam Rutherford
Presented 'Bad Blood: The Story of Eugenics' series on BBC Radio 4, based on his book 'Control: The Dark History and Troubling Present of Eugenics'.
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| 2022 | Fierce Pharma featured Church among the most influential people in biopharma, highlighting his continued significance in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields. |
| 2022 | Launched the Tetiꞌaroa Restoration Project in French Polynesia, continuing their commitment to island ecosystem conservation. |
| 2022 |
International Genetically Engineered Machine
UCopenhagen from Denmark and Montpellier from France were top performers in the iGEM Overgraduate Division competition.
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| 2022 |
International Genetically Engineered Machine
TU-Eindhoven (Netherlands) won the Grand Prize in the Undergraduate Division of the iGEM Competition.
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| 2022 |
International Genetically Engineered Machine
Lambert_GA from the United States won the Grand Prize in the High School Division of the iGEM competition.
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| 2022 |
International Genetically Engineered Machine
Event redesigned and rebranded as the iGEM Grand Jamboree, held at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles.
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| November 2022 |
Cultured meat
The FDA completed the pre-market consultation for Upside Foods (formerly Memphis Meats), marking the first safety approval for a cultivated meat company in the United States.
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| September 2022 |
Cultured meat
The Israeli Health Ministry and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) co-organized a convention of cultivated food safety regulation experts to develop safety regulations for cultured meat.
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| June 2022 |
Adam Rutherford
Becomes President of Humanists UK, succeeding Alice Roberts.
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| June 2022 | Published 20 NFTs with his likeness instead of originally planned DNA NFTs, as part of a project to support genetic research using data from 15,000 individuals. |
| April 27 2022 |
Cultured meat
The European Commission approved the European Citizens' Initiative End The Slaughter Age to shift subsidies from animal husbandry to cellular agriculture.
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| March 2022 |
Cultured meat
Cultured meat producers in the European Union began attempting to gain regulatory approval from supranational institutions, preparing for potential consumer sales.
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| February 2022 | Published 'The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology', co-authored with futurist Amy Webb. The book was later named a New Yorker Best Book of 2022. |
| 2021 | Received the Richard Lounsbery Award. |
| 2021 |
Cultured meat
The Spanish government granted €3.7 million to Biotech Foods to investigate the potential health benefits of cellular agriculture.
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Feng Zhang, George Church (geneticist), Synthetic biology, Andrew Hessel, Sissel Tolaas, Susan Rosser, From Fauna, Cultured meat, Island Conservation, Adam Rutherford, Drew Endy & International Genetically Engineered Machine, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.