biotechnology

Anthropic says Claude AI designed protein binders for 14 of 15 targets in lab tests

Anthropic announced Monday that its Claude AI models autonomously designed protein binders that succeeded against 14 of 15 targets in wet-lab testing, marking one of the most comprehensive demonstrations yet of an AI system executing end-to-end drug design work without…

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MIT engineers build living circuit boards from bacteria

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have engineered bacteria to function as transistors, creating "living circuit boards" that can be printed onto growth medium in Petri dishes and perform basic computational logic using chemical signals instead of electricity.

Nobel laureate’s startup unveils first full virtual human cell model

GenBio AI on Tuesday unveiled AIDO Cell, a system it describes as the first virtual cell "world model" capable of simulating human cell behavior across its full biological hierarchy — from DNA and RNA through proteins to whole-cell dynamics —…

South Korean researchers build gene switch controlled by electromagnetic fields

Researchers at Dongguk University in Seoul have created a gene switch that can be turned on and off inside living animals using electromagnetic fields, a development that could reshape how gene therapies are delivered. The study, published in Cell on…

AI ’tissue clocks’ can estimate biological age of individual organs

Researchers have built artificial intelligence systems that can estimate how old individual human organs are biologically by reading microscopic patterns invisible to the naked eye, offering a new way to track aging and disease that may eventually require nothing more…

Scientists publish blueprint for AI ‘digital organism’

A team of researchers led by Eric Xing published a paper in Nature Medicine on Thursday laying out a roadmap for building an AI-driven "digital organism" — a system of connected AI models that could simulate how drugs or genetic…

Stanford researchers use AI to design 16 working viruses from scratch

Researchers at Stanford University and the Arc Institute have used generative AI to design complete viral genomes that function in the laboratory, producing 16 novel bacteriophages capable of infecting and killing *Escherichia coli* — including strains resistant to natural phages.…

Scientists use CRISPR to create allergy-free beagles

A geneticist with a lifelong dog allergy can now play fetch with his own beagle, thanks to a gene-editing breakthrough that could eventually help millions of would-be pet owners.

Scientists reconstruct first complete genome of a living person

Scientists have reconstructed the complete genome of a living person for the first time, capturing full sets of chromosomes from each parent in a achievement that researchers say will make personalized genomics routine in medical care. The advance, published Thursday…

CRISPR tool rewrites Huntington’s gene, easing symptoms in mice

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated that a precision gene-editing tool can reduce the toxic protein burden and neurological symptoms of Huntington's disease in mice — not by silencing the gene, but by subtly rewriting how it…

Samsung Biologics bids $1.8B for PolyPeptide Group

Samsung Biologics has announced an all-cash public tender offer to acquire Swiss peptide manufacturer PolyPeptide Group AG at CHF 44.31 per share, valuing the company at approximately CHF 1.46 billion ($1.81 billion). The deal, announced on July 20, 2026, marks…

Stanford study finds blocking one receptor slows aging in mice

A study published in the journal Science on Wednesday reveals that blocking a single receptor on immune cells can restore the body's ability to clear senescent "zombie" cells, preventing cognitive decline, frailty, and weight gain in aging mice. The research,…

Light-activated eye drops restore vision in blind mice

Researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) have developed a new class of light-activated drugs that restored functional vision in blind mice and zebrafish, working not only as injections but also as simple eye drops. The study, published…

Roche unveils trial to prevent Alzheimer’s before symptoms appear

Roche has revealed the design of PrevenTRON, a Phase III trial that will test whether its experimental drug trontinemab can prevent Alzheimer's disease in people who show no cognitive symptoms but carry biological markers of the illness. The study design…

New gene therapy platform uses brain’s own fluid system to bypass blood-brain barrier

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have developed a gene therapy platform that exploits the brain's natural fluid transport network — the glymphatic system — to distribute engineered viral vectors broadly throughout brain tissue, offering a potential path…

Biotech M&A in 2026 already surpasses all of 2025

Biotech dealmaking has reached a "torrid pace" in 2026, with more transactions exceeding $1 billion already completed this year than in all of 2025 combined, according to Krishna Veeraraghavan, global co-head of M&A at Paul Weiss, who discussed the trend…

Novartis to buy UK biotech Myricx Bio for up to $1.5B

Novartis announced on Monday it has agreed to acquire UK-based biotechnology firm Myricx Bio for up to $1.5 billion, adding a novel cancer drug platform to its oncology pipeline as competition intensifies in the antibody-drug conjugate space.

Chinese AI biotech deals hit $75B as US scrutiny grows

Chinese biotech firms powered by artificial intelligence have struck out-licensing deals worth $75 billion in the first five months of 2026, a figure that stood at zero before 2020, underscoring how rapidly China has emerged as a global hub for…

Scientists build synthetic cell from scratch for first time

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have created SpudCell, a synthetic cell assembled entirely from non-living chemical components that can feed, grow, replicate its genome, and divide — a first in the decades-long quest to build life in…

Anthropic launches its own drug discovery program for neglected diseases

Anthropic on Tuesday unveiled Claude Science, an AI research workbench for scientists, while simultaneously announcing it will pursue its own preclinical drug discovery programs targeting neglected diseases — areas that traditional pharmaceutical companies have historically avoided.

Anthropic launches Claude Science workbench for researchers

Anthropic on Tuesday began rolling out Claude Science, an AI-powered workbench designed to give scientists a single environment for research across biology, chemistry, genomics, and drug discovery. The product was announced at "The Briefing: AI for Science," a live event…

Penn researchers use AI to find new CAR T therapy targets

Researchers at Penn Medicine have developed an artificial intelligence framework that combines large language models with human scientific expertise to systematically discover new targets for CAR T cell therapy, publishing their findings Wednesday in the journal Cell.

Cambridge team uses base editing to study gene function in human embryos for first time

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have used base editing for the first time to study gene function in human embryos, demonstrating that the NANOG gene is essential for the formation of pluripotent cells during the earliest days of development.…

China approves world’s first CAR-T therapy for solid tumors

China's National Medical Products Administration on Monday approved CARsgen Therapeutics' satricabtagene autoleucel, marking the first regulatory approval anywhere in the world for a CAR-T cell therapy targeting solid tumors. The treatment, also known as satri-cel, is indicated for patients with…

Basel researchers build reusable nanorobot with DNA ‘Velcro’

Researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland have developed a modular nanorobot that uses complementary DNA strands to autonomously snap its components together, a design they liken to a miniature lunar rocket. The system, published in Advanced Functional Materials,…

AI uncovers new antibiotic candidates for drug-resistant gonorrhea

Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have used deep learning to identify new antibiotic compounds effective against multi-drug resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae, according to a study published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine.

Single gene therapy shot extended mouse lifespan by 20%, study finds

A single injection of gene therapy extended the lifespan of elderly mice by more than 20%, according to a study published in Molecular Therapy by researchers at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. The findings mark the first demonstration that a…

T-rex leather handbag goes under the hammer in Paris

A one-of-a-kind luxury handbag made from lab-grown material derived from Tyrannosaurus rex fossils is being auctioned today at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris, with estimates between €300,000 and €500,000 — roughly $347,000 to $578,000.

China’s RNA editing therapy treats muscular dystrophy in global first

A research team from Changping Laboratory and Peking University has published results in the journal Cell showing that a China-developed RNA editing platform successfully treated pediatric patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, marking the first clinical application of RNA editing for…

First person treated with cell-rejuvenating gene therapy for glaucoma

Life Biosciences on Monday announced that the first participant has been dosed in its Phase 1 clinical trial of ER-100, a gene therapy designed to reverse cellular aging in patients with vision loss — marking the first time partial epigenetic…