Life At Every Scale

Genetic engineering as a foundational technology.

Time to Rethink Things

I’m ending the weekly newsletter to make time for deeper pieces.

Biology Breakthroughs of 2022

Ten research papers that shaped the year in biology and biotechnology.

Life is Infinitely Weird, Eh?

It’s hard to “program biology” because cells are packed tighter than a family reunion at your grandmother’s single-story home.

Codon: Biology's Promise

We’ve made incredible strides in health, medicine, and food over the last fifty years. Many of our greatest leaps were borne by biotechnology.

Cocaine from Tobacco Plants: The Final Index

A new study marks the first time that the cocaine biosynthesis pathway, native to coca leaves, has been ported into another plant.

6000+ Phages with CRISPR

More than 6,000 different viruses encode a CRISPR system. So when you hear about Cas9 and Cas12 and Cas13 and CasX, don’t stand with your mouth agape, amazed at humankind’s ingenuity in finding variants of the same thing.

Control Genes with Light

Engineered proteins, tuned to respond to different light levels, control gene expression in bacteria and mammalian cells.

Synthetic Biology in the Real World

Microbial biosensors detect water contaminants in 3 minutes.