News

UT iGEM Team Wins Gold: Applications now open for 2020 cycle!

By: Shaharyar Lakhani The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) is now accepting applications for the 2020 cycle! The year-long in-depth program is in preparation for the annual synthetic biology competition where multidisciplinary teams are given a kit of biological …

Dr. Barrie Kitto Featured in Nobel Laureate’s Documentary

Our very own Professor Barrie Kitto from the Molecular Biosciences department was recently featured in a documentary about his former advisee and Nobel laureate, Jim Allison. The documentary, titled “Jim Allison: Breakthrough” is the true story of a “warm-hearted, stubborn …

UT Cancer Researcher Featured on History Channel Series

By: Shaharyar Lakhani Everett Stone, a cancer researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, was recently featured in and episode of “Forged-in-Fire”, a series where experienced bladesmiths try to recreate some of the most iconic weapons throughout history. Stone …

Cannabis: The Future of Pain Alleviation?

By Shaharyar Lakhani Dr. Andy Ellington and his team from the Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology have been awarded a grant from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) to search for and better understand minor compounds …

Cellular Reagents Make Their Mark in Africa

By Shaharyar Lakhani Earlier this year, Dr. Sanchita Bhadra and her team from the Ellington Lab at UT Austin built a kit that would make research easier to conduct in low resource areas. The kit is intended for students and …

The Nurdle Hurdle: Finding a Plastic Degrading Microbe

By Shaharyar Lakhani Most plastic items are manufactured from small base substances called nurdles. Nurdles are tiny round pellets of plastic that are saturating coasts around the globe. These pellets carry toxins, and are therefore detrimental to the wildlife that …