A team at a Korean research university has used the design of a spider web to develop a biosensor platform that sets a new bar for detection speed. It uses a living organism or biological molecules, such as enzymes or antibodies, to detect the presence of chemicals.

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In the past decade, engineers at the University of California San Diego have 3D-printed a variety of devices ranging from rocket engines, to robots, to structures inspired by the seahorse's tail. Now, nanoengineers have added a new item to that list: a 3D-printed biomimetic blood vessel network.

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Using artificial intelligence to mine libraries of untested chemical compounds can speed up the search for potentially useful new drugs. This new technique developed by two pharmaceutical chemists in California promises to evaluate compounds much faster and at less cost than current methods.

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The fluorescent dye technique, originally developed by surgeons at the Penn Center for Precision Surgery to treat lung cancer, illuminates brain tumors in real time during surgery. This helps physicians distinguish between healthy and cancerous tissue.

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Biobanks are set to grow in the future despite some challenges and public misgivings, according to recent studies. The industry is undergoing a paradigm shift that will create new uses for collected samples and the voluminous data that can be mined. The challenges, reports Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News, include protecting personal health information and patient identities, sample tracking, and building an annotated specimen bank.Growth through 2020 is projected at about 8% CAGR as the industry shifts from simple management of biological data to more strategic uses.

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