Next in Lab's conference agenda: Synthetic Biology UK #SBUK2026, with Pablo Japón's talk (Monday 14:30) on evolvability of genetic circuits & Applied #SyntheticBiology in Europe #ASBE8, with @pglekas.eurosky.social's poster on circuits that work everywhere! Back-to-back conferences in the UK.
Experimental evolution—often called with IMHO bland name 'adaptive laboratory evolution' or ALE—reaches out & creates outcomes to multi-objective optimization issues not amenable to rational engineering. Here a new genet tool to explore solution spaces without SOS response dx.doi.org/10.1111/1751...
Accelerated Adaptive Evolution of Gram‐Negative Bacteria With a Broad‐Host‐Range Dual Base Editor
We developed a broad-host-range dual base editor that transiently induces genome-wide hypermutation, accelerating adaptive laboratory evolution by up to four orders of magnitude. The platform rapidly...
dx.doi.org
21,627 applications for the latest #MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships call. If each proposal takes ~100 hours to prepare, ~ 2.1 million hours of researchers’ time spent writing applications for a success rate reportedly around 7–8%. Is the best use of early-career researchers’ time? (1/2)
If we keep on advocating the benefits of Eng Microbes for Env Release with the same arguments that we had for 50 yr, no wonder we will also get the same social backlash. A new narrative is badly needed focused on partnership & stewardship—not just containment & control dx.doi.org/10.1111/1751...
Environmental Release of Genetically Intervened Microorganisms: Towards a New Narrative
From control to partnership: Rethinking the environmental release of laboratory-trained microorganisms for bioremediation.
dx.doi.org
An unbelievable experience! Highly recommend!
Victor de Lorenzo (CNB, Madrid)@vdlorenzo.bsky.social · 4mo agoLast few weeks (deadline Aug 15) to apply for the upcoming Workshop Oct 25-29 at @cshlaboratory.bsky.social Asia in Suzhou on *Synthetic Microbiology Beyond Containment* www.csh-asia.org?content/3201. Exploring how to move from sexy experiments in the Lab to large-scale, real-world applications 😱!
The 2026 Systems Biology Department's retreat. What a brilliant crowd! The t-shirt (artist: Marina de la Fuente) has a logo of every lab in the Dept. Our Lab is The logic Doors :-) Kudos to organizers: @angeles-hg.bsky.social, @pglekas.eurosky.social, @lewisgrozinger.bsky.social & Guillermo Gomez.
The 1st tangible outcome of my minisabbatical at @core-rwth.bsky.social surrounded by philosophers & social scientists. Can SynBio be an instrument not of domination but of partnership wth the natural world? I believe so, but a new narrative needs to be developed and its consequences taken seriously
Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research (c:o/re)@core-rwth.bsky.social · 5mo ago🧬 In our latest blog post, @vdlorenzo.bsky.social explores a new, relational narrative for Synthetic Biology, a transition from control and containment to care and stewardship, rebranding the relationship between humans and the living world. 🔗 Find the post here: khk.rwth-aachen.de/from-control...
I am growingly convinced that GM bacteria for release as bioremediation agents must have a separate regulatory frame compared to other GM items, as their only purpose and moral value is doing good things for the society, the environment and helping restoring ecological balance 🤔
📣 Latest paper out! I'll write a thread about it next week: growth control, cellular context, genetic circuits... A fascinating story by @angeles-hg.bsky.social & @mirobueno.bsky.social #synbio #biocomputation link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Growth control as a central regulator for tuning the cellular context - Journal of Biological Engineering
The cellular context decisively shapes genetic circuit performance, but the interplay between host and circuit remains difficult to control rationally. To address this challenge, we replaced the nativ...
link.springer.com
Join us this Oct with @pabnik.bsky.social & Guo-Qiang Chen www.chemeng.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/info/1026... at @cshlaboratory.bsky.social Asia in Suzhou to explore ongoing cutting-edge research at the frontier of biotechnology beyond containment with global researchers & help shaping the future of SynBio
Victor de Lorenzo (CNB, Madrid)@vdlorenzo.bsky.social · 6mo agoThe time has come to move SYNBIO microbes outside the lab/fermentor & recognize them as powerful allies in repairing the env damage we have inflicted on the planet. Achieving this at a truly global scale demands fresh views beyond the very limited Western mindset of control and containment 👇
Please note the seminars on SynBio and Metabol Eng Tools this April 24 Organized by ESAB. You can register in esabweb.org/webinars/68)
Two PhD positions offered at the amazing @pabnik.bsky.social Lab in DTU Denmark to work in frontine metabolic engineering of Pseudomonas putida—one is the sexiest, if not the sexiest 😉 SynBio platform! Check efzu.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid... and efzu.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
PhD scholarship in Synthetic Metabolism for Extending the Metabolic Landscape of Bacterial Cell Factories - BRIGHT
Are you ready to make a difference for a sustainable future through bacterial metabolic engineering? The Systems Environmental Microbiology (SEM) group at DTU (BRIGHT) seeks a candidate for a 3-year, ...
efzu.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com
www.intracomdefense.com/ide-at-senti... Proud to be part of the AEOLIKI team in the SENTINEL consortium. The 1st All Partners Event brought 130+ participants from 16 countries together to advance resilient, sustainable energy solutions for defence. #AEOLIKI #SENTINEL
IDE at SENTINEL 1st All Partners Event – INTRACOM DEFENSE
intracomdefense.com
Deep desulfurization is key for cleaner fuels. Our latest review highlights how synthetic biology is bringing biodesulfurization closer to real-world application as a greener complement to conventional refining. doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
The times they are a-changin'… The result of the first debate at this side of the pond on the need to revisit old ideas and regulations re engineering & release of microorganisms as agents of environmental bioremediation 👉🏻 www.nympheproject.eu/post/beyond-...
Beyond GMOs: How Laboratory-Trained Bacteria Could Transform Environmental Remediation - workshop summary
On 3 February 2026, researchers, regulators and policy specialists gathered in Brussels to examine a rapidly evolving question at the intersection of biotechnology and environmental governance: how sh...
nympheproject.eu
How do you react when your favorite microbe is renamed by taxonomists who are completely outside your field—and who ignore the community that actually works with it? Here is our clear answer re the case of Pseudomonas putida KT2440 👉🏻 journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
The disputed identity of Pseudomonas putida KT2440: when taxonomists rename your favorite microbe | mBio
Names matter; they are not mere labels. They operate as anchors of memory, social coordinates, and references of collective identity. When a name becomes established through long-term use and broad ad...
journals.asm.org
Time to leverage SynBio for tacking environmental pollution. But releasing bioengineered microorganisms still raises alarms. A new narrative is badly needed: bacteria for bioremediation are not alien intrusions but laboratory-trained extensions of life’s creativity link.springer.com/10.1038/s443...
Pre-Xmas lunch for celebratimg with the Lab folk all we have achieved in 2025. The best of this job is being surrounded by such talented people 😍
We all start by cloning something into a plasmid. But the vector you choose matters more than you think. A Commentary from the battleground with my colleague & curator of the @sevaplasmids.bsky.social collection, Esteban Martínez enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Time to rethink prevailing views re regulations on GE & SynBio microbes for env bioremediation in an era of climate change. We must move from a mindset of control & domination to one of stewardship & negotiation. Indigenous perspectives can help in bridging the artificial–natural divide. Stay tuned!
🚨 News on bioremediation! A study published in Nature reveals how by genetically modifying the bacterium Vibrio natriegens, it simultaneously degrades five toxic contaminants in industrial wastewater and saline soils. Read the full article: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Engineered bacteria can degrade five wastewater pollutants at the same time
Five gene clusters have been introduced into a single rapidly growing bacterial strain.
nature.com
The scientific & ethical legacy of the late Ioannis Economidis—a champion of Env Biotech & SynBio at the @ec.europa.eu —is captured in this article, based on his last lecture. A testament to an exceptional mind & a remarkable human being enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
The recently published report on Biosecurity by Drew Endy et al in the context of contemporary & future Biotech & SynBio is worth every word. Check it out 👉🏻 www.hoover.org/research/bio...
Biosecurity Really: A Strategy for Victory
Current trends make clear that biosecurity will become much more challenging over the next several years. We must act strategically to secure biology—before it becomes a general-purpose technology. Dr...
hoover.org
#MicroSky: CLEAN ENVIRONMENT! Glekas et al built a Pseudomonas putida strain with an optimized dsz operon to strip sulfur from fuels. The new strain, DS006, shows high efficiency in removing DBT—paving the way for cleaner & greener energy. doi.org/10.1111/1751...
Grateful to the organizers @vdlorenzo.bsky.social @pabnik.bsky.social, instructors, and host @cshlaboratory.bsky.social of the CSH-Asia workshop. It was an incredible experience for young scientists diving into synthetic biology and the metabolic engineering of Pseudomonas. (1/n)
Bio-desulfurization of fossil fuels has been a classic env biotech challenge for decades, but the field became stagnant for a while … until @pglekas.bsky.social et al leveraged SynBio tools to develop superior whole-cell catalysts enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 😱
Boosting Dibenzothiophene Biodesulfurization Through Implantation of a Refactored DBT Pathway in a Tailored Pseudomonas putida Chassis
This study engineered a Pseudomonas putida strain to efficiently remove sulfur from dibenzothiophene (DBT) by reordering and optimising the dsz operon from Rhodococcus qingshengii IGTS8, enhancing ca...
enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Next in Lab's conference agenda: FEMS @femsmicro.org! @vdlorenzo.bsky.social and myself are running a session on bacterial computation. Talks by @yschaerli.bsky.social, @manishmicrobe.bsky.social, Sangram Bagh & organisers. Very looking forward to it! #biocomputation #synbio
Deadline for applications extended to July 22 🔔! An unique opportunity to engage with cutting-edge science in a highly interactive format 👇
Victor de Lorenzo (CNB, Madrid)@vdlorenzo.bsky.social · last yr.Dear Pseudomonas aficionados: just a few weeks left to apply for this milestone CSH-Asia hands-on Course on Pseudomonas SynBio & Biotech in Suzhou www.csh-asia.org?content/2645. The experiments run there will be the basis of a dedicated CSHL protocol book on our fav microorganism!
