Francisco Martínez-Abarca

The range of CRISPR tools for genome editing can extend beyond nature-inspired designs thanks to proteins designed using artificial intelligence. A new study by Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna’s team, published in Science, describes the design of synthetic RNA-guided nucleases, with sequences substantially different from those found in nature, which match or exceed the activity of their natural counterparts whilst offering novel properties.

Craig Venter, the American biologist and entrepreneur who founded Celera Genomics to launch his own Human Genome Project in 1999 outside the public consortium, died Wednesday in San Diego at the age of 79, according to a statement from the J. Craig Venter Institute, which he led. Among other achievements, Venter completed the first full sequencing of a living organism’s genetic material and announced that he had succeeded in creating synthetic life.