We dive into the summer with this selection of refreshing synbio stories from BactToTheFuture! 

1.We love #microbes. We love #art. Best way to combine them? #AgartArt!
Yes. We love microbes and art so much that we decided to start a new section in BactToTheFuture dedicated to the two of them. We start with this amazing #AgarArt, a living painting made by Ana Tsitsishvili that left us speechless! No wonder that she won this year’s Agar Art competition from the American Society of Microbiology! To the painting>

2.Conference season has officially started! Lots of #Synbio waiting for you! #SEEDAS2018
From early spring to the late summer, this season is full of conferences that gather international researchers worldwide. In the Synbio field, the SEED conference (Synthetic Biology: Engineering, Evolution & Design)  is slowly becoming a reference! This year’s edition took place in Arizona and focused on DNA synthesis, editing, and decoding. Read more>

3.(DIY)Makers wanna make! And learn, and share… #Synbio
Alarming headlines about DIY gene editing recently warned the public about the threat that do-it-yourself biologists could pose if they mess around with viruses or unknown pathogens. Daniel Grushkin, a biohacker that prefers to be called community biologists, rapidly reacted to this publication and wrote this article to explain what, in his opinion, DIY-Biology really is about: science outreach and education. What do you think? The debate is open! To the article >

4.Hey there #Synbio startups! Need some help bringing your ideas to life? At @rebelbio they got your back, apply for their accelerator by july 1st!
The application for RebelBio’s accelerating programm just closed. This pioneering life science accelerator invests up to £200,000 in boosting the world’s most promising biotech start-up. Lab space, mentoring and support to transform ideas into business! If you missed the deadline don’t worry, their programme runs twice a year! Read more>

5.Check out how #Microbes and #Synbio can take us to space! 🚀
If packing for a road trip is a struggle, imagine the challenge when it comes to preparing the luggage for a trip to other planets like Mars! Water, food, tools, equipment, medicine… all has to fit and last for months within the spaceship to help the astronauts in their space mission. To save some space and resources, at NASA they are exploring the potential of microbes and synbio to produce both nutrients and building materials on site! Using water and CO2 as a carbon source these tiny organisms could brew these products on demand! Read more>

6.#Synbio can help us understand how ocean acidification affects the ocean’s food chain! 🌊 #ClimateChange
Climate change does not only result in global rising temperatures but also in ocean acidification. These changes in the water have an impact on many organisms, including ocean’s tiny plants know as phytoplankton in ways yet to be understood. Using synbio tools, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the J. Craig Venter Institute have unraveled how CO2 levels directly affect the capacity of these organisms to secure enough nutrients for growth jeopardizing the whole ocean’s food chain. Read more >

7.Are you a football fan enjoying the #WorldCup? Guess the result of every match with help of this bacterial oracle from @igem_munich! #OraColi ⚽🏆
Could E. coli become the next Paul the Octopus? After the success that this cephalopod gained in 2010 predicting the World Cup’s results, the IGEM team from Munich has designed the world smallest living oracle using bacteria. Ready to predict the outcomes of this year’s football competition? To the video >

8.#Biotech news! A faster and cheaper way to synthesize DNA is possible #Synbio
DNA is the keystone for engineering new organisms and thus its synthesis remains being a bottleneck in the synbio field. But perhaps not for much longer. Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) recently published a revolutionary way to synthesise DNA that aims to be faster and cheaper and could greatly impact life-science research. Read more >

9. Check out this great #Synbio summer school by @EssexSynBio! Coming up soon! Interesting talks and laboratory sessions are waiting for you in Colchester, UK.
If you want to learn all the latest experimental and computational methods to design biological systems this 5-day summer school is right for you! International speakers,  interesting synbio talks and lab session! Read more>

10. Yes #bacteria are amazing. These little guys can transform grass into fuel! What other #AwesomeMicrobes do you know?
They are small but they can do big things! Microbes have fascinating features that allow them to perform a wide range of activities that we can learn and benefit from. That’s why we started the new series #AwesomeMicrobes! Engineered Caldicellulosiruptor bescii for example, is able to transform grass into fuel!