Biotech

Dehydrated blood that could be kept at room temperature for years may be possible thanks to a sugar used to preserve donuts—and made by tardigrades and brine shrimp so they can dry out and spring back with water.

Originally published in February 1967

A new device could ultimately increase the number of usable livers for transplants and could perhaps preserve other types of organs

With a few dollars, researchers replicated an instrument that typically costs thousands 

A supersensitive detector system can also glean clues about health

An inexpensive assay based on the technique can provide yes or no answers in under an hour—perhaps even in the home soon

The jury-rigged breathing aid, invented to deal with ventilator shortages, is now being tested as a kinder, gentler alternative to a tube in the trachea

RNA sequencing has shown a previously unknown dimension to the way malignant cells work—which could lead to novel treatments

As hospitals beg for protective gear and ventilators, some individuals are taking a creative approach to the problem

In mice, a test for lung cancer involves nanoprobes that recognize tumors and send reporter molecules into the urine for simple analysis.

The new method may be faster and easier than other genetic storage attempts

Coronavirus research requires high-containment labs. Journalist Elisabeth Eaves talks with Scientific American contributing editor W. Wayt Gibbs about her article “The Risks of Building Too Many Bio Labs,” a joint project of the New Yorker and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.