The integration of systems metabolic engineering with co-culture strategies that couples bacterial cellulose production with natural colorant biosynthesis enabled the one-pot generation of rainbow-colored bacterial cellulose, establishing a sustainable biomanufacturing platform that can replace petroleum-based textiles and eliminate chemical dyeing processes.

A research group at KAIST has successfully developed a modular co-culture platform for the one-pot production of rainbow-colored bacterial cellulose. The team, led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, engineered Komagataeibacter  xylinus for bacterial cellulose synthesis and Escherichia coli for natural colorants overproduction. A co-culture of these engineered strains enabled the in situ coloration of bacterial cellulose. This research offers a versatile platform for producing living materials in multiple colors, and provides new opportunities for sustainable textiles, wearable biomaterials, and functional living materials that combine optical and structural properties beyond the reach of conventional textile technologies.

The research team led by Dr. Jang SeGyu at the Functional Composite Materials Research Center of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Oh Sang-rok) and the research team led by Professor Choi Siyoung at the Department of Bio and Chemical Engineering of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST, President Lee Kwang-hyung) announced the development of a high-density BNNT protective shield. This shield, created by densely-packed BNNTs, is robust, efficiently conducts heat, and effectively blocks cosmic radiation.

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Seog-Hyeon Ryu, hereinafter “KIMM”) has launched a new initiative to build a global research collaboration network connecting China and Vietnam, opening a new chapter in machinery technology cooperation across Asia. KIMM announced that it will significantly strengthen research collaboration with Jilin University (President Zhang Xi) in China in cutting-edge fields such as 3D printing, precision manufacturing, and biomimetic technology.

Researchers have developed a graph-based expert system that improves the accuracy and prediction stability of automated bank reconciliation. By modelling historical transactional data as a network graph, the system can learn complex one-to-many matching scenarios that existing tools often fail to predict correctly. The findings point to more reliable automation for high-risk domains such as finance and accounting.

A new 3D printing technique is generating anatomically accurate replicas of blood vessels in just two hours. The device so far has helped researchers study blood clots that lead to stroke and could be used to trial new drugs without relying on animal testing.   

📱 Does your partner know the password to your phone?  Probably.  

A study by Griffith University researchers reveals that 70 per cent of Australians share access to their phone with their partner, despite dominant cybersecurity guidelines advising the opposite.

Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Molly Dragiewicz, who led the study, said the most common reasons for smartphone sharing were positive, but that does not guard against negative impacts.

"People usually share for convenience, out of trust, and to help each other." Professor Dragiewicz said.

"However, if one partner turns out to be abusive later on, shared access can be dangerous".