• April 27, 2013. Research at the FfAME covering artificial genetic systems was described this week by Adam Rutherford in The Guardian of London. They note the "startling progress towards reinventing the language of life", and that for DNA, the "original four-letter alphabet is now up to at least six, with the addition of Z and P by scientists including Steve Benner at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Florida."

• April 22, 2013. Westheimer Lectureship: In collaboration with Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) and The Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology (TWIST) in Gainesville, G. Michael Blackburn will be giving three Westheimer Lectures on April 22, April 25, and April 26, entitled:

The Contributions of Frank Westheimer to Biological Organic Chemistry.
Strain Catalysis - Westheimer and Beyond
Resolving Enzyme Mechanisms of Phosphate Transfer

Michael Blackburn is Professor emeritus of Sheffield University, and an expert in enzyme catalysis, phosphorus chemistry, and bioorganic chemistry, all field pioneered by Frank H. Westheimer during his productive lifetime.

• February 15, 2013. Steven Benner will be describing the evolutionary history of the interaction between primates and alcohol at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for the Advancement of Science. The presentation is in the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Friday afternoon, February 15.

• December 2, 2012. A podcast at Nature magazine features Steven Benner describing expanded genetic alphabets being developed at the FfAME and at Firebird. It can be found under the title "A new alphabet".

• November 21, 2012. The Thiele Foundation has selected General Genomics as one of its BreakoutLabs, GG was founded by Eric A. Gaucher, former President of the FfAME and now at Georgia Tech. Seeking to change how innovative science and technology is funded, the Thiele Foundation funds early stage companies and BreakoutLabs that will, if successful, enable radical advances and have far-reaching impact. General Genomics will use evolutionary analyses to speed the design of medically useful proteins.

• November 21, 2012. Roberta Kwok of Nature has published a news feature highlighting work in synthetic biology at the FfAME. Also included is work of a former student and grand-student from the Benner laboratory (respectively, Philip Holliger, now at the MRC in Cambridge. and Ichiro Hirao, now at RIKEN in Yokohoma, Japan).

• October 24, 2012. As part of FfAME's outreach activities, Steven Benner will give a lecture on the topic: "What Science is That Religion is Not and Why Scientistis Do So Very Little of It" at 7:00 PM at the Christian Study Center of Gainesville (112 NW 16th St). This is part of the Center's program on "Science and Faith: An Evolving Conversation".

• LiveScience: LiveScience and arsenic-based life
February 1, 2012

• Chemical and Engineering News: More on arsenic-based life
January 23, 2012

• BBC News: Searching for the origins of life... and our future
November 7, 2011

• Odyssey Magazine: The Alien Discovery that Wasn't
June 27, 2011

• Chemical & Engineering News: Arsenic Bacterium Debate Continues
June 6, 2011

• New Scientist: Arsenic-based bacteria: Fact or fiction?
May 27, 2011

• New York Times: A Romp Into Theories of the Cradle of Life
February 21, 2011

• Tech News World: Weird Earthly Life-Form Means Rethinking the Hunt for ET
February 21, 2011

• MSNBC: Definition of life: Arsenic debate just won't die
February 18, 2011

• Yahoo! News: Vatican looks to heavens for signs of alien life
November 10, 2009