Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., founded in 1979, is a Canada, Ontario based Biopharmaceutical Company. With its corporate headquarter in Ontario (Canada), it has its marketing facilities available in Montreal, Quebec; Athens, Georgia; Pullman, Washington; and Sydney, Australia. It mainly deals discovery, development and manufacturing of products for human and animal health.

• Job Openings
  

• Novozymes strengthens its mark in bioagriculture, signs an agreement acquiring TJ Technologies Inc

Novozymes acquires TJ technologies Inc., providing biological solutions to North American farmers to enhance plant growth, increase stress tolerance, and improve yields so as to meet challenges of growing global population.

• Novozymes builds new enzymatic solutions to improve the freshness span of packaged cakes

Here's a video on Novozymes OptiCake®:



a. Production


b. Quality Control

c. Research & Development

We will keep updating the thread with new information!

Thanks for Reading!

Diabetes is amongst those notorious diseases facing mankind, that has no permanent cure, and rather life threatening complications (obesity, impaired/lost vision, inflammations, renal failure, cardiac arrests etc!). Till date, the controls (no cure) are limited to insulin administrations coupled with dietary modulations. The worst part about the current strategy of diabetes control is the need to inject insulin into the body regularly every day! Untill recently when oral insulin was developed, most of the patients were tired of punching holes in their skin to keep their sugar levels low/under control! But, oral administration isn't a relief either, due to the strict regimes of insulin intake needed post meals. The dependency on regular intake of insulin hasn't subsided despite years of research, and the need for some permanent or at-least a mode of treatment that could give long-term effects has always been felt, especially in current scenario of ever increasing number of diabetes patients!


Here's a brief but highly informative video on interaction with Dr. Douglas Melton himself (the discoverer of Betatrophin):

As per the studies conducted on mice, the hormone is found to be secreted by Liver, White Adipose Tissue (WAT) and Brown Adipose Tissue (BAT). Following is a self descriptive image of the process, as referred from the original research paper:

How it Happened?

Scope of Discovery:

Probable Road Map For Future
As the trials were conducted in the young 8 weeks old mice, it is yet to be seen the effect of the hormone on old mice, especially the one in advanced stages of diabetes. Whether the hormone induces it's action in diabetic and old mice/humans too, is the but obvious immediate task that the scientific community is eagerly looking forward to. At the end of the day, it's the diabetic patients who are at the receiving end ultimately, so if the hormone cannot exhibit satisfactory and controlled results in the diseased targets, it cannot really be declared a blockbuster future drug for diabetes.

Apart from that, as per Dr. Douglas, in order to initiate the first human trials, atleast 2 years will be required to produce Betatrophin in sufficient amounts for the task. So, it's not quite immediately, that the hormone will come to the service of the community at large. Apart from that, lot needs to be done to ascertain the actual mechanism (signal pathway) of action of the hormone, and more importantly, the receptors where it binds and exerts the effects. Such, key issues once addressed, will really make this discovery a new age technology to treat diabetes with possible permanent effects!



References:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...7413004492

http://www.scientificamerican.com/articl...-treatment

http://www.nature.com/news/liver-hormone...nt-1.12878

MedImmune LLC, is a US based biotechnology enterprise, acquired by AstraZeneca in 2007. It has its headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It was established by Wayne T. Hockmeyer as Molecular vaccines Inc. in 1988 and was changed to MedImmune in 1990. Company develops and manufactures immunological research based products, its most famous drugs are Synagis and FluMist.

In this forum we will discuss about its latest technologies, developments, recognitions and vacancies.

• MedImmune acquires Alphacore pharma
  

• MedImmune won equipment innovation award
  

• MedImmune vacancies
  

Check out the MedImmune career website for extensive job offers in the field of biochemistry, molecular biology, bioprocess engineering and more.




Lets wait for another big news by MedImmune.

Recently, I got a query from one of the members of Biotechnologyforums at my email, about tips for preparation of Aptitude part of GATE BT exam. Thought to share the response with all of you. Hope the tips might help you all.

Well, one should never ignore the aptitude part, as it carries a good 15 marks weightage out of total 100. And, most of the questions are always quite straightforward for those who have had a glance of basic aptitude concepts in following 5 domains:

1. Quantitative Aptitude
2. Data Interpretation
3. Logical Reasoning
4. Verbal ability
5. Verbal Reasoning


A. Quantitative Aptitude

Link 1 Link 2
A thorough preparation at Link 1 (Indiabix) should suffice.

B. Data Interpretation

Link 1 Link 2

These questions are often very easy and seldom asked in GATE BT.

C. Logical Reasoning
Link 1 Link 2 (Nice Video Lectures)

Be thorough with Logical Reasoning, it's very common in GATE BT aptitude.

D. Verbal ability

Link 1 Link 2 (Good Files to Download)

E. Verbal Reasoning
Also commonly asked in GATE BT. Give special focus to Blood Relation Test, Seating Arrangement, Venn Diagrams, Verification of Truth, Direction Sense Test , Logical Sequence of Words and Series Completion.

Link

Hope these tips help you in some way. All the Best for GATE BT 2014!

For other tips on GATE BT, Click here

Thanks for Reading!

An artificial cell can basically be defined as a particle that replaces or assists cellular functions, and in which biological or non-biological materials are encapsulated within a biological or synthetic polymer membrane. These “cells’” can come in macro, micro, nano and molecular dimensions and are used in various disciplines such as medicine, biotechnology, agriculture, industry, nanorobotics and much more. Depending on their structure or functions they are identified by different terminology such as nanoparticles, nanocapsules, nanosensors, liposomes, lipid vesicles, microcapsules, polymersomes etc.



The Membrane

The membranesorrounding an artificial cell can be either biological or synthetic. This membrane is usually composed of materials such as biodegradable or non-biodegradable simple polymers, lipids, proteins, polymer materials linked with lipids or proteins linked with lipids. Polymeric material used for membrane synthesis determines the porosity of the membrane and the degree of diffusion of the molecules through the membrane. Hydrogel polymers such as alginate or cellulose and thermoplastic polymers such as polyacrylonitrilepolyvinyl chloride are some of the commonly used materials for membrane construction.

The membrane of an artificial cell performs different tasks. Basically, it separates the contents of the cell from the outside and controls the movement of molecules between the cell and the surroundings. Being immunologically inert, these membranes protect the artificial cells from the immune system of a patient when they are used in clinical applications.

Depending on their functions, the complexity of these membranes may vary. For instance, some membranes may have proteins on their surfaces such as enzymes, haemoglobin, antigens or antibody. Some may contain transport carriers or selective channels.



The Interior

Enclosed within the polymer, the artificial cells can contain a variety of bioactive materials such as cells, enzymes, haemoglobin, microorganisms, vaccines, genes, drugs, hormones, proteins, nanoparticles, magnetic materials etc. artificial cells may also contain a combination of these materials.

Few Applications of Artificial Cells

Artificial Cells for Hemoperfusion

Artificial cells are also used for hemoperfusion, i.e. removal of toxic substances from the blood of a patient. These ‘cells’ contain adsorbent materials which retain the contaminants in the blood that diffuse through the membrane. The artificial cells are a cheaper and more effective option compared to the available methods of blood detoxification. Since they restrict the movement of the encased adsorbents into the patient’s blood, they are also considered to be safe. Recent researches have been conducted with artificial cells composed of nanosponges encapsulated within natural red blood cell membranes which can be used for removal of toxins from blood.

Artificial Cells as Oxygen Carriers

Artificial cells containing only haemoglobin (Hb) or red blood cell enzymes along with Hb can be used as oxygen carriers. They can be an effective solution to the various problems associated with blood transfusion one of which is the need of blood typing and matching to avoid immunological reactions in the patient. Since these artificial cells can be sterilised they also eliminate the risk of transmission of diseases such as AIDS through blood transfusion. Furthermore, the artificial oxygen carriers, since they possess stable cellular membranes, are more durable and can be stored for prolonged durations where the natural RBCs can only be stored up to 42 days at 4 Centigrade.

Haemoglobin in purified form cannot be used as an oxygen carrier because it is highly toxic to the kidney. This toxicity arises due to the breakdown of haemoglobin molecule into two toxic dimers which damage liver tissues. In artificial cells, haemoglobin can either be enclosed within the particle or it can be cross-inked to the polymers to form insoluble conjugated haemoglobin. Since these haemoglobin molecules are immobilised, the threat of toxicity is eliminated.

More complex artificial cells, which can be considered as artificial red blood cells have been developed by incorporating Hb as well as RBC enzymes into the cellular element.



Artificial Cells as Drug Delivery Systems

Artificial cells have drawn the attention of the scientists as an alternative method of delivering drugs. These delivery systems have many benefits over the traditional methods such as oral and intravenous administration of drugs. The major advantage is their ability to release the drugs slowly once within the tissues. Modern drug delivering artificial cell systems range from micro to nanodimensions. They are known by different terms such as polymersomes, liposomes, nanoparticles, nanotubules etc.

Apart from these applications, artificial cells are used in various clinical applications such as enzyme therapy, gene therapy and cell therapy. There is also the possibility of enclosing radioactive materials within an artificial cell which could then be used to treat tumours. These cells could be also be designed to target specific tissues by crosslinking proteins that are immunologically compatible to the target tissues.



Artificial Cells in the Future

With the progress in the nanotechnology and molecular biology, novel and more advanced artificial cell types with improved polymer membranes and new contents will be developed. Scientists are also working on with the hope of creating a “living artificial cell” which will be entirely man-made but will mimic biological cells in every other way. There are also predictions that “Programmable Artificial Cell Evolution”, an integrated programme supported by the European Union will eventually succeed in incorporating the artificial cells into computer and robotics technology, thereby making self-repairing computers.

Source:

Artificial cells: biotechnology, nanomedicine, regenerative medicine, blood substitutes, bioencapsulation, cell/stem cell therapy by Chang, Thomas Ming Swi (2007)

• Novartis wins first private sector malaria award
  

• Novartis recognised as best employers for diversity
  

• Novartis ranked amongst Fortune's most admired companies
  

• Next Generation Scientist Program
  

• Vacancies
  

Novartis due to its worldwide presence has vacancies in different countries in different divisions like QA, QC, R&D, Production, etc. Kindly go through the career site to select the destination of your choice.



We will keep you updated with latest news.

Headquartered in New York (USA), Pfizer Inc. a global giant in Pharmaceutical industry holds one of the most experienced portfolio (founded in 1849) in therapeutic drugs and services across the world. With an aim to address the diverse healthcare medical needs of the patients around the world, Pfizer has kept expanding it's R&D base and hence the product lines round the clock. From Lipitor, Idamycin, Cardura to Viagra etc almost every product of Pfizer has dominated the market post-launch.

Here is a brief overview of the recent developments at Pfizer Inc, with the information on latest job opportunities in this esteemed pharmaceutical firm.

• Results of Zoetis Inc. Exchange Offer Declared
  

For Details on the declaration Click here

• TEVA and Sun Pharmaceuticals Settle for $2.15 billion penalty for Infringement of Pfizer's Protonix® Patent
  

For Details on the story, Click here

• FDA Accepts Pfizer's Application for Reviewing and Expanding the XELJANZ® Labeling
  

Pfizer announced on June 21, 2013 that FDA has accepted to review it's application for expanding the labeling of XELJANZ® (tofacitinib citrate), used for severely active Rheumatoid Arthritis to include it's efficacy in inhibition of Progression of Structural Damage too. XELJANZ is the first FDA approved medicine in the class of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, and is effective in treating the patients unresponsive or intolerant to Methotrexate (MTX).

For Details, Click here

Following are the recent job openings at Pfizer in United States:

Note down the JOB ID and Apply here

A. Quality Assurance:


B. Research & Development

Keep an eye on this thread for further updates.

Thanks for Reading!

AstraZeneca, found in 1999, is one of the renowned UK based pharmaceutical company, with Headquarters in London. AstraZeneca is mainly involved in the development of healthcare drugs. It emerged out of the merger of two companies, Astra AB of Sweden and Zeneca Group PLC of the UK. It has marked its strong presence in market by its brilliant work on drugs against cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory, inflammation, autoimmune, oncology, infection and neuroscience diseases. Having partners all across the world, AstraZeneca has a wide global reach.

Here are some recent updates about the company, along with job vacancies:

• AstraZeneca Signs Agreement with Karolinska Institutet
  

For Details Click here

• AstraZeneca and Roche launch data sharing consortium

This collaboration of data sharing is a new step taken by two companies to accelerate the research leading to rapid discovery of high quality compounds and aiming at better service to patients. Modifications will be keyed out using a technology named Matched Molecular Pair Analysis, MMPA. These modifications can be used by both the companies and can apply them to their compound structures without revealing any classified information about these chemical structures. Other large companies can also join this consortium to ameliorate their resources.

For Details Click Here

• Collaborative work of Cancer Research Technology, The University of Manchester and AstraZeneca on new cancer drugs

For Details Click Here

• Current Job Openings

Following are the vacancies for United Kingdom R&D Centers. Kindly see the list below and apply on the company website.



Ruchika
Self Employed

Although not so widespread as single cell proteins, microbial production of oils and fats, termed as Single Cell Oils (SCO), is a concept that is becoming increasingly popular among the scientists and industrialists. These microbial oils can be used for a variety of production lines ranging from edible oils and fats to biodiesel. Whereas the current trends of research in SCO mostly concentrate on the production of biodiesel, this article focuses on the production of edible oils and fats of microbial origin.

Oleaginous Microorganisms

Although all microbes have the ability to produce some amount of lipids for their structural components such as membranes, only a few of them are able to accumulate lipid in amounts which are of commercial importance. Those microorganisms which have the ability to amass lipids more than 20% of their dry cell weight are characterised as oleaginous microorganisms.

Oleaginous microorganisms fall within the groups of bacteria, algae, yeasts and fungi, the properties and the compositions of the oils varying on the species.

Among these, yeasts and fungi are the most efficient producers of oils. They produce a variety of oils that are structurally similar to plant oils. Moreover, they produce larger amounts of oils than other microbes and their oils can be easily extracted. These characteristics are considered important in order permit an industrially feasible production.

Micro algae also produce up to 20-40% (w/w dry weight) lipid content and their lipids include several polyunsaturated fatty acids of dietary significance. However, they require specific growth conditions such as warm temperature, sunshine and clean water making them a not so suitable choice for industrial applications. Furthermore, special recovery techniques are needed for the extraction of algal oils, thus further restricting their use. However, micro algae are an excellent choice to be used in waste or sewage treatment plants thereby permitting the production of oils simultaneously with the bioremediation process. In addition, several researches have been carried out and been successful on growing algae heterotrophically.

Bacteria, however, are not extensively used as oil producers. Though many species of bacteria do produce lipids, only a few of them accumulate high enough amounts of extractable lipids. Some species of bacteria such as Mycobacterium, Corynebacterium and Rhodococcus accumulate up to 30-40% of lipids but these lipids are hard to extract and are associated with toxic or allergic factors, making them undesirable as edible oil producers. However, there are on-going researches on using glycoloipids isolated form these organisms as surfactant. Some bacteria, such as Arthrobacter AK 19 can store up to 80% of lipids as its biomass. But this bacterium is slow growing, making its use in commercial applications somewhat restricted.

Physiology of Microbial Oil Production

Microorganisms produce and accumulate oils as an energy reserve. When the microorganisms are grown in a medium in which carbon is plentiful but another essential nutrient is scarce, the cells rapidly grow and proliferate until the limited nutrient is exhausted. Then the microbes [b]stop dividing but continue to grow. Usually, in industrial fermentations nitrogen is the growth limiting nutrient. When all the nitrogen in the growth medium is used up, the cells cannot create new cells since the protein and nucleic acid synthesis is stopped. But they continue to assimilate carbon and convert it into oils and fats.

The amount and the nature of the accumulated lipids depend on the type of microorganism and are genetically predetermined. ATP citrate lyase[b] is the enzyme that is responsible for lipid accumulation in larger quantities. The presence of this enzyme implies that the microorganism can stock lipids more than 20% their biomass.

[b]Industrial Production of Single Cell Oils

In commercial manufacturing plants, oil rich biomass is produced by fermentation of sugar rich media. These cells are then seperated by centrifugation. Then the oils are extracted by disrupting the cell walls in the presence of a solvent such as hexane and evaporating the solvent by drying under vacuum conditions. Finally, the extracted crude oil is refined through a series of steps including neutralisation, degumming, bleaching and deodorisation.



The Advantages and Disadvantages of Single Cell Oils

The synthesis of lipids by microorganisms has several advantages over the production of plant or animal derived oils. Microbes have shorter life cycles than plants or animals, warranting a rapid production. Unlike other sources, there is no requirement for farm lands and therefore the effect of climatic factors on the production is insignificant. Moreover, microbial fermentation involves less labour and the scaling up the production is easier than in other methods.

On the other hand, the microbial synthesis of lipids is not as economical as the plant oil production due to the high cost of the carbon sources and the requirement of sophisticated extraction techniques. Furthermore, the oil yields which can be obtained by microorganisms are comparatively lower than that with plants or animals.

However, these organisms can be genetically engineered to utilise cheaper substrates such as industrial wastes. Another more economical approach is modifying these organisms into producing more value-added specialty fats and oils or products which can’t be extracted through other sources. This will be more profitable than modifying plant oils into products of higher value such as cocoa butter.

Single Cell Oils in the Market

An infant formula including a blend of single cell oils, namely arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is currently available in Europe, Australasia, Far East and USA. In addition, cocoa butter-like products are produced using several species of yeasts such as Cryptococcus curvatus. Furthermore, many polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) which have gained interest as dietary supplements and nutraceuticles, are being synthesised using microorganisms, mostly fungal and algal species.

Sources:

Biotechnology for the Oils and Fats Industry edited by Colin Ratledge, Peter Stephen Shevyn Dawson, James Rattray

Food Biotechnology (2nd edition) edited by Kalidas Shetty, Gopinadhan Paliyath, Anthony Pometto and Robert E. Levin

Biocon Limited is an Indian Biopharmaceutical giant based in Bangalore. Its the biggest manufacturer of fermentation products in India and has a strong foothold in Mabs and chemical synthesis products too.

• Biocon listed in Top 20 employers by Science Magazine-2012
  

Science Magazine conducts a worldwide annual survey for companies based on Six Key parameters:
- Innovative Leader in the Industry
- Treats Employees with Respect
- Is Socially Responsible
- Has Loyal Employees
- Does Important Quality Research
- Makes Changes Needed

Biocon was ranked in 19th position leaving around 25K companies behind. And its the only Asian company in the list.

• Biocon ready to launch Alzumab
  

• Biocon to open a unit in Malaysia
  

For more news on Biocon click here.

• Current Vacancies
  

Following are vacancies for India and Bangalore R&D center of Biocon. Kindly see the list below and apply on the company website.

AMGEN Inc. one of the world's leading bio-pharmaceutical company, based in United States (Headquartered in California) is well known for the R&D and Manufacturing of human therapeutics. Here are some of the latest developments that took place in AMGEN, along with the update on recent job openings:

• Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence (AASTE) Winners Declared
  

AASTE by Amgen is a unique initiative of Amgen in recognizing talented teachers rendering their services in public and private schools of United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. The award is given every year to a selected few excellent teachers.
Here's the list of Winners 2013 (Announced on June 19, 2013):
1. Laura Todis (Sierra High School, Fillmore, CA)
2. Mary Murphy (The Urban School of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA)
3. Mark Paricio (Smoky Hill High School, Aurora, CO)
4. Susan Buehner (Brandeis Elementary School, Louisville, KY)
5. Rebekah Ravgiala (Tyngsborough High School, Tyngsborough, MA)
6. Luz Burgos (Colegio Radians, Cayey, Puerto Rico)
7. David Upegui (Central Falls High School, Central Falls, RI)
8. Amanda Rainwater (Bothell High School, Bothell, WA)
9. Glyn Davies (Henry Anderson Elementary School, Richmond, B.C., Canada)

Click here for Details

• Amgen's XGEVA® (denosumab), drug for the Treatment Of Giant Cell Tumor Of Bone (GCTB) Approved by FDA
  

Click here for Details

• AMGEN Inc Enters Into Strategic Alliance With Astellas Pharma Inc
  

Click here for Details

• Positions Open at Research & Development Wing of AMGEN, California, US
  

Note down the job code from the list below and apply here

The Thread Will Be Updated With New Information As And When Available.

Readers May Feel Free To Add The Updates!

Thanks for Reading!

Q1) I am currently deciding between a Diploma in Biotechnology and a Diploma in Biomedical Science. I am equally interested in both. What degree courses are available to me from each diploma? What kind of career options can I explore?

Q2) Their offering a biotechnology course in my school, and I was wondering how it would benefit me in becoming a dentist ?

Q3) What is Biotechnology in a simple definition?

Q4) Can you tell me Whats the difference between biotechnology and bio-engineering?

Q5) What are some biotechnology products from bacteria, plants, and animals, and what are they used for?

Waiting for your replies..

Age-old Wisdom - Neglected

Fermentation is one of the first food preservation techniques known to man. Since ancient times, it has been observed that the activity of microorganisms on certain fresh foods improved their taste, texture and aroma at the same time making the food last longer. However, with the advent of novel chemical and physical methods, fermentation lost its mark as a food preservation technique although it is used for the production of a wide variety of foods including dairy products, vegetable and fruit products and meat products.

The modern chemical and physical methods of food preservation are more effective than the traditional methods, nonetheless, not without drawbacks. Most chemical preservatives such as nitrites have shown to be toxic, and often accused of being carcinogenic. The physical treatments such as application of high temperature destroy the essential nutrients and they may also alter the organoleptic properties of foods. Hence the consumers demand for the foods minimally processed, drawing the attention back on the traditional food preservation techniques.

Food Biopreservation versus Fermentation

Biopreservation is more or less similar to fermentation in the sense that it uses microorganisms- endogenous or added- and/or their natural antimicrobial products to extend the shelf life of foods. In fact, many food-grade bacteria serve as biopreservatives as well as fermenters.

Nevertheless, the term biopreservation is used in a broader sense than fermentation. Some biopreservative microorganisms may not ferment foods although they may produce inhibitory substances against pathogenic or spoilage microflora. Moreover, the new trend of using bacteriophages as biopreservatives also places biopreservation a step further ahead traditional fermentation.

Biopreservation of foods is mainly achieved through two approaches;

1. the addition of protective cultures i.e. live microorganisms and
2. the addition of antimicrobial compounds produced by the microorganisms

Protective Cultures versus Starter Cultures

Some live microorganisms added to foods serve a bioprotective function by safeguarding the foods against undesirable microorganisms. These bacterial cultures are termed as Protective Cultures.

This strategy is based on the concept of microbial antagonism where microbes hinder the growth of other microorganisms either by competing for space and nutrients or by releasing inhibitory substances such as organic acids, hydrogen peroxide, and bacteriocins. In the case of bacteriophages, they control the undesirable bacteria by invading the cells by destroying them or hindering their metabolism.

In order to be considered as a protective culture, a selected bacterial species has to meet certain criteria.

1. They have to be nonpathogenic as well as non-toxigenic.
2. They have to inhibit the growth of undesirable microorganisms.
3. They should not impart any undesirable characteristics in the food.

These protective cultures do not necessarily have to ferment foods in order to produce a preserving effect. Thus they stand apart from the ‘starter cultures’ which are used in the fermentation processes that always cause a sensory alteration of the food.

Apart from hindering the growth of other spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms, some bacteria may serve as indicators of temperature abuse of some refrigerated foods. Types of bacteria used for this purpose cannot grow under refrigeration temperatures therefore an increase of temperature would be indicated by the increase of population of the said bacterial species.

Some Common Biopreservative Bacteria

Lactic Acid Bacteria are the most widely studied group of microorganisms for biopreservation of foods. Many species of lactic acid bacteria are considered GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) and are currently used as biopreservatives. Lactic acid bacteria of the genera Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus have successfully demonstrated their potential of controlling pathogens such as Clostridium botulinum, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus in milk, meat and seafood products.

Moreover, certain yeasts, including strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have also been reported to produce antimicrobial proteins suggesting the possibility of using them as biopreservatives.

Furthermore, bacteriophages have also proposed as a potential biopreservatives against bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes which are common culprits of food spoilage and food-borne illnesses.

Bacterial Metabolites as Biopreservatives

Antimicrobial substances produced mainly by lactic acid bacteria including organic acids, acetaldehyde, ethanol, hydrogen peroxide, carbon dioxide, diacetyl, reuterin and bacteriocins are important as biopreservatives.



These substances may be produced by the viable bacterial cells added as protective cultures while some of them can be added independently to control spoilage and pathogenic flora of foods. Such natural preservatives include organic acids such as acetic and propionic acid which are produced by Acetobacter aceti and Propionibacterium spp. respectively. Acetic acid its salts are inhibitory against a broad range of bacteria- both Gram-positive and negative as well as yeasts, and moulds. Propionic acid and its salts mainly have a fungistatic effect.

Bacteriocins, a type of antimicrobial peptides, are another important group of biological preservatives. Nisin, a Class I bacteriocin produced by Lactococcus lactis, is commercially available as a food preservative in purified form and is widely used in products such as processed cheese, dairy products and canned foods. It inhibits pathogens like L. monocytogenes and many Gram-positive bacterial species causing food spoilage.



Sources

1. Ananou, S., Maqueda, M., Martínez-Bueno, M., & Valdivia, E. (2007). Biopreservation, an ecological approach to improve the safety and shelf-life of foods. Communicating current research and educational topics and trends in applied microbiology, 1, 475-486.

2. Garcia, P., Martinez, B., Obeso, J. M., & Rodriguez, A. (2008). Bacteriophages and their application in food safety. Letters in applied microbiology, 47(6), 479-485.

Future Goals and Possibility of Somatic Cells Reprogramming to a Pluripotent State.

Most of our somatic cells are highly differentiated and they are not able to divide and regenerate our body. Some specialised cells are able to divide, but huge step in human medicine would be discovery of genes which can turn somatic cells to a pluripotent state.

Discovery of a master gene, which can program somatic cells to a pluripotent state, would lead to great progress for all of modern human regenerative medicine; it would obviate the need for human cloning, with all its ethical or moral implications. Pluripotent stem cell is able to give rise to differentiated derivatives of all three germ layers. Cells of the inner cell mass and embryonic stem cells are pluripotent.

Several years ago was demonstrated that pluripotent embryonic stem cells could be generated from both embryonic and adult mouse fibroblasts by retroviral conversion of four genes: Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc. The induced pluripotent stem cells, displayed morphology and growth properties typical of embryonic stem cells. Global gene-expression profiling of induced pluripotent stem cells discovered that these cells cluster more closely with embryonic stem cells than with fibroblasts. The different analysis showed genes which were expressed at higher levels in embryonic stem cells than in induced pluripotent stem cells. Oct4 was found partially methylated, or incompletely reprogrammed in induced pluripotent stem cells. When the pluripotent potential of the cells was tested, it turned out that, even though induced pluripotent stem cells were prepared for multi-lineage differentiation capability in vitro, in vivo they could contribute to fetal but not to adult mouse development. This was probably due to the fact that expression of all four factors was driven by constitutively active promoters, which are not able to mediate transgene down-regulation throughout differentiation.

Induced pluripotent stem cell isolation from drug selected fibroblast which carries a neomycin gene inserted within the Oct4 locus resulted instead in the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells with gene expression, chromatin, and DNA methylation characteristics. Oct4 in induced pluripotent stem cells displayed increased developmental potency, which was identical to the one showed by embryonic stem cells. Expression analysis of transduced and endogenous Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and Myc genes showed that retroviral transgenes are silenced during the induction of Oct4 induced pluripotent stem cells. This result indicates that exogenous Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and Myc are essential for the induction of embryonic stem- like characteristics, however that the activity of the endogenous genes must be engaged in order to achieve pluripotency and full differentiation potential. But, induced pluripotent stem cells derived animals developed tumors, probably due to the reactivation of the some transgenes, like Myc transgene. Successful reprogramming of fibroblasts was shown to be accomplished without c Myc, but evidence that induced pluripotent stem cells derived by Oct4, Sox2, and Klf4 transduction will not induce tumor formation in adult mice is still missing.

Induced pluripotent stem cells can be isolated from non-transgenic fibroblasts by using exclusively morphological criteria for the recognition of embryonic stem- like colonies after viral transduction. This methodology provides a rate of reprogramming efficiency higher than observed using drug selection. Fetal and adult fibroblasts are not the only differentiated somatic cell type that can give rise to induced pluripotent stem cells. Non-terminally differentiated cells were shown to be reprogrammed to a pluripotent state by inducible expression of the four factors, while mature cell reprogramming needed furtheter genetic manipulation.

New study

The scientists came to the brilliant conclusion. When the process of mouse induced pluripotent stem cells derivation was monitored at totally different time-points for pluripotency marker gene expression, alkaline phosphatase first, SSEA1, and at last Nanog and Oct4 were consistently found to be switched on in a sequential temporal order. This knowledge would point towards the existence of an iter of gene reprogramming which is defined and gradual, rather than chaotic. Further confirmation of this hypothesis was given by a comprehensive integrative genomic characterization of cells during induced pluripotent stem cells generation. Cells were transduced with inducible viral vectors encoding for the four factors and sampled at day 4, 8, 12, and 16 of initial induction for expression profiling.

Conclusion

The therapeutic potential of induced pluripotent cells was tested in a sickle cell anemia mouse model. Autologous induced pluripotent stem cells were generated from skin cells of a diseased animal, targeted for correction of the endogenous human sickle hemoglobin gene and induced to differentiate into hematopoietic progenitors. The efficient treatment of sickle cell anemia obtained by transplantation of these host specific cells into the diseased mouse provides a proof of principle for the clinical achievements that combined gene and cell therapy can lead to. Significantly, induced pluripotent cells have also been derived from human fetal, neonatal, and adult fibroblasts by ectopic expression of the same four-factor cocktail that yielded mouse induced pluripotent stem cells. Unfortunately, genetic manipulation of cells brings inevitable drawbacks: ectopic expression of tumor suppressor genes causes tumorigenicity, and random insertion of the viral sequences within the genome may produce unwanted mutagenesis events. Nonetheless, an essential step forward in coupled gene repair plus cell therapy has been made. We have learned that the fundamental transcriptional network governing pluripotency in humans and mice is conserved, regardless of the differences between the two species for growth factor requirements. As of these days, the complete image eventually appears in its amazing completeness, thanks to scientists who apply the missing piece of the puzzle and obtained induced pluripotent stem cells by the ‘simple’ protein transduction of the four factors. Some ethical issues, such as failure rate, problems during later development, and abnormal gene expression patterns may still represent the problem, but with further advances in medicine and technology will solve these issues as well as ethical and moral.

HIV and Cancer are probably the deadliest diseases in the world! And, worst part, both the diseases start as silent killers! Whereas there is no possible treatment for the persons infected with HIV virus (a few drugs for only extending the life do exist), the persons infected with Cancer do retain a hope (though not guaranteed). But, if the cancer is diagnosed in terminal/final stages, wherein the uncontrolled proliferation has blown up beyond recovery, the death of the patient stands unavoidable in most cases. Recently, in a rarest of the rare feats, doctors from the University of Pennsylvania used genetically-modified (GM) strain of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to treat Leukemia (cancer of the blood cells) in a 6 year old girl who was under the full-blown terminal dying stage of the cancer. This article focuses on shedding light on this rare clinical trial that gave life to a Leukemia patient at the verge of death!


1. A part of Patients T-cells were removed from the blood.

2. The harvested T-cells were infected with GM HIV (unable to cause disease). The GM HIV carried genes for recognizing the particular type of cancer. As per the ability of HIV (which can invade T-cells), the genes were transferred to the harvested T-cells.

3. The modified T-cells thus expressed chimeric antigen receptors to recognize and clear various cancer cells.

4.The modified cells upon transfer into the patient's blood stream, proliferated inside the body of the patient, clearing off all the cancer cells.

5. The body of the patient rather acted as a bioreactor for the modified T-cells wherein they proliferated with time and cleared off the cancerous cells.

6. Remarkably, all the cancer cells were wiped off the body within 1 month of modified T-cells administration.

7. And, as per the status today, the 6 year old little girl patient then, is 7 year old now, and even after 1 year of the treatment, there's no sign of Leukemia in her body. Even the most sensitive tests couldn't detect the slightest of trace of Leukemia!

Following is the inspiring video of the entire story:

Technical Details:

An informative News report:

Conclusion:

Thanks

Bacteria make people sick, one would say. Yes they do. However, they can also make people better. For almost a hundred years, scientists have known the potential of using bacteria to alleviate certain cancers. Now, with most of the other available anticancer therapies proving inefficient, the focus is back on the ability of these tiny bugs to cure cancers.

The History of Bacterial Anticancer Therapy

The German physicians W. Busch and F. Fehleisen and the American physician William Coley were the first people to observe that bacterial infections reduced cancers in patients. They independently noticed that some of their patients suffering from cancers recovered after being infected by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes. In the late 1800s, Doctor Coley developed a vaccine using the dead cells of two bacterial species, S. pyogenes and Serratia marcescens and that successfully treated various cancers. He also prepared 'Coley's toxins' - toxic derivatives of bacteria-as anticancer treatments which were the only systemic anticancer therapy available until the 1930s. Subsequently, novel treatments such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and removal of cancer tissues by surgery were introduced and the interest was lost on the bacterial therapy.

Using Bacteria to Treat Cancers

The potential of bacteria as anticancer agents lies within the ability of certain strict or facultatively anaerobic bacteria to selectively colonise tumour tissues. Large tumours mostly contain necrotic and hypoxic areas in the middle, providing ideal growth conditions for the growth of these bacteria. Since they can’t thrive in oxygen-rich environments, the bacteria do not infect healthy tissues thereby making them safe to the normal tissues.

Bacteria, either live or attenuated, can be used as oncolytic agents, i.e. to lyse the tumours directly, or they can be used as delivery vehicles to transport therapeutics to the tumours. These bacterial vectors, after being genetically altered, can transport anticancer drugs, cytotoxic peptides, therapeutic proteins or prodrug converting enzymes into the target site. Furthermore, bacterial toxins and bacterial spores also have a potential as antitumour agents. Furthermore, bacteria can act as immunotherapeutic agents, stimulating the immune system of the host against the cancer cells.



Bacterial Spore-Mediated Cancer Therapy

Spores of these anaerobic bacteria can only germinate and multiply in environments devoid of oxygen. These spores, when injected systemically, will remain dormant in healthy oxygen rich cells and become active within the anaerobic and necrotic cancer tissues. This strategy makes these spores ideal for anticancer therapies. Once within the tumour microenvironment, these spores can activate and proliferate thus colonising the tissues with the desired bacterial species.



Bacteria as Direct Oncolytic Agents

Some bacteria can lyse the tumours upon infecting them. However, these bacteria do not completely destroy the tumour, thus necessitating the combination of bacterial therapy with other anticancer treatments such as radiotherapy, radioimmunotherapy, and chemotherapy.

Some bacteria are known to enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic agents such as liposome-encapsulated drugs by facilitating their release within the tumours by liposomase.



Bacteria as Tumour-Targeting Vehicles

Bacteria can be genetically modified to deliver a therapeutic gene to the tumour cells. Once within the target tissue, gene expression will occur in the bacteria thus producing the required protein that destroys the cancers. These proteins can be anticancer proteins, therapeutic proteins or prodrug converting enzymes.

In the bacteria-mediated prodrug therapy (also known as suicide gene therapy), bacteria carry a gene coding for an enzyme that converts a prodrug-which is non-toxic- into a toxic drug. These bacteria, favouring the anaerobic and necrotic conditions of the tumour microenvironment, start proliferation and growth within the tumours. Since their growth is limited to the tumour cells only, the enzyme is produced exclusively in the cancers. The prodrug is supplied systemically and within tumour, it is converted into the tumouricidal drug by the enzyme.



Alternatively, these bacteria can be genetically engineered to express cytotoxic enzymes such as cytokines that will directly destroy the tumour cells.

Bacteria in Cancer Immunotherapy

Bacteria can be used to enhance the recognition of tumour cells by the immune system. Tumour cells, essentially being parent’s own cells, fail to evoke sufficient immune responses in the host to be destroyed by the immune system. However bacteria, though stripped off their pathogenicity factors, can stimulate the immune system thus enhancing the antigenicity of the tumours. Bacteria selectively invade the cancer tissues and present bacterial antigens thus being targets for the host immune system. The host immune system then destroys the bacteria infected tumour cells which would have otherwise evaded the attack.

Bacterial Toxins as Anticancer Agents

Bacterial toxins kill cells or affect cellular proliferation at lower levels. These toxins, after modifying their cellular affinities so that they will bind only to the cancer cells, can be used to control cancers. These toxins can be made safe to the healthy cells by either coupling them with a substance such as antibodies that bind specifically with the cancer cells or by genetically altering their cell-binding properties.

Combined Bacteriolytic Therapy (COBALT)

COBALT uses bacteria- directed anticancer treatments along with other conventional therapies such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy. This strategy thus far has been shown to significantly increase the effectiveness of oncolysis than the individual treatments.

Another prospective anticancer treatment combining radiotherapy and bacterial therapy has also been discovered recently. This treatment using radioactive Listeria-i.e. an attenuated species of Listeria monocytogenes labelled with a radioactive Rhenium isotope- has reported to successfully improve pancreatic cancer.

Benefits and Limitations

Major advantage of using bacteria and bacterial derivatives as anticancer treatments is their selectivity towards the cancerous cells. Other therapeutic alternatives such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy are non-selective, thus damaging healthy tissues as well as cancer tissues. Moreover, the bacteria are easy to produce in mass scale thus reducing the cost of production of drugs.

However promising, bacteria-mediated anticancer treatment is not without its own limitations. One of the major drawbacks is the ability of these bacteria to cause diseases at the doses required for an effective tumouricidal effect. Even after attenuation, some studies report the death of the animals after administrating these bacteria. Another main problem is incomplete lysis of the tumours by the bacteria thus making it necessary for a secondary alternative treatment option. Furthermore, these anaerobic bacteria can only target large solid tumours where there are anaerobic conditions favourable for their growth. Small non-necrotic secondary tumours are out of their reach, and as a result, there is a chance of the cancer being spread through these metastases.

Future Prospects

Despite these hindrances, the bacterial anticancer therapy shows great potential towards the future. With the advent of genetic engineering and synthetic biological approaches, there is hope that it will be possible to come up with an efficient, safe and effective bacteria-mediated cancer treatment.



A proposed 'robot factory' as the perfect cancer therapy

Sources

1. Patyar, S., Joshi, R., Byrav, D. P., Prakash, A., Medhi, B., & Das, B. K. (2010). Review Bacteria in cancer therapy: a novel experimental strategy. J Biomed Sci, 17(1), 21-30.
2. Umer, B., Good, D., Anné, J., Duan, W., & Wei, M. Q. (2012). Clostridial spores for cancer therapy: targeting solid tumour microenvironment. Journal of toxicology, 2012.

Looking for the Best Primary Antibody which is tested on WB & IHC Applications by using 250+ tissue and cell line lysates. Can anyone tell me the best one life science research product company from where I can buy?

The most effective painkillers known in medicine are opioids. An opioid drug is psychoactive chemical which binds to a opioid receptor. However, they have also disadvantages. These drugs come with unwanted side effects. The most dangerous side- effects are addictive effect and when high doses are taken, possibility of death. Future of pain- killing drugs is a new generation of pain killing drugs, but it involves testing these drugs on their adequate receptors, and access to meaningful amounts of these receptors. The crucial problem with these tests are that work with them in experimental conditions has always been a limiting factor.

Development of a new opioid receptor

Nowadays, there is a good team work between scientists from different Universities. Result of this team work is a newly developed variant of the mu opioid receptor. The main characteristic of this mu receptor is existence of several advantages when it comes to experimentation. The mu opioid receptor can be grown in large quantities in bacteria. Also it is water- soluble. The last property enables testing and applications that had previously been very difficult to do or even impossible.

Properties of the mu opioid receptor

The mu opioid receptor belongs to a GPCRs class of cellular membrane proteins called G protein-coupled receptors. This receptor is involved in many biological processes. It binds to molecules in the environment, and it triggers signaling pathway of the cell. This mu receptor binds to opioid molecules and lead our organism to profound pain reduction. However, it leads also to a vast of unpleasant and maybe deadly side- effects and this is the problem that scientists from various disciplines are trying to solve.

Directions in problem solving

There are two ways for solving this problem in basic science. One way is working on the molecule of opioid, and other way is working on the opioid receptor. Scientists are currently working on the opioid receptor.

Challenges and limitations with receptor experiments

However, experiments on mu opioid receptor are not that simple. They are challenging for several reasons. First of all, the human receptor is not so common in human body. This receptor appears in small quantities and on just a few cell types. This makes human opioid receptor very difficult to harvest, especially in sufficient amounts.

There are more problems with receptor production. Scientists have tried to grow this receptor recombinantly- they tried to grow this receptor with genetic engineering and bacteria E. coli. This way a good attempt, but some parts of the protein are very toxic to E. coli bacteria. Another problem for researchers was insolubility of the receptor, because its amino acid groups on the receptors exterior are hydrophobic and they make this receptor insoluble when isolated.

Currently these researchers are trying to solve many of these problems with computers. They are striving to design variants of the human mu opioid receptor. This task has also its problems. Their test was conducted long time before the crystal structure of opioid receptor was known. They can see now where they were wrong, and they have to re- engineer their study because every one of them thinks that they were like blind when whole project started.

Limitations in the research beginning

In the beginning of the research, scientists started experiment with only one gene sequence for the human receptor version. They knew what is this receptor made of ( scientists knew number of protein's amino acids and even a number of them ), but they didn’t know how these amino acids are folded together. On the other hand, other GPCRs structures like rhodopsins and beta-2 adrenergic receptor were known from before.

Creation of opioid receptor

Creation of the opioid receptor was based on the comparison of sequence that scientists had and sequences of the other GPCRs. After comparison of these two similar parts, they created a protein computer model. After mouse version of this receptor appeared, scientists were able to see both models and to compare them. They were surprised with results because they matched up really good. After they compared these two models, researchers were able to recognize and identify the hydrophobic amino acids on the outer structure of the receptor, as well as number of parts that were maybe toxic to E. coli bacteria.

Objectives after discovery


After discovery, scientists main objective was to remodel those exterior amino acids. Their research was based on the logic. According to the physical and chemical interactions of these amino acids between themselves and with water, they were able to identify sequence combinations that are matching with the model where atoms do not overlap in space, and are very focused to occupy the outer surface with ones that are water soluble.

Solving the problem

When scientists replaced 53 of the protein's 288 amino acids, their research team introduced the new gene sequence into E. coli. After this modification, E. coli. were able to produce large quantities of the variant.
Beyond looking like the recently available mouse mu opioid receptor, the scientists were able to show value of this receptor to the future studies by performing functional tests.

Scientists have showed that this water-soluble form of the protein is able to compete with the original, membrane-based form when binding with antagonists that are fluorescently marked. Skeptics can watch the fluorescence change as more of these water-soluble variants are floating in the solution.

The researcher team's computational approach enables further iterations of the variant to be even more easily designed. This means that it can be tweaked alongside experimental conditions.

Many researchers think that this is a great product that can be useful for a lot of things. Scientists will be able to use this variant to look at the structure- function relationship for the receptor, or maybe use it as a screening tool.

The adaptation to any resistance is the law of nature, and with this, the species tend to survive. The constant use of various drugs to kill bacteria during infection is a kind of resistance for bacteria. Therefore due to this resistance they cannot survive. As a law of nature, they will have to develop their own limits against such resistance in order to survive. This is what exactly they are doing and obviously the trend of their resistance against various drugs (worldwide) is the indication that they are following the law of nature for their existence. But for us (humans), this is a new challenge. Today lot of drug resistant microorganism are growing fast and establishing their infections in Animals and plants also.

‘Drug-resistant bacteria’ are today a big threat for all of us, as like climate change and global warming. This is a warning for us, with developments of new bugs day and day out throughout the world. Its seriousness is such that these lethal infections are being discussed and action plans are prepared for it in various forums including WHO, G8 meetings and UNO meets.

The time has come for humans to take appropriate actions against growing drug resistant species of microorganisms. Each of us is also responsible to work on this as one team. The action should be against spread of such bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms, either by developing new technology or new drugs which will help us to get rid of it. The threat to future generations is more if this type of resistance is continuously growing. We should ensure that all our drugs are capable of removing various infections to humans, plants and animals. The day on which invention of penicillin was done was a milestone achievement. But if we see the history, we can easily guess that the day has come when microorganism are becoming resistant to even such novel drugs. Today 45 % of energy of research and development is going into invention of new technology which can be competent and similar to like the vaccines and immune system enhancements. The reason is simple we are short of drugs to such resistant microorganism.

For everything that happens in this world has a reason. And as like this, there is a reason for development of drug resistant bugs. One reason is obviously the law of nature, but what causes it is the overuse of antibiotics by doctors, and in other sections like agriculture which is leading to soaring rates of potentially harmful infections. Such infections which are untreatable and today’s existing drugs are of no use against them! Even though this is a threat to us, but humans intelligence had always overcome many obstacles that came in the way. The history of human development is its objective evidence. But every time the challenges are becoming stronger. This is not a job of once section of society or human race but the time has come for us to fight against it jointly. All doctors, all farmers, all responsible person of society has to think and control the overuse of such drugs. They should at least support this cause by joining the hands. This way we can make our earth a safer place for coming generations of humans, plants and animals.

Today scientists are working at war front to discover and deliver new susceptible drugs. Many organizations and Government bodies are working in collaboration on disease monitoring and on far reaching measure that would control on excessive use of antibiotics. Increasing drug resistant strains of TB and E.coli have been observed in many parts of world. While almost eighty percent of gonorrhea is now resistant to the antibiotic tetracycline. This is a warning that the infection could become untreatable.
Many new techniques and drug delivery methods are emerging which are helping in reducing the resistance to drugs. One of such recent example is the research against drug resistant TB, this research had found a unique way of targeting two Mtb enzymes, in which one supporting TB replication and the other TB dormancy and persistence.

This compound is known as TCA1 which also showed potent effects against non-replicating TB. Tests in mice confirmed TCA1's effectiveness. Further if the combination of TCA1 and isoniazid is made, it is more powerful than present drug regimens. The good news is that TCA1 has no sign of toxicity or adverse side effects in cell culture and in other experiments. This is one new method and technology against drug resistant bacteria and researcher are working a lot on resolving this global issue of drug resistant microorganisms.

As a responsible human being let us jointly fight against this global issue for us and for our coming generations!