Era Of Biotechnology Research Articles

Exploring advanced antimicrobial effects of Pediococcus pentosaceus and Lactococcus lactis derived from Bufo gargarizans: In vitro analysis and in vivo evaluation in mice

With the context of increasing global concern about antibiotic resistance, the study presented the antibacterial properties of two novel edible bacterial strains, Pediococcus pentosaceus TE0302 and Lactococcus lactis TE0801, derived from the unique ecosystem of Bufo gargarizans. Significant antibacterial efficacy of these strains, with inhibitory zones of 14.77 mm and 15.26 mm, were confirmed through a multi-omics approach involving agar diffusion assays, mouse models, metabolomics, and genomics. These strains also mitigate pathogen-induced colitis and improve gut microbiota by increasing beneficial bacteria and reducing harmful ones. A crucial investigation is that the bacteria's substantial production of N-butyric acid is linked to antimicrobial effectiveness with a correlation coefficient ≥0.972. Genomic analysis shown that these strains feature diverse biosynthetic pathways similar to established antibiotics like Tetracycline and Vancomycin and contain genes for powerful bacteriocin production, especially Enterolysin_A. Pan-genome analysis indicated the unique gene counts of 124 and 179, greatly enhanced the genomic diversity compared to typical reference strains to emphasize the novelty. This study can facilitate a clear understanding of probiotics' genetic and biochemical properties. It highlighted the pivotal role in providing sustainable solutions to combat antibiotic resistance and improve gastrointestinal health, foreshadowing a new era of food science biotechnology.

EccDNA in plant-stress and biotechnological solutions in agriculture

Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) is genetic material that exists outside of chromosomes and holds potential for next-generation genetic engineering in plant biology. By improving plant resilience, growth, and productivity, eccDNA offers a promising solution to global challenges in food security and environmental sustainability, making this a transformative era in agricultural biotechnology.

Substitution Attacks: A Catalyst to Reframe the DNA Manufacturing Cyberbiosecurity Landscape in the Age of Benchtop Synthesizers.

The advent of easy-to-use benchtop DNA synthesizers has ushered in a transformative era in biotechnology, extending the capabilities of DNA synthesis to nonspecialists. However, this revolution in access to this technology exposes several vulnerabilities, notably in the form of substitution attacks. These attacks exploit the intricate interplay between the digital domain of DNA sequences and the physical reality of synthesis instruments, posing substantial threats to biosecurity. This article delves deeply into the dynamic and multifaceted landscape of cyberbiosecurity, specifically emphasizing a novel attack vector that evades traditional screening algorithms. To achieve this, the article explores algorithmic approaches designed to screen DNA sequences, shedding light on the vulnerabilities exposed by substitution attacks and recontextualizing the cyberbiosecurity actor landscape in the context of the entire DNA manufacturing process. The exploration of cyberbiosecurity brings existing vulnerabilities in DNA screening algorithms to light and sets the stage for future research and policy considerations. By emphasizing opportunities for a comprehensive, multipronged approach rooted in end-to-end practical DNA manufacturing, this study provides a foundation for advancing both knowledge and strategies in the realm of cyberbiosecurity. This article serves as a clarion call for increased vigilance and innovation in navigating the intricate landscape of cyberbiosecurity. Effectively understanding and mitigating substitution attacks is necessary to safeguard the integrity of synthesized genetic material, particularly in the context of the democratization of DNA synthesis technology.

Advancing Crop Improvement Through CRISPR Technology in Precision Agriculture Trends-A Review

The advent of CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology has ushered in a new era in agricultural biotechnology, offering unprecedented opportunities for targeted genome editing and crop improvement. This review article presents a comprehensive examination of the advancements, applications, challenges, and future prospects of CRISPR technology within the context of precision agriculture. The integration of CRISPR with precision agriculture technologies signifies a major shift towards more efficient and sustainable farming practices, emphasizing the precise modification of crops to enhance yield, disease resistance, and environmental stress tolerance. The historical backdrop of agricultural biotechnology and the evolution of precision agriculture set the stage for understanding the transformative impact of CRISPR technology. CRISPR's superiority over traditional breeding and genetic modification techniques lies in its precision, speed, and cost-effectiveness. Detailed case studies of CRISPR-modified crops, such as disease-resistant wheat, drought-tolerant rice, and nutrient-efficient maize, highlight the technology's practical implications. These modifications not only enhance crop performance but also contribute to ecological sustainability and increased farmer income, demonstrating CRISPR's significant role in addressing global food security challenges. The application of CRISPR in agriculture is not without challenges. Regulatory hurdles, public perception, technical limitations, and ethical considerations present substantial obstacles to the widespread adoption of CRISPR-modified crops. The review addresses these challenges, offering insights into the complex interplay between technological innovation and societal acceptance. Further explores potential developments in CRISPR technology, including next-generation genome editing tools and the integration of synthetic biology. It underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaborations and adaptive policy frameworks to navigate the evolving technological and regulatory landscapes. The future of CRISPR in precision agriculture promises not only enhanced crop varieties but also a paradigm shift towards more data-driven, customized, and environmentally conscious farming practices. This review concludes that CRISPR technology, despite its challenges, holds immense promise for revolutionizing agriculture. Its continued development and responsible implementation are key to realizing its full potential in contributing to a sustainable and secure agricultural future.

Insinuation of Arrhenius Energy and Solar Radiation on Electrical Conducting Williamson Nano Fluids Flow with Swimming Microorganism: Completion of Buongiorno's Model

The enriched thermal mechanisms and progressive of nanomaterial has enthused scientists to give devotion to this area in current days. The versatile and synthesizing utilization of such particles embrace energy production, solar systems, heating and cooling monitoring processes, renewable energy systems, cancer treatments, hybrid-powered motors and Nano electronics. Furthermore, in this era of biotechnology and bioengineering, the bio convection of Nano fluids provides for some enthralling applications, such as enzymes, biosensors and biofuels. With such magnetic applications and attentions. A mathematical model is presented for evaluating the electrical conducting Williamson nano fluid with heat and mass transfer over a porous stretched sheet in the existence of bioconvection. The bioconvection of swimming microorganisms, thermal radiation,thermal conductivity and Arrhenius energy are new facets of this investigation. The higher order non-linear governing partial differential equations (PDEs) are solved by applying appropriate similarity variables and resulting couple of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) is produced. The developing set of ODEs is solved numerically by utilizing well known shooting technique with ND solve command in Wolfram MATHEMATICA and compare the result with pvb4c code in MATLAB. The graphs for different physical quantities of interest together with non-dimension velocity, temperature, concentration and density of micro-organisms profiles are discovered for involving parameters like .magnetic parameter, Brownian motion, Rayleigh number, Peclet number, Bioconvective Lewis number, parameter of thermophoresis and buoyancy ratio parameter. The influence of numerous parameters on flow and heat transfer characteristics are debated.

Current Trends and Perspectives in Microbial Bioconversions of Steroids.

The microbiological transformation of sterols is currently the technological basis for the industrial production of valuable steroid precursors, the so-called synthons, from which a wide range of steroid and indane isoprenoids are obtained by combined chemical and enzymatic routes. These compounds include value-added corticoids, neurosteroids, sex hormones, bile acids, and other terpenoid lipids required by the medicine, pharmaceutical, food, veterinary, and agricultural industries.Progress in understanding the molecular mechanisms of microbial degradation of steroids, and the development and implementation of genetic technologies, opened a new era in steroid biotechnology. Metabolic engineering of microbial producers makes it possible not only to improve the biocatalytic properties of industrial strains by enhancing their target activity and/or suppressing undesirable activities in order to avoid the formation of by-products or degradation of the steroid core, but also to redirect metabolic fluxes in cells towards accumulation of new metabolites that may be useful for practical applications. Along with whole-cell catalysis, the interest of researchers is growing in enzymatic methods that make it possible to carry out selective structural modifications of steroids, such as the introduction of double bonds, the oxidation of steroidal alcohols, or the reduction of steroid carbonyl groups. A promising area of research is strain engineering based on the heterologous expression of foreign steroidogenesis systems (bacterial, fungal, or mammalian) that ensure selective formation of demanded hydroxylated steroids.Here, current trends and progress in microbial steroid biotechnology over the past few years are briefly reviewed, with a particular focus on the application of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology techniques to improve existing and create new whole-cell microbial biocatalysts.

HOW WHITE BIOTECHNOLOGY CAN CONTRIBUTE TO BIOECONOMY?

Biotechnology in its broadest sense is the application of science and technology to living organisms to produce goods, products and services. It is segmented into 10 branches, of which white biotechnology, also called industrial biotechnology, is the oldest, having its roots in the Neolithic period with the transformation of food into fermented products attributed to divine intervention at that time. White biotechnology really took off after Louis Pasteur demonstrated that fermentation is caused by living organisms. This discovery was followed in the early 20th century by the development of large-scale fermentation processes exploiting the intrinsic metabolic properties of microorganisms, such as solventogenesis in Clostridium or secondary metabolism for penicillin synthesis in Penicillium. With the advent of recombinant DNA in the 1970s, a new era of white biotechnology was born, with the ability to genetically manipulate microorganisms for the production of recombinant proteins and therapeutic agents, which notably boosted the biopharmaceutical sector. A third revolution in white biotechnology is nowadays occurring, driven by the strong societal demand to shift from a fossil fuel-based economy to one based on renewable carbon resources. The transition to so-called "bioeconomy" is expected to be slow and painful because it relies on the exploitation of "biological systems" that, unlike the chemical processes, are much more complex, inefficient, difficult to manage and still unpredictable. After a brief history of industrial biotechnology, I will present and address in this opinion paper some major challenges that await white biotechnology, using as an example our current work in the production of biosourced methionine, and I will discuss societal factors that could foster a bright future to white biotechnology in our modern society.

Living biotechnical lives: noise, parasites, and relational practices

Life in the era of biotechnology opens up opportunities but also poses challenges related to our values ​​and questions regarding the way we want to see coexistence on our planet, which is inhabited by many species. The parasite is our case study and an interesting concept that we inherit from biology but which is also addressed in humanism and philosophy. As humans, we commonly understand the concept of a parasite as a negative one that suggests someone or something which benefits at our expense. However, French philosopher Michel Serres had a different view of the parasite. According to him, the parasite is based on relationships between different entities, and there is often noise in these relationships. Serres refers to biologist Henri Atlan, who has argued that said noise forces the system to reorganize itself in a way that incorporates the noise into the complex system. The idea of ​​noise as an integrated part of the system is quite far from today’s thought processes with the development of bio/technology that typically aims to be noiseless and error-free and have aesthetically attractive results. Therefore, although parasites are often associated with terms such as inhospitable, undesirable, and disgusting and are seen to be located outside of art and technology, in this paper, we argue that the concept of something parasitical is tightly intertwined with our contemporary biotechnical lives. The article relates Serres’ parasitic thinking to an artistic mediation of the biological parasite: the tick.

Responsible intellectual property rights? Untangling open-source biotech adherence to intellectual property rights through DIYbio

Deemed as an antidote to the anti-commons crisis in biotechnosciences, biological open-source casts an imaginary of a new, open, and egalitarian biotechnological era for research and innovation. Even though seminal studies have explored the multidirectional attempts of the leading institutional effort on open-source biology, namely synthetic biology, to navigate the intellectual property (IP) regime, the question of how open-source biotech communities actually see and conceive IP system remains open. I propose to contribute to the understanding of how open-source biotechnology dovetails with IP regimes by untangling how enthusiasts of Do-It-Yourself biology (DIYbio) network relate to the IP system and patent rights. Grounded in science studies, and drawing particularly on scholarship on computer hacking and biotechnologies, I report on a discourse analysis of twenty-five semi-structured interviews with members of DIYbio, mostly located in Canada. The concept of responsible IP rights is introduced as a heuristic tool to account for interviewees' complex and multilayered relationship to the IP regime. This relationship, which can be described as a critical adherence, appears to be empirically grounded on three main discursive categories: patents rights as a dysfunctional imperative, for innovation's sake, and making is owning. Through these categories, the interviewees express their compliance with the enforcement of IP rights when needed (market protection) or desired (individual choices), while committing to an open-source approach to biotechnological innovation, which requires the free circulation of enabling resources. The conclusion suggests that such conception of IP rights is built on an idealization of IP regime as a dual-use device, in analogy to dual-use technologies.

Engineering to enhance thermostability of xylanase: For the new era of biotechnology

Engineering to enhance thermostability of xylanase: For the new era of biotechnology

Current status of biosimilars in Turkey: A survey among medical oncologists

To evaluate biosimilar understanding and preference trends of medical oncologists in Turkey. A survey consisting of 24 multiple-choice questions with checkbox answers was conducted among medical oncologists. The questionnaire was divided into five parts to some intentions: demographic characteristics, general knowledge about biosimilars, knowledge about local approval and reimbursement issues, individual preference trends, and ranking the knowledge of their own. All answers were analyzed as whole cohort, specialists and fellows. Fellows (n = 47) consisted 42%, and academic clinicians (n = 37) consisted 35% of the participants. In the whole cohort, the overall rate of correct answers was 55.1% in the general knowledge about the biosimilars part, and 26.7% in the local approval and reimbursement issues part. At all, 57.7% of the participants declared that they object to switch from a reference product to a biosimilar product. The rate of those who defined themselves as extremely knowledgeable decreased from 8.1% to 2.7% in the whole cohort at the end of the survey. The need for more accurate and clarified local regulations and education emerging in the biotechnology era must be met.

Three-Dimensional Radiative Bioconvective Flow of a Sisko Nanofluid with Motile Microorganisms

The progressive and enhanced thermal mechanisms of nanoparticles has motivated researchers to give attention to this topic in recent years. The synthesizing and versatile applications of such materials include cooling and heating controlling processes, solar systems, energy production, nanoelectronics, hybrid-powered motors, cancer treatments, and renewable energy systems. Moreover, the bioconvection of nanofluids allows for some motivating applications in this era of bioengineering and biotechnology, such as biofuels, biosensors, and enzymes. With these interesting motivations and applications, this study elucidated upon the three-dimensional bioconvection flow of a Sisko fluid (base fluid) in the presence of a nanofluid over a stretched surface. The additional thermal features of radiation were also incorporated to modify the analysis. The rheological features of shear thinning and shear thickening that are associated with the Sisko nanofluid were comprehensively studied. The problem was formulated using highly nonlinear and coupled differential equations, which were numerically simulated via a shooting scheme. The salient physical applications of flow parameters were graphically underlined in view of shear-thinning and shear-thickening scenarios. The results showed that a decrease in velocity in the presence of buoyancy ratio forces was more conducive to the shear-thinning phenomenon. The increase in temperature profile due the thermal Biot number and surface heating source parameter seemed to be more inflated in the shear-thinning scenario. A lower motile microorganism profile was noted for the bioconvection Lewis number.

Error-Free Synthetic DNA by Molecular Dictation

Synthetic DNA is the linchpin of the rapidly accelerating biotechnological era and is perhaps the most promising candidate for long-term digital data storage. Despite huge advances, manufacturing error-free DNA at low cost and high throughput remains challenging. Borrowing from well-established sequencing-by-synthesis technologies, we describe a new solution for DNA error correction.

Biopiracy: Abolish Corporate Hijacking of Indigenous Medicinal Entities.

Biopiracy as “a silent disease” is hardly detectable because it does not leave traces frequently. The corporate hijacking of food is the most important health hazard in this era; giant commercial enterprises are using intellectual property rights to patent indigenous medicinal plants, seeds, genetic resources, and traditional medicines. The new era of biotechnology relies on the genes of living organisms as raw materials. The “Gene Rush” has thus become similar to that of the old “Gold Rush.” Sri Lanka has been spotted in the top 34 biodiversity hotspots globally. Moreover, localized in the tropics, human generations in Sri Lanka have utilized the array of plant species for herbal treatments and treatment of diseases. Sri Lanka after its 30-year civil war is moving towards a solid growth and conservation of the environment which is a major component in a sustainable development where the conservation of biodiversity plays a significant role. In this paper, we present an overview of typical cases of global biopiracy, bioprospecting via introduction of cost-effective deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fingerprinting and international protocol with Private-Public-People Partnership concept as excellent forms of utilization of natural resources. We propose certain perspectives as scientists towards abolishing biopiracy and also to foster the fair utilization of natural resources; since the economy of most developing countries is agriculture based, the gross domestic product of the developing countries could be increased by enhanced bioprospecting via introduction of cost-effective DNA fingerprinting technologies and thus not being a pray of corporate hijacking.“Biopiracy is biological theft; illegal collection of indigenous plants by corporations who patent them for their own use” (Vandana Shiva).

Assessment of bioconvection in magnetized Sutterby nanofluid configured by a rotating disk: A numerical approach

Owing to the growing interest of bioconvection flow of nanomaterials, many investigations on this topic have been performed, especially in this decade. The bioconvection flow of nanofluid includes some novel significance in era of biotechnology and bio-engineering like bio-fuels, microbial enhanced oil recovery, enzymes, pharmaceutical applications, petroleum engineering, etc. The current analysis aims to explore the various thermal properties of Sutterby nanofluid over rotating and stretchable disks with external consequences of variable thermal conductivity, heat absorption/generation consequences, activation energy and thermal radiation. The considered flow problem is changed into dimensionless form with convenient variables. The numerical structure for the obtained non-dimensional equations is numerically accessed with built-in shooting technique. The consequences of various physical parameters are observed for enhancement of velocity, temperature, concentration and motile microorganism. It is noted that both axial and tangential velocity components decrease with Reynolds number and buoyancy ratio parameter. The nanofluid concentration improves with activation energy and concentration Biot number. Moreover, an improved microorganisms profile is noticed with microorganism Biot number and bioconvection Rayleigh number.

From AIDS to cancer: health activism, biotechnology and intellectual property in South Africa

ABSTRACT This article describes the evolution of access-to-medicines advocacy in South Africa from AIDS to cancer activism in a biotechnology era. It discusses the ways in which cancer-focused access-tomedicines activists have advocated for intellectual policy reform to enable the universal provision of cheaper biosimilar versions of trastuzumab, a highly effective treatment. Its central argument is that this cancer-focused access-to-medicines activism must be contextualised in relation to the history of AIDS advocacy on intellectual property and access to essential drugs. Firstly, as with the AIDS activism of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) for access to anti-retroviral drugs in the late 1990s and early 2000s, contemporary cancer-focused activism has been led by individual patients affected by the excessive prices of essential medicines. Secondly, both can be characterised as having been effectively integrated into transnational access-to-medicines advocacy networks. Thirdly, both types of activism have involved the popularisation of the science around different drugs. The transnational access-to-medicines movement has demonstrated how activists based in the global North and the global South can impactfully collaborate to achieve wider treatment access. We can, therefore, read contemporary transnational access-tomedicines activism as key in pressing for both the right to enjoy the benefits of science and global health justice.

Profile of Paul E. Turner

“There is a lot of power in addressing general questions in biology using the smallest inhabitants of the planet,” says Paul E. Turner, the Rachel Carson Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University. Conducting interdisciplinary and experimental evolution studies of microbes, Turner and his colleagues elucidate virus evolution and ecology and host–parasite interactions, among other subjects. Turner, who was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2019, also conducts applied research on the development of virus-based therapies that hold promise for combating antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. His Inaugural Article (1) contributes to that body of research, which is helping to launch a new era in phage biotechnology. Paul E. Turner. Image credit: Michael Marsland (Yale University, New Haven, CT). When Turner reflects on his childhood, spent in the San Francisco Bay Area and central New York, fond memories concerning biology come to his mind: Exploring forests, visiting zoos, reading books by Stephen Jay Gould, and watching television programs like Wild Kingdom . Alice Kendrick, a teacher at Jamesville-DeWitt High School in New York, cultivated his interest in biology. “She is awesome and made a lasting positive impact,” Turner says. His parents were both college-educated and employed in professions related to theology and education. Turner says, “Although they were not scientists, my parents appreciated that I was captivated with biology and they provided supportive encouragement for me to pursue a career in this discipline.” After earning a bachelor of arts degree in biological sciences from the University of Rochester in 1988, Turner began graduate studies at the University of California, Irvine. There he met evolutionary biologist Joseph Graves, Jr, then a postdoctoral fellow. Turner says, “This prominent African American scientist served as my early life coach, helping me to navigate a field where diversity remains very low.” Turner transferred …

Environmental Biotechnology

The various industrial sectors, as well as livestock and agricultural activities, are increasing the production of inputs to meet the demand of the worldwide demographic explosion, making a challenge the clean maintenance of water, soil, and air. Therefore, the search for solutions for a pollutant-free environment without compromising economic development has become extremely important. Thereby, biotechnological studies in order to solve environmental issues have been gaining extensive attention through the coupling of technology procedures to biological systems as sustainable solutions to remediate contaminated areas. In this sense, this review covers topics such as the role of Omics era in microbial environmental biotechnology for pollution control as well as the microbial fuel cell use in energy production. Moreover, phytoremediation and the perspective of applying chemical methods are approached as environmentally friendly tools for the pollutant control to improve remediation processes.

The Rise of the Homme Machine: Carl Schmitt’s Critique of Biotechnology and Utopias

This essay argues that Carl Schmitt’s postwar writings offer an original critique of biotechnology and utopian thinking. Examining the classics of utopian literature from Plato to Thomas More and Aldous Huxley, Schmitt illustrates the rise of utopianism that aims to transform human nature and even produce an artificial “human-machine.” Schmitt discovers a counterimage to the emerging era of biotechnology from a katechontic form of Christianity and maintains that human beings must recognize their shared humanity in God, warning us that without a realm of transcendence, the enemy no longer offers an existential mirror but begins to incarnate foreign values, which must be destroyed completely. By comparing Schmitt with Michel Foucault and Donna Haraway, it is also argued that Schmitt’s thinking unlocks a novel path to exploring the meaning and histories of biopolitics and posthumanism. From a Schmittian perspective, Foucault’s depiction of biopolitics appears as a mere prelude to the coming age of biotechnology that will lead us into a posthuman era. Demonstrating interesting contrasts with Haraway’s utopian vision of the cyborg, it is maintained that Schmitt’s thinking offers a distinctively conservative-Christian critique of posthumanism.

Hybrid biomimetic design for sustainable development through multiple perspectives

In the bio-technological era the boundary between the biological world and synthetic world is increasingly fading, as well as, the limit between different disciplines in the perspective of multidisciplinary and anti-disciplinary. Conversely, the overcoming of barriers is not to be considered as a symptom of homogenization or loss of complexity, but rather, as a paradigm, in which new forms of connection and intersection between design and science are created. In this vision, hybrid products can be generated in which nature and artifice co-exist: a change of paradigm that deeply revises the concept of environmental sustainability. This paper aims to illustrate activities, methods and results of the Hybrid Design Lab-(HDL)- Department of the Campania University "Luigi Vanvitelli"- specifically dedicated to different forms of collaboration and intersection between design and bio-sciences, specifically aimed to environmental sustainability.