Bio-Sustain

tescleanairsystems: 20 New Biotech Breakthroughs that Will...

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:12:47 -0400

20 New Biotech Breakthroughs that Will Change Medicine

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/breakthroughs/4303407#

Fishing for Answers in Human Disease

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:12:28 -0400

onwardtoahealthytomorrow:

By Dr. Francis Collins, on May 9th, 2013

Caption: Researcher Zhaoxia Sun, at Yale, uses the zebrafish to study Polycystic Kidney Disease, which affects more than 600,000 Americans. Mutations in the zebrafish vhnf1 gene, and its human counterpart, cause cysts in both zebrafish and human kidneys (as shown by the large “bubble” seen in the mutant fish). [3]
Credit: Zhoaxia Sun, Biological & Biomedical Sciences, Yale University

Wouldn’t it be instructive if we could see the effect of a genetic mutation in real time, as the gene was misbehaving? Well, that’s one of the perks of using the zebrafish—a tiny, striped, transparent fish.

Just last month, an international team of scientists—funded in part by NIH—published the entire genetic code of the zebrafish [1]. This is a vital resource for understanding human health and disease. How does the genetic blueprint of a fish help us or accelerate drug discovery? Well, it turns out that more than 75% of the genes that have been implicated in human diseases have counterparts in the zebrafish. So, if we discover a mutation in a human, we can make the corresponding mutation in the zebrafish gene—and often get a pretty good idea of how the gene works, how the mutation causes havoc, and how it causes disease in humans. We can even use the zebrafish to test potential drug candidates, to see whether they can alter or fix the symptoms before moving on to mice or humans.

A second paper in the same issue of Nature describes how another team has created mutations in 38% of all the zebrafish genes and is now investigating the effects of each mutation [2]. Fishy as it sounds, it’s an amazing system to learn about biology.

References:

[1] The zebrafish reference genome sequence and its relationship to the human genome. Howe K, et al. Nature. 2013 Apr 25;496(7446):498-503. doi: 10.1038/nature12111. Epub 2013 Apr 17.

[2] A systematic genome-wide analysis of zebrafish protein-coding gene function. Kettleborough RN, Busch-Nentwich EM, Harvey SA, Dooley CM, de Bruijn E, van Eeden F, Sealy I, White RJ, Herd C, Nijman IJ, Fényes F, Mehroke S, Scahill C, Gibbons R, Wali N, Carruthers S, Hall A, Yen J, Cuppen E, Stemple DL. Nature. 2013 Apr 25;496(7446):494-7.

Genomics: Zebrafish earns its stripes. Schier AF. Nature. 2013 Apr 25;496(7446):443-4.

[3] vhnf1, the MODY5 and familial GCKD-associated gene, regulates regional specification of the zebrafish gut, pronephros, and hindbrain. Sun Z, Hopkins N. Genes Dev. 2001 Dec 1;15(23):3217-29.

NIH support: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; National Human Genome Research Institute; National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; National Institute of General Medical Sciences; Office of the Director

Source

astronomy-to-zoology: A Flame Scallop (Lima scabra) showcasing...

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:41:19 -0400

astronomy-to-zoology:

A Flame Scallop (Lima scabra) showcasing its ‘electric’ bioluminescence.

Video Source

Sea trash spiraling out of control, study finds After a yacht...

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:49:45 -0500

Sea trash spiraling out of control, study finds

After a yacht captain stumbled across the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the late 1990s, scientists soon began finding similar patches of plastic waste in oceans around the world. They’ve since identified at least five, each fed by currents that carry plastic bags, bottles and other trash into vast vortices of seawater known as gyres.

Since most plastic isn’t biodegradable, this trash keeps swirling around for years, often crumbling into smaller pieces but refusing to fully break down. Much like carbon dioxide emissions — which linger stubbornly in the sky as they fuel climate change — garbage patches have come to symbolize the effects of man-made pollution run amok.

And now, thanks to a new study by Australian scientists, we have a clearer picture of just how amok all this pelagic plastic really is. Using GPS-equipped drifter buoys to model the travels of maritime trash, researchers at Australia’s Center of Excellence for Climate System Science report a sobering discovery: Even if no plastic waste entered the oceans after today, Earth’s garbage patches would still continue growing for hundreds of years, both because of plastic’s longevity and its long transit time to the gyres.

“These patches are not going away,” says lead author Erik van Sebille, an oceanographer at the University of New South Wales, in a video statement about the study. “The garbage patches will stay there for at least the next thousand years.”

Click here for the full article.

biotech: Cordyceps Fungi. Fungus straight out of science...

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:33:42 -0500

biotech:

Cordyceps Fungi.
Fungus straight out of science fiction.

Just in case you’re too lazy or unable to watch the YouTube video, the fungus spreads through the insect and compels it to go somewhere high up to attach itself and die. Then the fungus sprouts from the corpse and spreads its spores upon the insect populations below. Badass! (Watch the clip.)

After doing a little research, I discovered that the genus Cordyceps includes one kind called Cordyceps sinensis (AKA caterpillar fungus), which is used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Apprently according to Wiki (Which is not academically accepted)

In Tibetan it is known as Yartsa Gunbu [Wylie: dbyar rtswa dgun ‘bu], source of Nepali: यार्सागुम्बा, Yarshagumba, Yarchagumba. It is also known as “keera jhar” in India. Its name in Chinese “dong chong xia cao” (冬虫夏草) means “winter worm, summer grass” (meaning “worm in the winter, (turns to) plant in the summer”). The Chinese name is a literal translation of the original Tibetan name, which was first recorded in the 15th Century by the Tibetan doctor Zurkhar Namnyi Dorje….

Here are some pictures via Flickr of 冬虫夏草 as it may look in a TCM store (click through the second one for more info):

It is very interesting to finding a fungus reminiscent of Giger’s Alien, only to learn that its used as a traditional medicine and foodstuff by the Chinese many other peoples for hundreds of years.

It does make me think of the different medical methods the old traditional medicine vs the modern western medicine.

The old traditional remedy:

Normally has Thousands of years of use.
Works in synergy with many other secondary metabolites.
more often then not can take years (more than the clinical trial period) to discover and decipher the many ways it works.
Sometimes difficult to ascertain the effectiveness.

The modern medicine:

Generally only has 20 years of clinical trial research into its effectiveness
Mechanisms are generally well known
sometimes they have really bad side effects as there has only been 20 years of research.

Please bear in mind this is not a definitive our wholly accurate comparison it is just what I’ve seen whilst doing research.

Photo

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 09:57:51 -0500

Bacteria turn toxins into gold What do bacteria and metal have...

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 08:41:54 -0500

Bacteria turn toxins into gold

What do bacteria and metal have in common? In fact they may share a complex relationship. Recent exciting research findings by microbiologists at the MLU show evidence of this. News that, for example, copper door handles in hospitals help reduce the spread of bacteria or that bacteria allow gold to “grow” is making headlines in the media (see scientia halensis 3/09) and was published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”.

Prof. Dietrich Nies at work in his lab, photo: Maike Glöckner Research groups led by Prof. Dietrich Nies at the Institute of Biology discovered a while ago how “clever” bacteria are able to deactivate the toxins that are directed at them. Bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics even possess various ways of making an antibiotic ineffective. Either they transport it right out of their cells, alter it or don’t even absorb it in the first place. Bacteria work in the same way when it comes to tackling heavy metals. Many of these metals, for example zinc, are important trace elements in small amounts, however large quantities of them are toxic. Bacteria that are resistant to heavy metals survive in highly contaminated locations where the heavy metals have denatured all other organisms. These bacteria easily dispose of the heavy metal cations by ejecting them from their cells or by transforming them into base metals.

Click here for more

EuWHO: WHO Simulation Youth Initiative My weekend at the royal...

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 07:38:00 -0400

EuWHO: WHO Simulation Youth Initiative

My weekend at the royal society of medicine as a delegate for the EuWHO where we simulated the world health assembly.

End of Drug Discovery

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 07:43:00 -0400

End of Drug Discovery:

We are in desperate need of new medicines for the major diseases facing us in the 21st century such as Alzheimer’s and obesity. And we are running out of antibiotics that are effective against bacteria that are now resistant to many old varieties. As bringing new and improved drugs to patients becomes more difficult and more expensive - it can take 20 years and around $1 billion to bring a medicine to market.

In the second programme looking at the problem with drug discovery, Geoff Watts asks what can be done to get new pharmaceutical treatments to patients.

He discovers that the industry is risk averse and regulations to ensure that drugs are safe and effective are burdensome. But there are pilot projects to speed up the process.

Geoff finds out that the experts believe that there needs to be a fundamental change in the drug development process, and the key ingredient is collaboration - between industry and academia and between different drug companies. He also discovers that the medical charity, the Wellcome Trust, is putting money into the development of antibiotics, a field not of interest to many pharmaceutical companies.

The NCI schema of Bioprospecting Process (from Newman and Cragg...

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 07:04:59 -0400

The NCI schema of Bioprospecting Process (from Newman and Cragg 2005)

Biological gold in the hills (Luke Henderson, Contributor) A...

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 06:57:49 -0400

Biological gold in the hills (Luke Henderson, Contributor)

A microbiologist and instructor at TRU has discovered bacteria new to science while exploring caves in Wells Grey Provincial Park.

Dr. Naowarat Cheeptham discovered these bacteria while bioprospecting, a term used to describe searching for new life forms for practical use and commercialization. She hopes to discover microbes that could be used in the pharmaceutical industry to benefit humans.

“Can we use their compounds they produce to our benefit? Such as anti-cancer agents or anti-microbial agents?” Cheeptham said.

Cheeptham chose the caves because of their extreme ecological nature.

“When you talk of darkness, you don’t have primary producers for energy, they complete the food web,” she said. “If you don’t have photosynthesis where do you get the energy from?

“Caves are actually a near-starved environment.”

This was the first bioprospecting in volcanic caves to take place in Canada. Cheeptham expected the life forms to match the uniqueness of their environment.

“Wouldn’t they have unique metabolic pathways to be able to produce something new for us?” she said. “We can make use of their metabolic diversity.”

During her exploration, Cheeptham did discover a strain of Actinomycete bacteria that may be beneficial to the agricultural industry. The bacteria, at this time only known as E9, has shown anti-microbial properties against Paenibacillus larvae, a destructive honeybee killer that causes foulbrood disease.

Entering isolated environments, such as caves, is not a simple matter.

“You have to be aware that every action you do in the cave can change the native microbial community,” Cheeptham said.

This isn’t the first time Cheeptham has undergone an expedition in search of new life forms. She has also done research exploring ocean sediment from Tokyo Bay.

Cheeptham is not alone in her bioprospecting.

Soricimed Biopharma Inc. is a Canadian-based company in Sackville, N.B., that specializes in discovering and utilizing new microbes.

The company’s mission statement is: “To advance the health and wellness of humanity by developing globally applicable cancer and pain management platforms.”

Bioprospecting walks a fine line of serving human needs and financial gain.

“On the one hand, our mission is to discover and deliver medical innovation to treat unmet medical management needs in various disease conditions,” Biopharma’s website stated. “On the other, our target customer/collaborator is the traditional pharmaceutical industry.”

Recently a group of researchers discovered new microbes in some of the world’s deepest caves in Lechuguilla , N.M. The bacteria found have been in absolute isolation from the outside world, but have built-in antibodies, according to an article posted in http://www.sciencedaily.com.

The bacteria are resistant to nearly every antibiotic in use by medical doctors. These bacteria are challenging scientists’ understanding of bacteria.

“Maybe bacteria harbor more antibiotic producing genes that we haven’t discovered,” Cheeptham said. “The purpose of bioprospecting gives us info we didn’t have before.

“There is other knowledge to be gained from this.”

Fish skin may offer scientists tips on designing optical...

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 06:30:00 -0400

This shoal of sardines have a natural optical camouflage Picture: Junko Kimura

Silver-colored fish, such as herring, sardines and sprat, are bending the laws of physics, according to a new study published in Nature Photonics. The ability allows the fish to become invisible to pr

Fish skin may offer scientists tips on designing optical devices

THE skin of silvery fish such as sardines and herring acts as an “invisibility cloak” against predators and may offer scientists useful tips on designing optical devices, according to new research.

The fish produce a natural optical camouflage by reflecting light thanks to iridescent scales made out of a chemical called guanine found in DNA.

The crystals in the scales of the fish prevent light reflected from their surfaces from becoming polarised, which would ruin their camouflage.

Fish such as sardines and herring possess not one but two types of the “guanine” crystals, researchers have discovered.

Each crystal has different optical properties. By mixing them together, the fish ensure that light bouncing off their skin is not polarised and they remain highly reflective.

This helps them hide from predators by matching the background light flickering through the water.

Dr Nicholas Roberts, of the University of Bristol, said: “We have discovered a generic and novel optical mechanism in silvery fish like herring, sardine and sprat that seemingly breaks this basic law of reflection, enabling non-polarising reflections to occur.

“We believe these species of fish have evolved this particular multilayer structure to help conceal them from predators, such as dolphin and tuna.

“These fish have found a way to maximize their reflectivity over all angles they are viewed from. This helps the fish best match the light environment of the open ocean, making them less likely to be seen.

“What we have discovered in these species of fish is their mechanism of camouflage exhibits polarisation neutrality, thus maximising their reflectivity over all angles. This would help the fish best match the open-water background light field and aid their ability to camouflage themselves against predators.

“Our work suggests that by having a particular mixing ratio of these two types of guanine crystal, these species of fish have evolved a structure that enables near constant reflectivity over all angles of incidence. This creates an optimal solution for camouflage purposes.”

As a result of this ability, the skin of silvery fish could hold the key to better optical devices, such as light emitting diodes.

Researcher Tom Jordan, a PhD student in Dr Roberts’s lab, said: “Many modern day optical devices, such as LED lights and low-loss optical fibres, use these non-polarising types of reflectors to improve efficiency.

“However, these manmade reflectors currently require the use of materials with specific optical properties that are not always ideal.

“The mechanism that has evolved in fish overcomes this current design limitation and provides a new way to manufacture these non-polarizing reflectors,” Dr Roberts explained.

“Many aquatic animals, such as squid, cuttlefish and mantis shrimp, are sensitive to the polarisation of light and have well-developed polarisation vision.

“We are very interested in the polarisation properties of the reflectors that they use, and any novel optics that have evolved as a result of evolutionary adaptations.”

The findings of the University of Bristol team are published in the journal Nature Photonics.

Global biodiversity priced at $76 billion

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 08:33:34 -0400

Global biodiversity priced at $76 billion:

Researchers hope estimates of conservation cost will spur government action.

Daniel Cressey

11 October 2012

The cash needed to conserve the world’s species is a small price for biodiversity’s “goods and services”, researchers say.

Protecting all the world’s threatened species will cost around US$4 billion a year, according to an estimate published today in Science¹. If that number is not staggering enough, the scientists behind the work also report that effectively conserving the significant areas these species live in could rack up a bill of more than $76 billion a year.

By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News A...

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 08:25:00 -0400

By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

A painkiller as powerful as morphine, but without most of the side-effects, has been found in the deadly venom of the black mamba, say French scientists.

The predator, which uses neurotoxins to paralyse and kill small animals, is one of the fastest and most dangerous snakes in Africa.

However, tests on mice, reported in the journal Nature, showed its venom also contained a potent painkiller.

They admit to being completely baffled about why the mamba would produce it.

The researchers looked at venom from 50 species before they found the black mamba’s pain-killing proteins - called mambalgins.

Deadly venom

Venomous species inflict poisonous wounds by stinging, scratching or biting their victims and injecting the toxin.

Some snakes are venomous creatures which loom large in the public consciousness, but nature also throws up some surprising species with toxic bites

Dr Eric Lingueglia, from the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology near Nice, told the BBC: “When it was tested in mice, the analgesia was as strong as morphine, but you don’t have most of the side-effects.”

Morphine acts on the opioid pathway in the brain. It can cut pain, but it is also addictive and causes headaches, difficulty thinking, vomiting and muscle twitching. The researchers say mambalgins tackle pain through a completely different route, which should produce few side-effects.

He said the way pain worked was very similar in mice and people, so he hoped to develop painkillers that could be used in the clinic. Tests on human cells in the laboratory have also showed the mambalgins have similar chemical effects in people.

But he added: “It is the very first stage, of course, and it is difficult to tell if it will be a painkiller in humans or not. A lot more work still needs to be done in animals.”

Mamba magic

Dr Nicholas Casewell, an expert in snake venom at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, has recently highlighted the potential of venom as a drug source.

Commenting on this study he said: “It’s very exciting, it’s a really great example of drugs from venom, we’re talking about an entirely new class of analgesics.”

Dr Lingueglia said it was “really surprising” that black mamba venom would contain such a powerful painkiller.

Dr Casewell agreed that it was “really, really odd”. He suggested the analgesic effect may work in combination “with other toxins that prevent the prey from getting away” or may just affect different animals, such as birds, differently to mice.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Dr Roger Knaggs said: “We are witnessing the discovery of a novel mechanism of action which is not a feature of any existing painkillers.”

He cautioned that the mambalgins worked by injections into the spine so would need “significant development” before they could be used in people.

http://www.aquapreneur.com/

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 08:00:46 -0400

http://www.aquapreneur.com/

Scientists learn camouflage techniques from cuttlefish...

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:58:00 -0400

Scientists learn camouflage techniques from cuttlefish

Engineers at the University of Bristol in the UK have created soft materials that mimic the cuttlefish’s colour-changing skin, leading to the design of “smart clothing,” which would take camouflage to a new level.

What allows the cuttlefish to blend into nearly any background – whether it is by turning a light tan when swimming along the sandy seafloor or displaying crude black and white squares on its skin when placed in a tank with a black-and-white checkerboard pattern – are millions of specialised cells packed under its skin called chromatophores. These contain miniature sacs full of black, brown, yellow or other coloured pigment.

As the cuttlefish’s brain instructs the skin to change colour, muscles surrounding the sacs quickly contract, stretching the sacs and letting the pigment inside extend across a larger surface area, thus changing the colour and pattern of the skin. Cuttlefish are able to transform in this way at lightning speed to evade predators, sneak up on prey or attract mates.
http://www.fastcoexist.com/1680557/cuttlefish-clothing-could-create-cutting-edge-camouflage

Click here for more

ucsdhealthsciences: A coral reef infested with cyanobacteria...

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:05:06 -0400

ucsdhealthsciences:

A coral reef infested with cyanobacteria (dark). Photo courtesy of Jennifer Smith.

Seaweed may be a drug out of place

In the pristine waters of Pu’uhonua o H’onauau National Historical Park off the Kona coast of Hawaii, a kind of seaweed consisting of blue-green cyanobacteria is considered a pest and bane to indigenous corals, which are smothered and killed by the rubbery, bulbous bacterial colonies.

But almost nothing nasty in nature is without its upside, a fact underscored again in findings by researchers at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, who found that the cyanobacterium – Leptolyngbya crossbyana – produces chemical compounds that may provide the basis for new anti-inflammatory medicines and anti-bacterial treatments.

Writing in the journal Chemistry & Biology, Hyukjae Choi, a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of William Gerwick and colleagues report that L. crossbyana secretes natural products known as honaucins, chemical compounds that control how and where the tiny algae grows and spreads.

If researchers can translate that natural talent into therapeutic drugs or treatments, they might be able to prevent at least some types of bacterial infections in humans or treat inflammation-related conditions like acne and arthritis.

“I think this finding is a nice illustration of how we need to look more deeply in our environment because even nuisance pests, as it turns out, are not just pests,” said Gerwick. “It’s a long road to go from this early-stage discovery to application in the clinic but it’s the only road if we want new and more efficacious medicines.”

You can read the entire UC San Diego news release here.

Drug discovery in the next decade:innovation needed ASAP

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:03:43 -0400

The pharmaceutical sector, a cornerstone of the healthcare industry, is undergoing dramaticchange, primarily caused by reduced output of new medicines from research and development(R&D) laboratories, drug pricing pressures, stricter regulatory environments and the overallcurrent economic downturn. This makes demands of all pharmaceutical companies to find better ways to increase their output of new drugs, through innovation, to both treat patients and meet their shareholders’ expectations.

Pharmaceutical companies must find a better way to increase their output of truly new drugs for the benefit of patients and for their business survival. Here, I highlight a general perspective from within pharmaceutical research as it pertains to research advances in chemistry, biology, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and toxicology that, if well integrated,stands to put the industry on a productive path. In addition, I provide a complementary perspective on the corporate culture aspect of innovation. I also introduce a new concept, termed ‘innovation ASAP’ (iASAP; asking powerful questions, seeking the outliers, accepting defeat and populating astutely) and provide support for it using examples of several successful drugs.

Source:http://www.drugdiscoverytoday.com/view/22986/drug-discovery-in-the-next-decade-innovation-needed-asap/

African Technology development Forum

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:40:21 -0400

African Technology development Forum

Again brought to my attention via Patrick Burgoyne. With over...

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 05:50:13 -0400

Again brought to my attention via Patrick Burgoyne. With over 1.1 million people in the world who don’t have access to clean drinking water, water-borne pathogens are a huge problem for the environment and for human health. Fortunately a clever little design has come to the rescue in the form of the Lifestraw The cigar-sized plastic tool is both a feat of engineering and an inexpensive way to deliver potable water to those who need it.Lifestraw delivers the most basic needs and purifies water from potential pathogens like typhoid, cholera, dysentery and diarrhea, becoming one of the icons of humanitarian product design- by the time the water hits your lips, it’s completely safe and potable. The Lifestraw is one of the highlights of the Cooper Hewitt’s Design for the Other 90% exhibition, which highlights products, architecture, and technology that benefits under-privileged demographics across the globe.