Biotechnology Forums

Hi,

Are you looking for a high-growth career with long-term stability?

We are seeking individuals with good analytical and communication skills and people who are interested in building a knowledge-oriented career and not just doing a job.

COMPANY PROFILE

GeBBS Healthcare Solutions
GeBBS is a leading provider of Healthcare BPO and IT services to Hospitals and Providers. We are ISO 9001 certified firm based in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, with multiple offshore delivery centers in India. We focus on providing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Information Technology (IT) Solutions to Healthcare Providers and Payers. We help our clients succeed by leveraging on our domain expertise and our innovative and cost effective approach to on-shore/ off-shore outsourcing.

Job Description: Medical Coding

Medical coding is the process of transforming descriptions of medical diagnoses and procedures into universal medical code numbers. The diagnoses and procedures are usually taken from a variety of sources within the medical record, such as the transcription of the doctor's notes, laboratory results, radiologic results, and other sources.

Job Designation: Medical Coder

Required Skills:
Graduates/Postgraduates in B.Sc with specialization in Zoology,Botany, Biology, Biotechnology, Micro-Biology, B-Pharm and M-Pharm.
Should possess good oral and written communication skills.
Typing speed of minimum 25-30 wpm is a must.
Ability to work with speed and Accuracy.

Contact Person: Harshad Bandekar –9820693662

Walk-in for the interview at the below address from 11:00 am TO 5:00 pm (Monday to Friday).

Venue for Interview for Medical Coding only Airoli

Work Location

GeBBS Healthcare Solutions Pvt. Ltd
4th floor, building no.5, Mindspace,
Thane-Belapur road, Airoli
Opp Airoli railway station,
Mumbai – 400708
Let me know if you have any quires. Call to book your interview.

Genetic engineering is not without reason called a technology of the century. It is defined differently, hence the many controversies when discussing its usefulness and abuse of this technology. Genetic engineering is often presented as a possibility of in vitro gene manipulation, where the meaning of manipulation is not clear and may be associated with abuse. However, the acceptable definition describes it as a target change and recombination, as well as insertion and further propagation of recombinant rDNA in living cells. According to this definition, the basic Genetic engineering criteria include cutting DNA molecules, joining cut fragments with DNA fragments from the same or different sources, insertion of such recombinant molecules in the cell where, if needed, it will continue to multiply or express specifically.

Reverse Transcriptase and Restriction Endonucleases
The development of genetic engineering begins with the discovery of the enzyme called reverse transcriptase (RNA-dependent DNA polymerase) and a group of enzymes called restriction endonucleases. These enzymes cut foreign DNA in places with specific arrangement of nucleotides. So far, hundreds of different restriction endonucleases are isolated, that cut both tracks DNA at specific places. These enzymes were named according to the bacteria from which they were isolated. Thus EcoRI isolated from Escherichia coli, and restriction endonuclease Hindia from Haemophilus influenzae. DNA fragments cut by restriction endonucleases may have such ends that spontaneously tend to merge, and they are called "sticky" ends, or they can be without this property and then are called "Blind" ends.

Other Methods
Besides the restriction endonuclease, other methods are also used:
- Enzymes which allow reconnection of broken pieces of DNA (DNA ligase)
- Procedures for inserting rDNA into the cell where it would be replicated
- Methods for the selection of clones of cells containing rDNA

The Use of Plasmids
Insertion of DNA into the cell is effectively carried out using vectors (DNA molecules with the ability of Self-replication in a host cell). The most commonly used vectors are plasmids (extrachromosomal bacterial DNA with the ability self-reproduction), bacteriophages, DNA and RNA viruses and cosmids (artificially constructed vectors). The use of plasmids in the experiments has the advantage because of the possibility of relatively simple determining which cells are transformed with the recombinant plasmid. Plasmids are the most common gene carriers for resistance to antibiotics. Insertion of foreign DNA in a region of the gene for resistance to antibiotic is associated with the loss of resistance of bacteria to an antibiotic. Since the plasmids that are used contain the genes for resistance to other antibiotics, growing bacteria on nutrient media containing those antibiotics allows selection of clones with recombinant bacterial plasmid. One of the lack of plasmids is that they often can not be stable if they contain large DNA fragments , and therefore, for this purpose the viruses and cosmids are used.

Vaccine Production
Production of vaccines from the standpoint of our problems, it is very interesting, because any potential aggressor will try to protect their own units from the biological agents used. Production of the vaccine is a relatively simple process, and produced vaccines are nontoxic, avirulent and more efficient than existing vaccines.

Detection
The use of genetic engineering for diagnosis significantly improves the ability of detection of the used biological weapons. The techniques of genetic engineering require small sample, and the techniques are very sensitive and accurate.

Changing The Genetic Structure of Microorganisms
Using genetic engineering when changing the genetic structure of microorganisms is consisted in general of three established procedures:

a) Transformation (procedure in which parts of the DNA from other microbes are introduced into the cell of the agent examined by changing some properties of it.
Using this procedure we can change resistance and virulence of the organisms.

b) Transduction (the process of introduction of the new genes into the organism through certain bacterial viruses. This phenomenon occurs spontaneously in nature)

c) Conjugation is crossing of mutual similar microorganisms with mutual changes of biological properties. This method has rather unpredictable results.

Conclusion
Undoubtedly, genetic engineering can be abused for changing the microorganisms in order to make them more virulent, resistant to some antibiotics or most antibiotics, and it’s even possible to make such changes that cause the new microorganism not to resemble the initial strain any more. As in many other cases, large scientific discoveries are preceded by the military aimed studies. If the genetic engineering in civil laboratories is so advanced, the question is how advanced military labs are and in what direction? At a time when many countries are conducting research in the field of genetic engineering, and the results are not published for over twenty years, the danger is not to be underestimated.

It is a fact that no one can simply keep track of today's technology development. Gordon Moore, the founder of the largest manufacturer of microprocessors - Intel, predicted in 1965 that the number of transistors on a printed circuit board until 1975 would double. He was wrong only for not anticipating that this process would not be finished.
However, the end of that is very predictable now. Computers are becoming faster and more powerful as the transistors and other parts are reduced in size- the shorter the path that electrons are transferred, the faster it works. Scientists from the American Bell laboratories have already built transistors that can carry electrons across the gap of the size of one molecule. It is clear that computer components is now difficult to downsize because soon, they would reach a size that would be measured by nanometers, and they would simply “escape” the laws of physics. This is why many experts believe that further progress of the silicon technology may be impossible.
The New Hope
Professor Kevin Homewood from the UK's University Surrey recently forced silicon to emit light by putting in it tiny traps for electrons and forced them to emit photons of light. He got a silicon LED (light emitting diodes) that works at room temperature. This discovery is very important for the computer industry (LED display) that has already been working with silicon. It is believed that the use of light is going to allow computers to manipulate with images easier than ever. Some scientists even suggest that it will be possible to make computers using optical components only, and the hard drive would be a hologram.
These supercomputers, incomparably more powerful than today’s, could fit in a tiny drop of fluid. Their chips would no longer be made of silicon but of the DNA molecules.
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a large molecule that looks like a ladder twisted into a spiral, preserves genetic information in all living organisms. American mathematician Leonard Edelman noticed in 1994. that the way the living world uses information form DNA is the same as the way in which information is processed by computer. Computer made from DNA has incredible benefits – Marble-sized liquid ball can contain 10 trillion molecules of DNA, and all of them simultaneously process information!
However, DNA molecules are not computers capable to solve difficult math problems. The example for this is the so-called “traveling salesman problem”, on which Eldman had tested the computational capabilities of the DNA. He gave to DNA computer the task to find the quickest route possible for traveling salesman who needs to tour certain number of geographically unrelated cities. This problem is extremely difficult for conventional computers because they must check one by one solution to get to the answer. DNA computer checks all the roads at the same time and it’s also very difficult way to solve the problem that way. But when the number of cities exceeds the certain limit, DNA computer is no longer able to solve the problem. For example, for the 200 cities the problem is so difficult that, in order to solve it, the DNA mass heavier than the Earth would be required!
Therefore it's unbelievable that the DNA, despite being an interesting solution, will ever become the main driving force of computers, but, as it is unbeatable solving certain types of tasks is, it is very likely that it will be used as a help or as a kind of parallel processor for very specific purposes, especially in medicine and transport. In 2002 the Japanese firm Olympus has announced that its scientists have made a prototype of genetic computers that can identify genetic diseases.
Bacterial Cell Computer
Dr Martin Amos from the University of Liverpool went a step further with this unbelievable technology – he began to use the whole cells to build a computer (E. coli bacteria). You can push bacterial cells to interact with the environment, and you can make a simple logic circuit, so that if the cell detects the infection, under certain conditions, it makes the appropriate antibiotic. That would certainly be a very intelligent system for producing and providing drug.
Organic Circuits
In 2001, Professor Peter Fromherz from Max Plank Biochemical Institute, managed to make the electric circuit of a piece of silicon and two nerve cells (neurons) are taken from the brain of a snail. On silicon substrates nerve cells have developed the connections that created the path for electrical signals. If one of the transistors beneath the cell changes the voltage, the electrical impulse will travel towards the other nerve cell. The other nerve cell, then stimulates it’s transistor creating a circuit. The experiment proved that it is possible to artificially make circuit which consists of electronics and organic tissue. Science discipline dealing with this kind of problems is called neuroelectronics.

Biomarkers play a vital role in medicine as they give an idea about the severity of a disease with reference to the presence of the characteristics of any disease state that are identifiable and measurable. It actually indicates the physiological state of an organism by acting as an indicator of a particular state of disease. They help in the evaluation of various biological and pathogenic processes within an organism as well as the pharmacological response to therapeutics by objective measure including diagnostics and other imaging technologies. They give an idea about the drug action, drug metabolism and its efficacy as well as safety.

The development of cancer involves multiple stages such as genetic changes, epigenetic, cytogenetic as well as cell cycle changes. Hence, the advancement of different technologies that can help in the detection of the development of different stages may help in getting an in-depth understanding of the progression of cancer that may in turn help in the development of possible therapeutics for different types of cancer. Therefore, biomarkers play a very essential role in the detection, diagnosis, and prognosis of patient as well as the selection of personalized treatment for cancer.

The understanding of the pathways of the disease, the gene and protein targets of the disease have helped in the use of biomarkers in the different imaging technologies such as genomics, proteomics as well as genetics that are non-invasive in nature. The establishment of the exact relationship between the clinical pathology of cancer progression and the biomarkers can help in its early diagnosis and the prognosis of the patients by the clinical oncologists, which may further help in the development of patient specific treatment. The Human genome project has helped in the advancement of NDA sequencing studies with the development of microarrays, mass spectrometry, etc. that has helped in the expansion of the number of biomarkers available for different types of cancers. Some of the biomarkers that are used presently in the diagnostic as well as therapeutics for cancer are given below.

Cytogenetic markers: One of the markers for cancer is the different structural changes introduced in the chromosomes such as chromosomal aberrations. Somatic mutations in the reporter genes, oncogenes as well as the tumor suppressor genes have also proved to be a potent marker for cancer. Apart from them, specific changes in the transcriptomes are also being developed as biomarkers. E.g. the transcriptome marker based on the levels of exon-3 deleted variant isoform of proghrelin, the precursor of ghrelin, which is a growth factor associated with proliferation of prostrate cancer cells is being developed as a biomarker. The clonal and spatial heterogeneity analyses are the two main features of malignant tumors, which can be carried out by different histological, biochemical and cytometric methods.

Genetic markers: The transformation of the genes leading to gain or loss of function is associated with the formation of oncogenes. The random mutations that occur due to different factors in the regulatory region of the genes are responsible for this oncogenic transformation. In most of the cancers, genes act as potent biomarkers that help in the diagnosis as well as gene-based therapy of the disease. Gene deletions may also help in the development of the disease. These changes within the genes can be identified using PCR techniques as well as Microsatellite probes as microsatellite instability or alterations is one of the changes evident in preneoplastic stage of tumor cells. The Adenomatous polyposis gene (APC) is associated with the suppression of cancer, which is altered in the carcinoma patients by somatic mutation, hypermethylation or production of short and non-functional APC protein.

Epigenetic markers: Epigenetic changes are usually associated with modification in the gene expression patterns that result due to changes in the histone proteins associated with DNA by methylation, acetylation or phosphorylation. The hypomethylation of genomes is associated with instability of the genomes as well as stronger gene expression, while hyper methylation in the CpG island promoter is associated with the silencing of the functions of the tumor suppressor genes such as apoptotic genes, metastatic genes as well as biotransformation and signal transduction genes. Hypermethylation and aberrant methylation has been used as a biomarker in many carcinomas. The research in the field of epigenetics has helped in increasing the rate of survival with some form of leukaemias as well as lymphomas with the use of drugs that help in the alteration of DNA methylation and histone acetylation. However, the development of drugs or therapeutics that may help in the reversal of the epigenetic changes remain to be seen in near future.

All forecasts about global progress of technology in the 21st century agree that molecular biotechnology is going to be driving force of modern civilization. The reason for these forecasts lies in the problems of modern civilization. These problems can be easily summarized in the following challenges:
1. Getting the raw materials for the chemical and other industries from other renewable energy sources (eg. biomass), and not from fossil fuels because of the limited quantities.
2. Getting new biodegradable materials.
3. Obtaining alternative forms of energy (use of secondary biomass and other materials of various origins for the production of gas, alcohol and hydrogen).
4. Improving agricultural production (getting fertilizers of organic origin, animal feed, modern and less hazardous pesticides).
5. Health care (production of new antibiotics, new vaccines, new drugs and new diagnostic equipment).
6. Protection of the environment (removing the waist from water, degradation of pollutants, the revitalization of polluted soil, etc.).

The Benefits of Molecular Biotechnology

Biotechnology is defined as a process that uses living organisms or their parts for creation or modification of certain products, and for different types of services (for example, the use of microorganisms prior to clean polluted water). By the introduction of the latest trends in the field of molecular biology in the form of genetic engineering, an entirely new quality is developed. Instead of simply isolation of some products that some organism already synthesized, it is now possible to make the whole “biological factories” from microorganisms, plants or animal cells that will produce great quantities of valuable compounds such as proteins, vitamins, amino acids, antibiotics, etc. On the other hand, by the use of genetic engineering it is possible to clone the genes encoding this product and transfer them into another organism, or make transgenic organisms.

The benefit of molecular biotechnology in food production, getting energy and raw materials for different types of industries, is increasing due to opportunities to use renewable resources by its application. In fact, more and more work on the promotion of use of secondary raw materials, which often create environmental problems, is performed. In this way, the dual benefit is achieved: solving environmental problems and getting useful product from such raw materials.

The contribution of Genetic Engineering

Contribution of genetic engineering to the development of molecular biotechnology is reflected in the fact that it enables:
1. Studying the structure and function of genes of all living systems which are interesting for manipulation, because they determine the production of a substance of commercial significance.
2. Causing mutations in specific place in the gene, which may result in increasing of the synthesis of the product the gene carries the information for.
3. Overcoming the bottlenecks in the biosynthesis of useful metabolites by increasing the number of genes responsible for the synthesis of enzymes that are critical in biosynthetic pathway. Increasing the number of genes in the cell enables the synthesis of this enzyme in bigger amount, and thus seems to increase the synthesis of the end product of biosynthetic pathway.
4. Obtaining the product that is in some other way, difficult, expensive or impossible to get. The greatest contribution to the genetic engineering is certainly in this domain. The genetic engineering enables manipulation with genes and transfer of these genes from one biological species to another, because , it can not happen spontaneously in nature.

On the other hand, it is possible to construct a chimeric gene (for example, part of the proteinase encoding gene originates from one and the other part of the gene that encodes the same enzyme originates from other species), and to insert so constructed genes into a living organism.

Genetically Modified Organisms

In general, organisms whose genetic material s changed in a way that does not occur in nature, or where a change in the genetic material was obtained by genetic engineering are called genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In his way, new biological systems can be obtained that can be used in biotechnological processes.

Economic aspects

The decision on the application of molecular biotechnology to improve existing biotechnological production or for the development of new biotechnological process must depend on the economic analysis of the entire process, which is to be improved. This analysis should at least include the information about (a) the market for biotechnological product (need for specific product, in which amount and the annual dynamics), (b) the availability and cost of raw materials for biotechnological processes, © the reasons of inefficiency of biotechnological process that is already in use, and (d) the existence of conditions for successful implementation of genetic engineering.

Given its opportunities, molecular biotechnology provides the basis for achieving significantly higher production using process that already exists. Besides that, it provides opportunities for opening of the new industrial era in terms of construction processes that will allow to get the project which otherwise could not be obtained in satisfying amount or were very expensive to make.

The use of molecular biotechnology to make today’s biotechnology more accurate and cost effective is a realistic expectation. Therefore, in the present world, by the term of molecular biotechnology are actually considered technological processes based on GMOs, and it is expected that molecular biotechnology will become the basis for the development of technologies of the 21st century. Therefore, it is not surprising that an extremely large number of companies have focused their research and development on molecular biotechnology having in mind the potential of this technology.

Dear Genetic Engineers,

I agree completely that your work is helpful to human kind. It's not unethical either. I am a diabetic (type 1) and I most likely could not live without your work. You helped get insulin for diabetics. You help make medicines and find cures for many diseases. You also believe you can help with making foods better (GM foods) and I trust you to do it. I believe that Genetic Engineering is completely worth the risks and someday could change mankind completely. Keep up the good work you guys/girls!

Sincerely,
Jayce Bertsch

There are numerous discussions about the development and use of modern biotechnology, especially about the safety of genetically modified foods. Benefits for human health, as well as risks can be divided into four categories:

1. Benefits:
- Increased food safety
- Enhanced nutritional composition of foods
- Food with even more health benefits
- Reduction of certain chronic diseases related to diet

By the application of genetic engineering, organoleptic properties and expiration date of certain grains were able to improve. Delaying the rotting process of fruit and vegetables provides better quality, taste, color and texture. With the help of genetic engineering it is possible to create foods with greater amount of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. Also, by increasing crop yields deforestation is prevented, and, the most important for the developing countries, economic development is accelerated.

For developing countries, particularly useful is growing beans resistant pathogens, virus-resistant papaya, cotton, and rice enriched with vitamin A. The production of certain vaccines for oral use is also important, which would be cheaper, easier to store and less stressful to use than the previous ones, and would be used for prevention of diarrhea, cholera and hepatitis B.

On the other hand, for many researchers, and the public production of so-called Frankenstein food is unacceptable tampering with nature.

2. Risks:

- Allergies
- Toxicity
- Nutrient imbalance
- Decrease of food diversity

There are concerns that the use of genetic engineering in the food industry can increase sensitivity to certain allergens. In fact, the transfer of allergenic properties of donor can be transferred to recipient. Foreign genes can disrupt the balance of nutrients. The question is how that changes will affect:

- Interaction of nutrients
- Interaction between nutrients and genes
- Bioavailability of nutrients
- Metabolism and
- "Strength" of nutrients.

By the production of genetically modified foods, different genes from different genetically modified organisms are transmitted in different ways. So far, this food is present in the market, because it is approved in many studies, so it is a little likely to endanger the life of man.

In order to determine the attitude to genetically modified products, we need to have in mind many facts, such as the rapid growth in world population, the available farmland, environment and the characteristics of genetically modified food and its impact on human health. At the same time it takes extensive knowledge and multidisciplinary approach to this issue in order to take advantage of this technology, and to avoid negative consequences.

Methods of resolving ethical issues of biotechnology:
1. We need to understand what might be called the nature of genes and their origins, evolution, and their role in the shaping of different organisms
2. Until we understand well the size and role of genetic exchange between different types of materials we should not experiment with transgenic organisms
3. We must bear in mind that the largest number of phenotype properties of humans by which people differ, result from the large number of genes and environmental factors
4. Information related to the genetics should exclusively be used to allow each person to make a personal decision about life style.
5. The creation of biological weapons should be completely banned
6. Genetic diversity of species on Earth is one of the main resources of our planet and it is of the greatest interest to preserve that diversity.

The development of biotechnology has enabled access to genetic information stored in chromosomes and opened the way for a new development. Products obtained by using biotechnology have the potential to positively affect the environment and to change human society. On the other hand, there is much still unknown and the possibility of misuse of scientific discoveries and unpredictable consequences of scientific research are reality. It is impossible to rule out the occurrence of bioterrorism. Therefore, the development of biotechnology brings up many unresolved issues, the questions of intellectual property and legal issues.

Many predict that, over the next decade, thanks to genome sequencing operations in the developed countries, scientific development will direct towards biotechnology, while the Internet and information technology are to be suppressed from today’s leading positions.

Making diagrams of the human genome is considered by many to be the greatest scientific achievement of the twentieth century. Reading of the genome will open new areas in the field of science and medicine, but will also lead to major changes in the sphere of industry, economy and other sciences as well as in the way of thinking about the world and nature. Directed manipulation with genetic material has become a reality, and studies have begun to direct to the developing of more sophisticated instruments and methods.

So we are left to hope and to make an effort for the benefits of biotechnology to overcome the disadvantages, and to contribute to the development of the mankind.

(Posted on behalf of Sasa)

Cancer results from the abnormal and irregular cell proliferation and growth resulting in a mass of cells known as tumor. The tumor is made up of millions of cancer cells and is known as the primary cancer or primary tumor. In the malignant tumors, there is a tendency for the tumor cells to break away from the original site of formation and migrate to other parts of the body to form tumors in the new site. This new cancer or tumor is known as metastatic or secondary cancer. In case of breast cancer, the breast cancerous cells migrate to different parts of the body forming secondary breast cancer.

The cancer cells migrate through the blood stream or the lymph fluid of the lymphatic system. After breaking away from the primary tumor, the cancer cells migrate into the blood stream and in some cases may be trapped in various tissues or organs within the body. On getting trapped, some of the cancer cells may face ultimate death, while the others may remain inactive within the organ or tissue for years. These inactive cancer cells may become active after some time to start dividing to form secondary breast cancer. The reason behind the death of some cancer cells and the dormancy of other cancer cells remains unknown and requires detailed research to elucidate the exact mechanism for the formation of secondary breast cancer.

The migration of the breast cancer cells is limited to some parts of the body and hence, the probability of formation of secondary breast cancer is restricted to these specific parts within the body. The movement of the cancer cells via the lymphatic system causes their spread to the lymphatic nodes that are nearby the breast such as the neck, collarbone, etc. The migration via the bloodstream results in the formation of secondary breast cancer in primarily three regions within the body: bone, liver, and lungs. There is a minor possibility of the spread of the cancer cells to the brain. Usually, secondary breast cancer is known to affect one particular region within the body, however in some rare cases, it may affect more than one place.

Metastatic or secondary breast cancer is a life-threatening disease and has low survival rate as complete cure is not possible, only management of the disease for a period of time usually less than a decade is possible. It is a chronic condition. According to MD Anderson researchers, 40% of women with recurrent or metastatic breast cancer survive at least for five years. The treatment for the metastatic cancer takes a number of factors into consideration such as the body part affected, history of past treatments undergone, general health history, details of menopause if already had. The secondary breast cancer usually responds to a number of treatments that help in the control of the disease for a long time with as few side effects as possible. Clinical trials and researches are going on to develop new types of treatments for the disease.

Proper counselling of the patient is very essential before staring the treatment to console the patient and give elaborate idea and information about the treatment procedure to overcome the shock of getting to know the condition. The discussion about the different treatment options available and suitable for that particular patient are analysed by including her family members before starting the actual course of treatment.

The different types of therapies available for the treatment of secondary breast cancer are:

I) Hormone therapy: It is the most common method of treatment and helps in the shrinkage of the cancer thereby helping in its control. The presence of oestrogen receptors (ER positive) and Progesterone receptors (PER positive) are analysed in the cancer cells as their presence helps in the effective hormone therapy. Compared to Chemotherapy, Hormone therapy is accompanied with fewer negative side effects.

II) Chemotherapy: It is applicable if the cancer cells are found to be hormone receptors negative. It treats the cancer cells spread throughout the body. It is most suitable for secondary breast cancer in liver and lungs.

III) Biological therapy: Biological therapy uses monoclonal antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin). The main role of Herceptin is the targeting of the protein HER2 that is responsible for the growth and multiplication of the breast cancer cells. However, this treatment if effective only in HER2 positive women, who constitute about one out of four breast cancer patients. Hence, the combination of this with other treatments is usually adopted. A monoclonal antibody denosumab (Prolia, Xgeva) is generally used in the treatment of secondary breast cancer that has spread to the bones.

IV) Radiotherapy: It helps in the treatment of individual parts of the body. It is effective in the treatment of secondary breast cancer that has spread to the bones, brain, mastectomy scar or the skin around the breast area.

The presence or absence of female hormones in the pre- or post-menopausal period decides the course of treatment, due to the influence of the hormone levels, apart from the growth rate of the secondary breast cancer. A class of drugs bisphosphates available in two forms-
a) pills like Fosamax and Actonel
b) Venous injections like Aredia and Zometa
has helped in women with secondary breast cancer in bones.

Research is ongoing in metastatic breast cancer and the scientists are hopeful about the development of new drugs and treatments for the disease in near future.

Developing Tissues and organs in vitro have played a significant role in medical sciences. Just like replacing a worn out or faulty part of any mechanical or automated machine, the advancement of science and technology in this field of tissue and organ development made it possible to replace failure or dysfunctioning organs of the human body. This has taken the medical science to the next level bringing hopes for the patients requiring organ transplantation or tissue grafting.

Organ transplantation done initially involves transfer of organs from one individual to the suffering individual. Kidney transfer is the best example to validate this statement. Kidney from a healthy donor can effectively be transferred to the recipient. Availability of a donor, finding a suitable donor and donor – recipient tissue match are some of the restriction factors in organ transplantion. But when the situation arose for the requirement of a heart or liver transplant then it became quite difficult. This attracted various fields like nano technology and tissue engineering to build a organ or tissue in vitro. Even research on xeno transplantation which involves the transfer of organ from animal to human has produced favourable results. The knowledge on stem cells marking its ability to develop into any of the tissue or organ not only encouraged researchers in bringing a major outbreak in developing various therapies using stem cells but also creating awareness among the population on the use of stem cells and importance of its preservation.

With the step by step advancement from the organ transplant, xeno transplant, tissue engineering, stem cell therapy now the recent and revolutionizing development is the regeneration of tissues and organs by using bio ink with the help of a printer. It might seem to be beyond imagination but the ongoing research proves it to be possible. What an ordinary man does with a printer? Has he ever imagined getting tissues or organs printed? It is no more a fiction and researches have made it real.

All the stuff required is an exclusively designed printer, two cartridges out of which one is filled with a gel kind of thing called as bio paper and the other is filled with Bio ink the vital component of the entire project. What is this Bio ink? What does it constitute and how it is made? are the general queries popping up in one’s mind coming across this technology. The basic constituent of Bio ink is the suspension of viable cells. The composition of Bio ink varies between laboratories experimenting on the tissue or organ printing. The technology behind printing organ or tissue is easy to understand. The exclusively designed printer is loaded with the two cartridges one holding the Bio ink and the other holding the gel which acts as the supporting layer can also be called as a bio paper.

At the onset of printing the cartridges functions in such a way that alternate layers of Bio paper and Bio ink are printed to build a two dimensional or three dimensional structures. To explain in better terms, first a layer of bio gel/ bio paper is printed above which the bio ink is sprayed from the other cartridge. The continuation of the sequence on constant run of the printer results in the formation of the layers of the gel and the Bio ink. The layer of cells separated by the bio paper starts fusing together enhanced by various protein and biological factors resulting in a rigid tissue structure.

Initial development of this technology substantiates a method to screen drugs and to evaluate toxicants. The cells viability, its nature to settle down are the parameters considered by the scientists while preparing Bio ink. Also it is identified that a droplet of Bio ink holds only one single cell which is considered as an added advantage in printing tissues.

The research crew from University of Wollongong, researchers from Carnegie Mellon and university of Pittsburgh, researchers at University of Missouri, Columbia has developed unique Bio inks independently and further research is ongoing.

Initially this method was developed with an aim to generate skin and later considered the use of bone cells and muscle cells. The advancement of Bio ink technology entering organ printing will definitely be a revolution in medical science and the days are not too far to get an organ printed.

In order to manipulate with genetic material, it is often necessary to have certain carriers of genetic material which would allow its incorporation into the cell.Vectors are the carriers that we use when inserting genetic material into the cell. A great number of different vectors and various methods for entering the gene into the cells have been developed. We distinguish between viral and non-viral vectors:

Viral vectors

Most frequently used viral vectors are those based on adenoviruses, retroviruses, lentiviruses, adeno-associated viruses or herpes simplex virus.

Retroviruses: Most protocols for gene transfer use retroviral vectors. For use in oncology, the ability of retroviruses to integrate into the dividing cells, showed to be an advantage. Attempts of ex vivo transfer proved to be very successful. However, there are several drawbacks. Retroviruses have small genetic capacity of only eight kilobases and serum complement can inactivate them. Currently achieved titer is low in comparison with that that should be achieved for treatment of large tumors. A patient may receive only the limited amount of viruses.

Adenoviruses: Limitations when working with retrovirus imposed the need to find other vectors that could be used with more success in gene therapy. Attention is focused on adenoviruses, as it was revealed that they possess dual DNA so more effective transduction of different cell types is possible regardless of the mitotic stage of the cells. These vectors can be produced in higher titers than retroviruses. Studies have shown that with a minimal amount of viruses, a sufficient level of expression in most tissue scan be achieved, except in haematopoietic cells. Application of the adenoviral vector was first tested in the treatment of nontumorous disorders, such as cystic fibrosis, but it is also in use in cancer therapy. For example, it is in the process of exploring whether there is the possibility of their use when inserting the gene for HSV-TK in patients with tumors of brain and liver, and tumor-suppressor p53 gene in patients with tumors of lungs, head and neck. Although adenoviruses showed good properties for use in gene therapy, they are not without drawbacks. The presence of unmodified viral genes in recombinant virus can trigger an immune response to these antigens, and consequently against the stations that carry it. So far, a great number of viruses with unique properties useful for applications in gene therapy has been explored. Some of them are herpes simplex virus, Avipox virus, Vaccinia virus and Baculovirus.

Non-viral vectors and the "naked" DNA

One of the most promising areas of research is searching for non-viral vectors. They allow the transfer of therapeutic genes into cells without using viruses. In this group belong primarily liposomes, molecular conjugates, and "naked" DNA. Liposomes are combined with the DNA of any size and form lipid-DNA complex, which can be inserted into different cell types. This system, however, has no tissue specificity and therapeutic effectiveness of its use is not yet satisfactory. Because of the need for greater specificity for certain types of cells, molecular conjugates are also used. Molecular conjugates are produced as protein or synthetic molecules with the ability to bind to cell DNS or RNA, on which the desired gene is attached is produced as a protein or a synthetic molecule with the ability to bind to cellular DNA or RNA, in order to make protein-DNA complex. By producing of conjugates, the desired specificity for certain cells is increased, and the disadvantage of this system is too short lifespan of the conjugates. Application of "naked" DNA is the simplest way of its incorporation into target cells without use of viral and non-viral vectors. The station is introduced by mechanical methods such as direct injection into the tissue or bombarding tissues rapidly with DNA bound to gold particles. This method has already been tested in transgenic immunotherapy in the treatment of colon cancer and melanoma. A disadvantage of this method is also the lack of tissue specificity and the need for surgical access of tumor tissue if it is not located in an accessible place.

Gene therapy is not to replace conventional forms of cancer treatment, but, in combination with conventional treatments, it will probably guarantee the improvement of its achievement and, more importantly, will have its use in suppressing residual disease, which occupies the second place on the list of causes of death in humans.

Hello all,
Its great to read posts and threads related to Biotechnology and they are of great help to a certain extent. I am 2nd year Biotechnology student in a private university in India. I would like to know about list of institutes and companies that provide research training for undergrad students in summer or winter.

Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago – RIC has unveiled to the public the woman with an artificial, bionic arm. Her arm was amputated at the shoulder, in a traffic accident. Today, after installing the bionic prosthesis, she can, for example, open the closet with her thoughts. She can control the number of complex movements, and it opens many opportunities for those who have lost limbs. All this is achievable symbiosis surgery and technology.

Technology of "bionic arm" is possible because of two facts. The first is the existence of a motor center in the brain (the area that controls voluntary muscle movements), which always sends control signals, even in the event when there are no muscles that can be controlled. Another factor is based on the fact that, during the amputation, not all the nerves that control the movements of the hand are removed. According to that, when the arm is amputated, the nerve endings remain alive, ending in the shoulder, and they simply have no place to send the information. If these nerve endings are diverted to the active muscle groups, then the person thinks of command "open closet" and sends the appropriate signals to the nerves that are supposed to communicate with the hand. These signals then end of active muscle groups instead on the part that is, relatively speaking, dead.

The procedure is simple redirection. Therefore, the developed procedure called targeted muscle reinnervation - TMR.

Muscles and electrodes

Basically, the surgeons access the nerve endings that are found in the shoulder, and control arm movements. Then, without nerve damage, the nerve endings are diverted to the active muscle group. In the described of bionic arm, surgeons from RIC connect nerve endings to the chest muscle group. It takes several months for the nerves to connect to these muscles and become an integrated unit. The end result is a reversal of control signals: motor center in the brain sends signals to the hand through nerve pathways, as it always was. But, instead ending in the shoulder, the signals end at the chest.

In order to use these signals to control the bionic arm, electrodes are placed on the surface of the chest muscles. Each electrode controls one of the six motors that move the joints of the prosthesis. When you think of the command "open hand", the brain sends a signal to "open hand" to the appropriate nerve which is now located on the chest. When the nerve endings receive the signal, the chest muscle is activated which results in its contraction.

When the chest muscle contracts, the electrode on the muscle is activated to detect and forward the command to the appropriate motor to open the hand prosthesis. Since every nerve ending is integrated in different part of chest muscle, a person with a bionic prosthesis can run all six engines at the same time which produces quite accurate movements of the prosthesis. The disadvantage is the fact that the prosthesis is heavy as a result of additional engines that allow greater freedom of movement.

An interesting fact is that if you touch the skin of the chest where the redirected nerves the arm, one feels like his hand is touched!
Nearly natural movements

The next step is to develop ways to get the signals from the prosthetic fingers to the nerves in the chest and further, to the brain so you can feel the pressure, cold or heat.

Besides the already mentioned prosthesis, another patient had prototype bionic arm, which was later additionally improved. Artificial hand project was made by order of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), by the name of “Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009-RP”. A team of scientists has produced the first integrated prosthetic arm that can be controlled in a natural way, which provides sensory feedback and provides eight direction movements, which is now far better then the latest prosthetic limbs.

Engineering center mentioned has completed a system of artificial limbs, which includes training for patients using this limbs (the virtual environment), as well as the system of recording movements and control signals during clinical trials. All this has led to improvements in functional verification, such as the possibility of repositioning the finger during various operations - for example, taking a credit card out of pocket and free movement of limbs close to natural gait.

This natural behavior and integrated sensory feedback have been achieved by using TMR method described above. You need to know that this method is based on the transfer of the remaining nerves from an amputated arm to the unused part of the muscle around the injury. With TMR technique, nerves are transferred from shoulders to the patient's chest. Using the electrodes on reinnervated sites the natural control of the prosthesis is enabled. This gives a much more natural way to control the prosthesis and natural sense of touch and grip strength.

The above advanced systems will be greatly enhanced by using IMES devices. Scientists are now working on the next generation prototype called PROTO 2, which will have more than 26 stages of movement and the strength and speed of movement will be approximate to capabilities of the human hand. This is combined with more than 80 individual sensory elements used as a feedback for touch, temperature and position of the hands. We should also mention the construction of a new unit for the shoulder and wrist movements, all of which should be integrated into the new prosthesis.

DARPA is an ambitious effort to create the most complex medical and rehabilitative technologies for the benefit of people. Doctors and scientists included in this projects are excited to be part of a team that has the ability to positively affect the quality of life of those who, by coincidence, have lost an arm or hand.

Hello,

Does anyone know the average viscosity (in cp) of a large-scale cell culture or microbial culture?

Thank you,
JR

There are over 1000 of different diseases that are known to be hereditary. Some occur with the small prevalence in population, and some are more prevalent. The primary task of the research in human molecular genetics is to determine what kind of gene damage is made, and how do they represent the symptoms of the particular genetic disorder.

One of the approaches to the study of hereditary disease is to isolate the defective and normal gene, which allows the comparative analysis of them. In case of the discovery of altered gene that causes the disease, the diagnostic tests can be developed for its precise detection by using molecular biotechnology. Using those tests, it is possible to determine, for example, in the very beginning of the pregnancy whether the child will be born with "healthy" or "sick" genome. In addition to diagnostics, knowledge about changes of DNA can lead to a better understanding of the molecular basis of certain diseases, and therefore to find the best solutions for its treatment.

Cloning of a Normal Gene
Cloning of a normal gene, which is responsible for the altered form the disease can be used to treat the disease, and the level of genetics. Therefore, these procedures are considered under the name “Gene Therapy”. Gene therapy can be performed on cells in culture, which are then returned in patients body (ex vivo gene therapy), or the normal gene is directly inserted into the patients body.

Ex Vivo Gene Therapy

In ex vivo gene therapy, cells obtained from the patient are used, and their genetic defect is corrected by inserting a normal gene. The next step is , the selection of cells with desired characteristics, and such cells are grown in culture in order to be returned to the patient. The advantage of this kind of gene therapy is that it is based on autologous cells which are not rejected by the patient's immune system. However, this method is extremely expensive and it requires a lot of time because every step needs to be done for each patient individually. Therefore, it scientists are working on isolating the cells which would be universal donors, in fact, the cells which would not be rejected by any human organism. One of the strategies for ex vivo gene therapy is based on using smooth muscle cells found in blood vessels. It is possible to return these cells back into the body after small intentionally caused surgical injury on small blood vessels. During the wound healing process the genetically changed cells become part of the tissue.

The advantage of this method is that genetically modified cells are in the contact with circulatory system, and they can secrete desired protein directly into the bloodstream. In addition to genetically determined diseases, there is a possibility for genetic therapy to be used in the treatment of certain types of malignancies.

In Vivo Gene Therapy

For in vivo gene therapy, the methods for inserting healthy genes directly into the patient's tissue with the help of pure plasmid DNA or with the help of some viruses, such as genetically engineered adenovirus or herpes simplex virus. No matter what kind of vector used in gene therapy in vivo, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the vectors are tissue-specific tissue-specific. It is achievable by using viruses which would selectively attack certain tissues, or the gene inserted would be under control of expression signals which can be recognized in target tissues only.

The herpes simplex virus, which infects just nervous cells is the appropriate choice, and that in the near future it could be used to treat patients with neurological disorders.

By using the animal systems, scientists had shown that this type oftherapy is achievable. Numerous experiments have shown that it is possible to insert the plasmid with the cloned gene for the protein dystrophin in the muscle cells of laboratory animals where this gene expressed successfully. That way, the possibility for treatment of Duchene muscle dystrophy is opened.

Yet perhaps, the greatest progress is made in efforts for therapy of malignant brain tumors with the help of retroviral vector system. In tests with experimental animals has been shown that the vector enters only the malignant brain cells, which are then destroyed, and the entire treatment has no effect on healthy brain cells. Because of the great success of this method, the permissions for clinical trials on volunteers with brain tumor are already obtained.

Bearing in mind the contribution of molecular biotechnology to medicine Dr. Francis Collins, director of U.S. National Institute of Human Genome Research gave a prediction of the development for next 40 years. He divided the postgenom era in four phases:

Phase I (5 years):

(a) Rapid acceleration of the development of molecular diagnostic tests,
(b) Identification of molecular subtypes of major human diseases

Phase II (10 years):

(a) Growing number of therapies based on targeted action on the certain molecules in the body,
(b) Defining of pharmacogenomic markers for following patient's response to drugs
© Development of new probes for the visualization of monitoring of bodily functions,
(d) Development of tests for predicting more than 20 genetic disorders that can lead to disease.

Phase III (15 to 20 years):

(a) Testing of different populations development of a database of genotypes,
(b) Design of drugs for diabetes, for high blood pressure, of different types of cancer and other diseases,
© General type of therapy division into subtypes, according to diversity of genotypes,
(d) Full replacement of regenerative medicine (getting oneself tissues out of somatic cells,
(e) Gene replacement in utero and adults.

Phase IV (30 years):

(a) The genes responsible for aging will be determined and will be used in clinics to prolong human life,
(b) Comprehensive health care based on genomics.

The Goal

Application of genetic engineering in manipulation with plants has opened great perspectives for using plants in the future. The main goal of molecular plant biotechnology is the construction of new varieties of cultivated plants (Transgenic plants), and the development of new plant varieties that give better yield or nutrient power.

Therefore, genetically modified plants which possess resistance to insects, pathogens (primarily on viruses), herbicides, certain stressful environmental conditions, whose fruits rot slowly or plants with altered quality of oil or protein are already designed. In the year 2000, the total area sown with transgenic plants was 44.2 million hectares, and increase comparing to 1999 was 11%.

The transgenic plants are grown in 13 countries worldwide: in the United States (30.3 million hectares), Argentina (10 million hectares), Canada (3 million hectares), China (0.5 million hectares), South Africa, Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Mexico, Romania, Spain and Uruguay. In the year 2000 it is the most planted were transgenic soybeans (25.8 million ha), maize (10.3 million hectares) and cotton (5.3 million hectares).

Transgenic plants tolerant to herbicides were represented with 74%. Transgenic plants resistant to insects were constructed by inserting the Bt gene responsible for synthesis of the protein toxic for insects (Bt toxin), which originates from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. This plant was presented with the 19% of sown land. Data from 2004. are saying that the transgenic plants are grown in 16 countries around the world and cover more than 200 million hectares, and that the majority of transgenic plants are resistant to herbicides.

Impact on The Environment

Since the transgenic plants and the product of human activitiy, and could not be found naturally, studies on following the possible effects of using transgenic plants on the environment where grown. In many countries growing transgenic plants is regulated by rules defined in legislation. That way, it is detected that Bt insecticidal toxin excreted from the roots of transgenic maize after 40 days of cultivation in laboratory conditions, but around the roots of mature corn in the field too, while Bt toxin is not found in the ground on which the transgenic plants of corn were not grown.

Bt Toxin Toxicity

The presence of Bt toxin in the soil can cause the development of harmful insects that are resistant to the Bt toxin. Such cases initiated development of a system for quantitative detection of genetic modifications in corn. But, results of research that followed the breakdown of Bt toxins in different seasons and lasted for 200 days, showed that Bt toxin does not decompose completely in the soil. Far more extensive, 4-year studies of Bt toxin decomposition in corn leftovers in the field, showed that Bt toxin is extremely unstable in those remaining and that a small percent may exist even in firm parts of plants. There are results that when applied in the fields, Bt toxin product in the form of spray, can exist and is active in the soil for 28 months.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a soil bacteria, which causes the formation of tumors in infected plant by transferring genes located on the plasmid (genes for virulence) in the plant genome, using the information contained in part of plasmids called the T-DNA. Transferred DNA incorporates anywhere in chromosome of the plants. This property A. tumefaciens is used for construction of vectors for plant transformation by genes for virulence being replaced with genes that determine resistance to antibiotics, and with a gene that carries useful properties (eg. herbicide tolerance).

For gene expression, a promoter of cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV
35S) is most commonly used. But, A. tumefaciens can enter the body of insects or animals, that feed on infected plants. Therefore, the question arises whether the T-DNA of Agrobacterium can infect animal cells. Experiments in laboratory have shown that this bacterium binds to and can steadily transformed HeLa, neurons, and kidney cells n the culture. It is even noted that the installation of T-DNA in the human cell chromosomes is done by the same mechanism by which this occurs in plant cells. Integrated T-DNA may have a mutagenic effect when incorporated into a chromosome. It is also stated that the viral CaMV 35S promoter is active in human HeLa cells.

Therefore, nowadays, the question of security of using transgenic plants for preparation of food for humans is frequently asked.

Today's technology has progressed and achieved a major breakthrough in the treatment of sensorineural deafness. A system of cochlear implants has been developed, which allows sound remark, even those frequencies that the ear due to damage of certain sensory cells can not hear. This is a significant advantage, unlike current hearing devices which are just audio amplifiers.

Cochlear implant system consists of two parts: external and internal. The external part is a tiny powerful speech processor with accessories and internal part of the inner electrode and the receiver. The outer part consists of a speech processor, microphone and the coil (transmitter) connected via wired connection. Speech processor, the size of a cigarette pack, in general, is powered by standard AA or rechargeable batteries of 1.5 V.

The receiver is surgically placed under the skin behind the ear. Electrodes, connected to the receiver, is surgically implanted into the cochlea and is therefore called implant. Electrode implanted in the cochlea is in contact with the auditory nerve and takes over the role of sensory cells.

Operation

Surgical procedure, which in general is performed only on one ear, last for several hours, and it is done by installing the inner part of cochlear implant. The procedure is performed under general anesthesia, but despite that, it is not particularly difficult for a child. The reasons for the long duration of the operation are the fact that it is a microsurgery of the ear, and the process of checking of the electrode, which is performed during surgery. In rare cases, the operation is performed on both sides, with two cochlear implant systems.

Recovery after surgery is rapid. The wound is reviewed every day until the external stitches are removed, which is usually done seven to ten days after surgery. The exterior part of the system, processor, microphone and transmitter are for the first time placed approximately six weeks after the operation, when its function is assessed for the first time. Then the child is stimulated by the first sound of the new toys, but the path to recognizing the sound takes some time.

The Use and Operation of The Cochlear Implant and Speech Processor

There are also smaller versions of voice processors that are worn behind the ear. Sizes are like standard retroauricular amplifiers. They are not recommended for use in children, given the modest processor programming options and a higher risk of loss and damage.

Microphone is worn behind the ear. Outdoor coil – transmitter, is attached to the magnet and in direct contact with the receiver placed under the skin. Coil and a microphone and associated cables the can be visually hidden using hair.

The System of Wearing The Speech Processor

Speech processor can be worn in different ways. Typically, this is on the belt around the waist. Children wear processor in bag on their back, where is the slightest chance of damage of the device. Another possibility is the vest pocket, located on the back or side above the belt.

Sound is registered by microphone located behind the ear and then transmitted to the speech processor. Sounds are in the processor, with a variety of strategies (programs) analyzed and converted into electrical codes. Coded signals are transmitted through the coil to the receiver placed under the skin. The receiver forwards the information to electrodes implanted in the cochlea. The electrode is in close contact with the hearing nerve, which stimulates by electrical impulses. Through the cochlear nerve, tonal information is already partially processed and transmitted to the central auditory system and the brain areas responsible for hearing. Central auditory system processes sound information received and allows its understanding and practical use. Simply put, the system of cochlear implant allows the children to hear, and the brain to understand what they heard.

Adjustment Process and Rehabilitation

After the surgery, and first speech processor settings, the child is included in the rehabilitation process. It is a time consuming job that requires teamwork of professionals and parents, but it brings great results. With the well-conducted rehabilitation, child begins to understand speech and uses primarily speech to communicate.

During the first year, speech processor automatically adjusts every six to eight weeks, and then less frequently. The goal is to find the best strategy in the speech signal processing in order to provide quality and comfortable listening, and therefore a good understanding.

The Decision of Parents

There are different and conflicting views on cochlear implants - artificial cochlea. Some people tend to emphasize the risk of the surgery and the fact that when installing the electrodes, the remnants of hearing in this ear are completely destroyed. The surgery is, as I have mentioned quite painless and easy to bear, and is now routinely performed (the first was made twenty years ago).

Of course, the cochlear implant is not a solution for everyone. Proposal for the devices will give ENT specialists based on the numerous exams (from tone audiometry and evoked potentials to computed tomography of the inner ear). The parent is the one who must make an effort to gather as much information as needed and decide what is the best for his child. Paths to the implementation of the operation, which is related to the purchase of expensive equipment are complex.

The Ebola virus, a member of the viral family Filoviridae, has been known to cause fatal viral hemorrhagic disease in humans and other homid-like primates (chimpanzees and gorillas). Filoviruses have been described as enveloped, non-segmented and negative-stranded RNA viruses divided into two distinct genera: Marburgviruses and Ebolaviruses. Following the biological convention of naming the viruses according to where they are first discovered, Ebolaviruses have been subdivided into four species: Ebola Zaire (ZEBOV), Ebola Ivory Coast (ICEBOV), Ebola Sudan (SEBOV) and Ebola Reston (REBOV) (Hensley, et. al., 2005). Since the virus’ discovery thirty years ago, scientists have learned a great deal about this mysterious and elusive killer. Ebola has managed to keep many of its secrets away from the grasp of researchers further adding to the virus’ mystique. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the fear arose that Ebola and other deadly pathogens could be developed and used as bioterroristic weapons agents. The questions that scientists have left to answer are how did this virus emerge, the possibility of the existence of a reservoir host and the reasons for the cyclic emergence of outbreaks. One way to do this is for scientists to retrace the steps of where and when Ebola first made its deadly appearance.

Ever since the Ebola virus was identified as the causative agent of the viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in Zaire, Sudan and Ivory Coast, scientists have tried to find Ebola’s reservoir host. They knew that since many of the endemic monkeys and apes were also dying from the same disease that infected humans, monkeys had been ruled out as the reservoir host. Scientists hypothesized that the reservoir host had to be a mammalian species or an arthropod that was able to harbor the virus for a period of time without becoming infected with the disease. A recent survey of small vertebrates during the 2001 and 2003 Gabon outbreaks found evidence of asymptomatic infections of Ebola Zaire in three species of fruit bats: Hypsignathus monstrosus, Epomops franqueti and Myonycteris torquata. All three of these species were found in African regions where human Ebola outbreaks have occurred (Leroy, et.al, 2005). Spleen and liver tissue samples taken from these bats found Ebola Zaire RNA and serum antibody levels in some animals. This data helped to support earlier findings that demonstrated replication and circulation of high titers of Ebola in experimentally infected fruit and insectivorous bats in the absence of illness. It also demonstrated that there was the presence of Ebola Zaire specific Ig-G antibodies in at least 5% of the bat species. These findings supported the theory that bats could be the reservoir host for Ebola. These bats came from both epidemic and non-epidemic regions at the time of the outbreaks, an indication that the virus was circulating in both these areas. In addition there happened to be a 1% decrease in prevalence in all regions during the period of outbreaks, inferring that Ebola Zaire was present in forested countries of Central Africa and would wax and wane. Reasons for these changes could be attributed to possible die-offs in the bat population due to disease or reduced reproduction in sick animals (Groseth, et.al, 2007). Mortality among the great apes from Ebola infection was increased during dry seasons when fruit sources in the forest were scarce, fostering contact among other animals as they competed for food. Immune function among the bat population also changed during these periods in correlation to the food shortage or pregnancy, which can favor viral reproduction. In addition to aggressive behavior among the apes, the instance of viral infections increased. These factors taken together all contributed to the episodic nature of Ebola outbreaks. It is possible that other bat or animal species may play a role in serving as reservoir hosts to Ebola infection. Insight into the behavioral ecology of these particular bat species could be of tremendous help in protecting the great apes from Ebola viral infection. Human infection from Ebola by direct contact with the bats can be countered with education, as the local population living in the outbreak regions has used these animals as food. (Leroy, et.al, 2005).

Scientists conducting these previous studies had a reason to feel a sense of excitement for having finally been able to draw a correlation between a possible reservoir host in regions were outbreaks were more prevalent. However in a recent study, that theory could very well be blown out of the water with the possible discovery of a new strain of an Ebola-like filovirus discovered in Europe. A massive die-off of Schreiber’s bats in caves in France, Spain and Portugal in 2002 prompted scientists to study the carcasses of these bats to try and determine the cause. After analyses of the body fluids and organ tissues taken from these animals it was discovered that the bats had become infected with a possible new strain of Ebola Virus like filovirus, typed Lloviu after the site of the detection, Cueva del Lloviu in Spain. Unlike in the case of Marburg and Ebola where circulation of the virus had been deemed asymptomatic in bats, the Lloviu virus seemed to be pathogenic to them. The bat die-offs in Spain were reported to destroy several bat colonies in less than ten days. It had similarities to an outbreak of ‘white nose syndrome’, a lethal fungal infection that was responsible for recent declines in the North American bat population. Any sudden die-off of a bat population should raise some concern from an ecological standpoint because bats are useful in insect control, plant pollination and seed dissemination. With this recent finding scientists still have not come up with a relationship between the mortality of the bats and the discovery of a novel Ebola-like Lloviu virus in Europe. (Negredo, et. al., 2011)

Human and animal mortality is not always a reliable method of determining the presence of a virus in a region. However, the evidence of the presence of the Ebola virus in bats as well as seasonal changes in the areas the virus was found during outbreaks have enabled scientists to stay on the hunt. With this latest discovery, with the different geographical niches Filoviruses have been found, a look into the diversity of Filoviruses should be an issue to consider.

References
Groseth, A., Feldmann, H., and Strong, J.E., (August, 2007). The ecology of Ebola virus Trends in Microbiology, 15(9), 408-416. Downloaded from Science Direct database on December 18, 2012.

Leroy, E.M., Kumulungui, B., Pourrut, X., Rouquet, P., Hassanin, A., Yaba, P., Delicat, A., Paruseska, J.T., Gonzalez, J., and Swanespoel, R., (2005). Fruit bats as reservoirs of Ebola virus, Nature, 438(7068), 575-576. Downloaded from Academic Search Premier on December 18, 2012.

Negredo, A., Palacios, G., Vazquez-Moron, S., Gonzalez, F., Dopazo, H., et. al. (2011) Discovery of an Ebolavirus-like Filovirus in Europe. PLoS Pathogens 7(10), 1-8 doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002304.

Hensley, L.E., Jones, S.M., Feldmann, H., Jahrling, P.B., and Geisbert, T.W. (2005). Ebola and Marburg viruses: pathogenesis and development of countermeasures. Current Molecular Medicine, 5, 761-772. Downloaded from Google Scholar database on December 18, 2012.

Using a new technology that allows scientists to monitor how individual cells react in a complex system of cell signaling, researchers at Stanford University have discovered a large spectrum of differences between cells than ever before noticed.

The Cells Do Not Act in The Same Way

All the cells do not act in the same way as was previously thought. "The cells are like musicians in a jazz band," said dr. Markus Covert, assistant professor of biotechnology and the lead author of a study that was recently published in the journal Nature. His laboratory research studies complex genetic systems. "One little trumpet starts to play, and the cells begin to play by their own rhythm, each different from the others."
So far, most of the scientific information about cell signaling was obtained from populations of cells in large clusters due to the technological limitations of the testing of each individual cell. The new study, which used a recording system developed at Stanford University based on mikrofluidics, shows that scientists are misled by the research based on studies of cell populations.

"Although the results of activation may be the same, process that cells use to achieve this outcome is very different," says the study's author. "Population studies didn’t reveal an intricate network of information that is shown in the single cell level. "It was really surprising," said study co-author Dr.. Stephen Quake, a professor of bioengineering at Stanford, a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a leading expert in the field mikrofluidics. "This brings us back to the beginning to understand what's really going on in the cells."

Communication Between The Cells

Cellular signaling controls basic cellular activities and coordinates the activities of the cells in the human body. The ability of cells to properly respond to their environment is the base of development, tissue repair and immunity. A better understanding of how cells communicate with each other could lead to new insights about how biological systems work, and could possibly lead to discovering cures for diseases such as cancer, diabetes and autoimmune disorders that are caused by errors in the process. "What we see is that the differences between cells are important," said Covert. "Even the nuances can play a big role."

The Microfluidic Chip

To achieve the study of reactions of individual cells during the process of cell signaling, Covert’s Laboratory has teamed with Quake’s laboratory. Quake invented the biological equivalent of the integrated circuit - microfluidic chip - which allows the individual researcher to accomplish tasks that once required a dozen scientists work. Three years ago, Rafael Gomez-Sjöberg and Annelle Leyrat, researchers in his lab have developed a microfluidic chip specifically for the study of individual cells. In this study, Quake and Covert used this chip to explore the signaling of inflammatory cells. "This work is a beautiful biological application of microfluidic cell culture and it really illustrates the power of technology," says Quake.

The chip is made of three layers of silicon on the basis of pure elastic material and contains the microscopic equivalent of test tubes, pipettes and Petri dishes. Gate and valves control the flow of fluids. By controlling the flow, the chip performs ten experiments at the same time. This is actually a lab on a chip. "We used a microfluidics platform that could maintain and monitor the 96 cell cultures at the same time," said Covert. "Before that I was doing one at a time. More than a year we were able to study in detail how 5 000 cells responded to stimuli. It took us into a whole new dimension. "

The scientists put mouse fibroblast cells onto the chip and let them grow in the chamber, which is set to inverted microscope. The whole system is computerized and provides long-term response follow-up to the signal in individual cells, making the image every few minutes. For this research Covert, Quake and his colleagues stimulated the cells with different concentrations of proteins that normally causeimmune system response to infection or cancer.

"We found that some cells receive signals and are activated, and some aren’t," said Dr. Savas Tay, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the first co-author of the study with graduate student Jacob Hugheyjem. The pictures show the scientists could see that the cells respond in different ways, at different times and the number of oscillations, although their primary response was in many ways the same. "Earlier we were accustomed to look at the cell as if it is a chaotic assemblage of biological material, although there is a great engineering," said Tay. "We had to use mathematical modeling to understand what is happening."

"The cells have performed completely different operations, and we did not notice that," said Covert. Hughey added: "Looking at thousands of individual cells, we were able to characterize in detail how cells interpret different intensities of external stimuli."

Bacteria, one among the group of micro organisms like virus, protozoa and fungi, is universal in nature. It is found to be present in air, water and soil, the basic elements of life closely associated with all living organisms. Prevailing both in the internal and external environment bacteria constitute both beneficial and pathogenic microbes. Gut of humans have abundant micro flora playing vital role benefiting the humans are the examples of beneficial bacteria. Some of the bacteria present in the environment are fair enough to cause disease in plants, animals and humans and they are called as pathogens. These pathogenic bacteria are different for humans, plants and animals. Human pathogenic bacteria gain entry into the body through various routes and causes disease. The ability of the bacteria to enter the human body and their potential to generate toxins (exotoxins and endotoxins) are the two basic factors determining the pathogenicity of the bacteria. There is some deadly bacterial diseases created history of epidemics. Cholera and plague are the best examples of bacterial epidemic diseases. The deadly diseases associated with the pathogenic bacteria led to the development of various antibiotics and vaccines.

With that knowledge of pathogenic bacteria let us see some of the common bacterial disease caused by different pathogenic bacteria, the nature of the bacteria, types of disease, route of entry and available treatment methods and best preventive measures.

1. Bacillus anthracis: This is Gram positive, rod shaped, endospore forming bacteria. It is either transferred from animals like sheep and goat to humans on coming in contact with such animals or enters the human body on an instance of inhaling air contaminated with Bacillus spores or gain entry by penetrating skin on physical contact with the organism. Bacillus anthracis is known to cause multiple diseases like cutaneous anthrax, pulmonary anthrax and Gastro intestinal anthrax. Treatment is ensured with drugs like penicillin, Doxycycline and ciprofloxacin. Even anthrax vaccine is available to protect from the disease. Also there is some evidence of using this deadly spore as bio weapon.

2. Vibrio cholerae : Vibrio cholerae is a gram negative, comma shaped bacteria causative agent for the epidemic disease cholera. The main source of this bacterium is contaminated food and water and gains direct entry into the body of the person consuming the contaminated food or water. It causes fluid loss of the body by inducing watery diarrhea and vomit. Fluid substitution through oral or intravenous rehydration is the best way to manage the disease cholera along with some antibiotics like erythromycin, tetracycline and chloramphenicol. Cholera vaccination with Dukoral is the best preventive method.

3. Escherichia coli: This is Gram negative, rod shaped bacteria and is considered as the indicator organism in checking the water for contamination. Water contaminated with fecal matter is known to have E coli and drinking contaminated water causes severe diarrhea. Rehydration with electrolytes and taking antibiotics helps to manage the condition once acquired. Proper washing of hands with disinfectants after using wash rooms and drinking purified water are the basic hygienic way of developing protection from infection. The one more strain of E coli called as enteropathogenic E coli is known to be transferred from mother to the fetus causing diarrhea in the newborn.

4. Clostridium botulinum: Gram positive, rod shaped, spore forming bacteria gains entry into the human body through contaminated food like vegetables and meat and is known to produce a toxin which is vulnerable on nerve causing paralysis. Treating the patient with antitoxin derived from horse anti serum is possible. Ensuring standard food preservation methods is a way to prevent the infection.

5. Chlamydia trachomatis: This Gram negative bacteria is sexually transmitted and known to cause conditions like urethritis, pelvic inflammation, ectopic pregnancy, conjunctivitis of new born and so on. Antibiotics like erythromycin, doxycyclin, azithromycin are prescribed to infected patients. Safe and protective sex is the suggested way of preventing the infection.

6. Salmonella typhi: The causative agent of typhoid fever is a gram negative bacilli transferred to humans either through contaminated food and water or through human to human interaction. Antibiotics and vaccination are available and standard hygiene keeps the bacteria away.

7. Streptococcus pneumonia: Gram positive spherical shaped bacteria cause Pneumonia and meningitis in the infected person. It is transferred between humans through respiratory droplets. Children infected with this bacterium develop sinusitis. Penicillin G and vancomycin are the available antibiotics.

8. Yersinia pestis: Gram negative, tiny rod shaped bacteria is transferred to humans from animals via flies or by consuming infected animal meat or through respiratory droplets. Plague is the disease caused by this bacterium and though antibiotics are available, developing a barrier between humans – rodents and human –flies and taking vaccination is the best way to prevent the infection.

Following standard preventive measures is the best way of protecting human race from these bacterial infections than depending on the antibiotics after acquiring the infection as some of these pathogenic bacteria were identified with resistance to antibiotics.

The Environment

Environmental quality and the degree of its vulnerability directly affect human health, agricultural resources, climate, energy, the economy etc…, and therefore on quality of life and survival. Due to the enormous population growth, technological revolution, the rise of needs for different resources, the collapse of ecosystems across the globe is threatening. A modern society must find the solutions to the increasing destruction of biosphere.

Problems in contemporary society are consisted of many issues:
• How to feed a growing population of people?
• Where to find new sources of energy?
• How to reduce the concentration of CO2 in the biosphere, to preserve clean
water, to purify polluted soil?
• How to find effective antibiotics and other drugs?

One possible answers is the application of biotechnology. Biotechnology is the science that uses natural processes and industrial production in order to achieve certain results. Since 1992, Biotechnology is classified as natural and engineering scientific discipline.

During the biotechnology process, a wide variety of bacteria, viruses, cells and their parts, fungi (micro and macromycetes), cyanobacteria, etc… Biotechnology is widely used in many areas:
• Medicine: antibiotics, vaccines, hormones ...
• Agriculture: Pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, artificial seed ...
• Animal Health: antibiotics, vaccines, growth hormones ...
• Food and drink: milk and milk products, alcoholic beverages, sweeteners ...
• Biologically active molecules: vitamins, amino acids, enzymes ...

Applied Phycology

Applied Phycology is a biotechnology discipline which deals with the application of microalgae and cyanobacteria known as applied algology or applied phycology. Thanks to the great scientific discoveries in the field of microalgae and cyanobacteria, applied phycology provides great possibilities to influence the environment and quality of life.
Microalgae are very diverse group of photoautotroph microscopically small organisms. The basic characteristics of microalgae are the presence of chlorophyll and photosynthesis. There are different types of microalgae: single-cell, colonial, immobile and mobile.

Microalgae – Biodiversity

According to some authors, the number of microalgae species on Earth is between 22,000 and 26,000. Others say from 30,000 to 50,000, and there are even estimates that it ranges up to a few million. Microalgae represent more than 1/3 of the total biomass on Earth. Almost complete phytoplankton in fresh and marine waters are microalgae.

Microalgae belong exclusively to the plant kingdom, except blue-green algae in which the organization of nucleus material and structure has cell wall properties of gram-negative bacteria, and therefore are classified as bacteria (Cyanobacteria). Microalgae and cyanobacteria are characterized by a very rapid cell division and various metabolic pathways, which are caused by changes environment.
In contrast to heterotrophic organisms which usually require complex substrates in order to grow, photoautotrophic algae can grow in conditions with relatively simple composition of mineral salts in the presence of solar light.

Thanks to the aforementioned properties and microalgae and cyanobacteria represent extremely promising organisms for biotechnology. Due to the high biodiversity and rapid development of genetic the engineering, this group of microbes has became one of the most important sources for developing entirely new substances, and products.
The first work on mass cultivation of algae has been published about half century ago. At first, the product was biomass used as a protein feed for livestock and human consumption. Very soon, biomass was applied in chemical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry.

Spirulina

Sprulina is the type of cyanobacteria. Growing interest for the growth and biotechnological application of Spirulina appeared after the Belgian researchers in the last century discovered a massive growth of spirulina in African lakes and its importance in the diet of native people.

The Use of Microalgae and Cyanobacteria

Interest in mass reproduction of microalgae and cyanobacteria is widespread everywhere in the world. It is believed that microalgae and cyanobacterial can possibly be used:
• as food for humans and animals
• in biofertilization of the soil
• soil recultivation and bioremediation
• waste water purification
• production of commercially important products, especially biologically active compounds
• energy production
• reducing global CO2 concentrations, etc…

Analyzing the development of applied phycology can be concluded that in this area, there is inevitably a trinity of science, economics and policy. Policy needs and interest caused higher economic investment in such research. Today, there are huge investments in nutrition projects for the population of the Third World with microalgae and cyanobacteria, with no significant medical research, which at this time is a problem. The question is: Is it acceptable for people to die of hunger to be fed by unexplored products such as the biomass of microalgae and cyanobacteria?

Conclusion

Despite the best efforts to determine the final number of species of microalgae and cyanobacteria that inhabit our planet, this information is still unknown. It is certain that they are a great natural resource, that can be used in various ways (food, medicine, agriculture, remediation, energy ...). Therefore the need for further intensive research in this field is obvious.

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