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Marine Drugs Aug 2019Enzymes are essential components of biological reactions and play important roles in the scaling and optimization of many industrial processes. Due to the growing... (Review)
Review
Enzymes are essential components of biological reactions and play important roles in the scaling and optimization of many industrial processes. Due to the growing commercial demand for new and more efficient enzymes to help further optimize these processes, many studies are now focusing their attention on more renewable and environmentally sustainable sources for the production of these enzymes. Microalgae are very promising from this perspective since they can be cultivated in photobioreactors, allowing the production of high biomass levels in a cost-efficient manner. This is reflected in the increased number of publications in this area, especially in the use of microalgae as a source of novel enzymes. In particular, various microalgal enzymes with different industrial applications (e.g., lipids and biofuel production, healthcare, and bioremediation) have been studied to date, and the modification of enzymatic sequences involved in lipid and carotenoid production has resulted in promising results. However, the entire biosynthetic pathways/systems leading to synthesis of potentially important bioactive compounds have in many cases yet to be fully characterized (e.g., for the synthesis of polyketides). Nonetheless, with recent advances in microalgal genomics and transcriptomic approaches, it is becoming easier to identify sequences encoding targeted enzymes, increasing the likelihood of the identification, heterologous expression, and characterization of these enzymes of interest. This review provides an overview of the state of the art in marine and freshwater microalgal enzymes with potential biotechnological applications and provides future perspectives for this field.
Topics: Biodegradation, Environmental; Biofuels; Biosynthetic Pathways; Biotechnology; Carotenoids; Lipids; Microalgae
PubMed: 31387272
DOI: 10.3390/md17080459 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Aug 2023Field-flow fractionation (FFF) is a family of single-phase separative techniques exploited to gently separate and characterize nano- and microsystems in suspension.... (Review)
Review
Field-flow fractionation (FFF) is a family of single-phase separative techniques exploited to gently separate and characterize nano- and microsystems in suspension. These techniques cover an extremely wide dynamic range and are able to separate analytes in an interval between a few nm to 100 µm size-wise (over 15 orders of magnitude mass-wise). They are flexible in terms of mobile phase and can separate the analytes in native conditions, preserving their original structures/properties as much as possible. Molecular biology is the branch of biology that studies the molecular basis of biological activity, while biotechnology deals with the technological applications of biology. The areas where biotechnologies are required include industrial, agri-food, environmental, and pharmaceutical. Many species of biological interest belong to the operational range of FFF techniques, and their application to the analysis of such samples has steadily grown in the last 30 years. This work aims to summarize the main features, milestones, and results provided by the application of FFF in the field of molecular biology and biotechnology, with a focus on the years from 2000 to 2022. After a theoretical background overview of FFF and its methodologies, the results are reported based on the nature of the samples analyzed.
Topics: Biotechnology; Fractionation, Field Flow; Molecular Biology; Food; Industry
PubMed: 37687030
DOI: 10.3390/molecules28176201 -
Biotechnology and Bioengineering Sep 2014The goal of drug delivery is to improve the safety and therapeutic efficacy of drugs. This review focuses on delivery platforms that are either derived from endogenous... (Review)
Review
The goal of drug delivery is to improve the safety and therapeutic efficacy of drugs. This review focuses on delivery platforms that are either derived from endogenous pathways, long-circulating biomolecules and cells or that piggyback onto long-circulating biomolecules and cells. The first class of such platforms is protein-based delivery systems--albumin, transferrin, and fusion to the Fc domain of antibodies--that have a long-circulation half-life and are designed to transport different molecules. The second class is lipid-based delivery systems-lipoproteins and exosomes-that are naturally occurring circulating lipid particles. The third class is cell-based delivery systems--erythrocytes, macrophages, and platelets--that have evolved, for reasons central to their function, to exhibit a long life-time in the body. The last class is small molecule-based delivery systems that include folic acid. This article reviews the biology of these systems, their application in drug delivery, and the promises and limitations of these endogenous systems for drug delivery.
Topics: Biotechnology; Drug Delivery Systems; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Technology, Pharmaceutical
PubMed: 24916780
DOI: 10.1002/bit.25307 -
Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in... Nov 2017The world of biotechnology "start-ups" and entrepreneurship offers exciting new avenues for driving state-of-the-art research using an arsenal of multidisciplinary... (Review)
Review
The world of biotechnology "start-ups" and entrepreneurship offers exciting new avenues for driving state-of-the-art research using an arsenal of multidisciplinary skills, whether your role is as part of a team or as a leader. Although traditionally these positions may not be as secure as those offered by some of the larger companies, the small start-up culture provides opportunities for contributing at many levels to a wide range of responsibilities: from scientific discovery to delivery of proof of concept and intellectual property; from analysis of market opportunities and competitive intelligence to creation of time lines and business plans for a first product. Often, if you get in on the ground level, you get to validate your own concept, pitch to potential investors, argue value, build a team, engage advisors, and then, with funding in hand, launch an entirely new research and development (R&D) enterprise. Many of the skills and much of the experience gained while pursuing a graduate degree can be put to good use in these arenas as well. This path, however, is not for the faint of heart; it requires not only a strong scientific background and organizational skills, but also the ability to work well on a team, excellent communication skills, and persistence when faced with delays or disappointment. With increasing responsibilities in the small company come the requirements for aptitudes for leadership, strategic and financial planning, networking, negotiating, and managing both projects and personnel.
Topics: Biotechnology; Career Mobility; Entrepreneurship; Humans; Leadership; Professional Competence
PubMed: 29092897
DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a032938 -
Cell Stem Cell Mar 2018
Topics: Biotechnology; Drug Development; Humans; Stem Cells; Tissue Engineering
PubMed: 29499141
DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2018.01.018 -
Chemical Society Reviews Jul 2016This review provides an overview of recent developments in "chemical virology." Viruses, as materials, provide unique nanoscale scaffolds that have relevance in chemical... (Review)
Review
This review provides an overview of recent developments in "chemical virology." Viruses, as materials, provide unique nanoscale scaffolds that have relevance in chemical biology and nanotechnology, with diverse areas of applications. Some fundamental advantages of viruses, compared to synthetically programmed materials, include the highly precise spatial arrangement of their subunits into a diverse array of shapes and sizes and many available avenues for easy and reproducible modification. Here, we will first survey the broad distribution of viruses and various methods for producing virus-based nanoparticles, as well as engineering principles used to impart new functionalities. We will then examine the broad range of applications and implications of virus-based materials, focusing on the medical, biotechnology, and energy sectors. We anticipate that this field will continue to evolve and grow, with exciting new possibilities stemming from advancements in the rational design of virus-based nanomaterials.
Topics: Agriculture; Biotechnology; Drug Delivery Systems; Gene Transfer Techniques; Genetic Engineering; Humans; Immunotherapy; Nanomedicine; Nanostructures; Nanotechnology; Viruses
PubMed: 27152673
DOI: 10.1039/c5cs00287g -
Annual Review of Virology Sep 2018Bacteriophage research has been instrumental to advancing many fields of biology, such as genetics, molecular biology, and synthetic biology. Many phage-derived... (Review)
Review
Bacteriophage research has been instrumental to advancing many fields of biology, such as genetics, molecular biology, and synthetic biology. Many phage-derived technologies have been adapted for building gene circuits to program biological systems. Phages also exhibit significant medical potential as antibacterial agents and bacterial diagnostics due to their extreme specificity for their host, and our growing ability to engineer them further enhances this potential. Phages have also been used as scaffolds for genetically programmable biomaterials that have highly tunable properties. Furthermore, phages are central to powerful directed evolution platforms, which are being leveraged to enhance existing biological functions and even produce new ones. In this review, we discuss recent examples of how phage research is influencing these next-generation biotechnologies.
Topics: Bacterial Infections; Bacteriophages; Biotechnology; Diagnostic Tests, Routine; Humans; Molecular Biology; Phage Therapy; Synthetic Biology
PubMed: 30001182
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-virology-092917-043544 -
Trends in Biotechnology Jan 2018Residing at the interface of chemistry and biotechnology, artificial metalloenzymes (ArMs) offer an attractive technology to combine the versatile reaction repertoire of... (Review)
Review
Residing at the interface of chemistry and biotechnology, artificial metalloenzymes (ArMs) offer an attractive technology to combine the versatile reaction repertoire of transition metal catalysts with the exquisite catalytic features of enzymes. While earlier efforts in this field predominantly comprised studies in well-defined test-tube environments, a trend towards exploiting ArMs in more complex environments has recently emerged. Integration of these artificial biocatalysts in enzymatic cascades and using them in whole-cell biotransformations and in vivo opens up entirely novel prospects for both preparative chemistry and synthetic biology. We highlight selected recent developments with a particular focus on challenges and opportunities in the in vivo application of ArMs.
Topics: Biocatalysis; Biotechnology; Metalloproteins; Protein Engineering
PubMed: 29061328
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.10.003 -
BioMed Research International 2018
Topics: Animals; Bacteria; Biotechnology; DNA; Escherichia coli; Mice; Nucleic Acids
PubMed: 30035120
DOI: 10.1155/2018/3102374 -
Molecular Cell May 2015
Topics: Animals; Biomedical Research; Biotechnology; CRISPR-Cas Systems; Cryoelectron Microscopy; Deoxyribonucleases; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Humans; RNA Interference
PubMed: 26000838
DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2015.05.018