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Journal of Clinical Lipidology 2021
Topics: Attitude to Health; Biotechnology; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Science; Trust
PubMed: 34924146
DOI: 10.1016/j.jacl.2021.11.010 -
Biochemical Society Transactions Oct 2019The construction of artificial membrane proteins from first principles is of fundamental interest and holds considerable promise for new biotechnologies. This review... (Review)
Review
The construction of artificial membrane proteins from first principles is of fundamental interest and holds considerable promise for new biotechnologies. This review considers the potential advantages of adopting a strictly minimalist approach to the process of membrane protein design. As well as the practical benefits of miniaturisation and simplicity for understanding sequence-structure-function relationships, minimalism should also support the abstract conceptualisation of membrane proteins as modular components for synthetic biology. These ideas are illustrated with selected examples that focus upon α-helical membrane proteins, and which demonstrate how such minimalist membrane proteins might be integrated into living biosystems.
Topics: Biotechnology; Membrane Proteins; Structure-Activity Relationship; Synthetic Biology
PubMed: 31671181
DOI: 10.1042/BST20190170 -
Journal of General Internal Medicine Jun 2017
Topics: Biotechnology; Delivery of Health Care; Humans; Population Health
PubMed: 28405791
DOI: 10.1007/s11606-017-4050-x -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Nov 2020In recent years, we have witnessed an increasing interest in the application of mechanochemical methods for processing materials in biomass refining techniques. Grinding... (Review)
Review
In recent years, we have witnessed an increasing interest in the application of mechanochemical methods for processing materials in biomass refining techniques. Grinding and mechanical pretreatment are very popular methods utilized to enhance the reactivity of polymers and plant raw materials; however, the choice of devices and their modes of action is often performed through trial and error. An inadequate choice of equipment often results in inefficient grinding, low reactivity of the product, excess energy expenditure, and significant wear of the equipment. In the present review, modern equipment employing various types of mechanical impacts, which show the highest promise for mechanochemical pretreatment of plant raw materials, is examined and compared-disc mills, attritors and bead mills, ball mills, planetary mills, vibration and vibrocentrifugal mills, roller and centrifugal roller mills, extruders, hammer mills, knife mills, pin mills, disintegrators, and jet mills. The properly chosen type of mechanochemical activation (and equipment) allows an energetically and economically sound enhancement of the reactivity of solid-phase polymers by increasing the effective surface area accessible to reagents, reducing the amount of crystalline regions and the diffusion coefficient, disordering the supramolecular structure of the material, and mechanochemically reacting with the target substances.
Topics: Biotechnology; Mechanical Phenomena; Vibration
PubMed: 33207746
DOI: 10.3390/molecules25225345 -
Microbial Biotechnology Apr 2022The core responsibility of governments is the security of their citizens, and this means protecting their safety, nutrition and health. Microbiology and microbial...
The core responsibility of governments is the security of their citizens, and this means protecting their safety, nutrition and health. Microbiology and microbial biotechnology have key roles to play in improving supply security of essential resources. In this paper, we discuss the urgent need to fully and immediately exploit existing microbial biotechnologies to maximize supply security of energy, food and medical supplies, and of waste management, and to invest in new research specifically targetting supply security of essential resources.
Topics: Biotechnology; Food; Indicators and Reagents; Refuse Disposal; Security Measures; Waste Management; Wastewater; Water
PubMed: 35322937
DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14049 -
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 -
Current Opinion in Biotechnology Apr 2000The field of proteomics is becoming increasingly important as genome sequences are being completed and annotated. Recent advances in proteomics include experimental and... (Review)
Review
The field of proteomics is becoming increasingly important as genome sequences are being completed and annotated. Recent advances in proteomics include experimental and mathematical proofs of the need to complement microarray analysis with protein analysis, improved sensitivity for mass spectrometric analysis of separated proteins, better informatic tools for gel analysis and protein spot annotation, first steps towards automated experimental procedures, and new technology for quantitation of protein changes.
Topics: Animals; Biotechnology; Computational Biology; Humans; Proteome
PubMed: 10753759
DOI: 10.1016/s0958-1669(00)00078-1 -
International Journal of Molecular... May 2023The modern biotechnology industry has a demand for macromolecules that can function in extreme environments. One example is cold-adapted proteases, possessing advantages... (Review)
Review
The modern biotechnology industry has a demand for macromolecules that can function in extreme environments. One example is cold-adapted proteases, possessing advantages such as maintaining high catalytic efficiency at low temperature and low energy input during production and inactivation. Meanwhile, cold-adapted proteases are characterised by sustainability, environmental protection, and energy conservation; therefore, they hold significant economic and ecological value regarding resource utilisation and the global biogeochemical cycle. Recently, the development and application of cold-adapted proteases have gained gaining increasing attention; however, their applications potential has not yet been fully developed, which has seriously restricted the promotion and application of cold-adapted proteases in the industry. This article introduces the source, related enzymology characteristics, cold resistance mechanism, and the structure-function relationship of cold-adapted proteases in detail. This is in addition to discussing related biotechnologies to improve stability, emphasise application potential in clinical medical research, and the constraints of the further developing of cold-adapted proteases. This article provides a reference for future research and the development of cold-adapted proteases.
Topics: Peptide Hydrolases; Biotechnology; Endopeptidases; Catalysis; Cold Temperature
PubMed: 37239878
DOI: 10.3390/ijms24108532 -
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 -
Extremophiles : Life Under Extreme... Jan 2022As we aim to expand human presence in space, we need to find viable approaches to achieve independence from terrestrial resources. Space biomining of the Moon, Mars and... (Review)
Review
As we aim to expand human presence in space, we need to find viable approaches to achieve independence from terrestrial resources. Space biomining of the Moon, Mars and asteroids has been indicated as one of the promising approaches to achieve in-situ resource utilization by the main space agencies. Structural and expensive metals, essential mineral nutrients, water, oxygen and volatiles could be potentially extracted from extraterrestrial regolith and rocks using microbial-based biotechnologies. The use of bioleaching microorganisms could also be applied to space bioremediation, recycling of waste and to reinforce regenerative life support systems. However, the science around space biomining is still young. Relevant differences between terrestrial and extraterrestrial conditions exist, including the rock types and ores available for mining, and a direct application of established terrestrial biomining techniques may not be a possibility. It is, therefore, necessary to invest in terrestrial and space-based research of specific methods for space applications to learn the effects of space conditions on biomining and bioremediation, expand our knowledge on organotrophic and community-based bioleaching mechanisms, as well as on anaerobic biomining, and investigate the use of synthetic biology to overcome limitations posed by the space environments.
Topics: Biodegradation, Environmental; Biotechnology; Humans; Mining
PubMed: 34993644
DOI: 10.1007/s00792-021-01253-w