#Milestone single-biomolecule imaging technique may advance drug design Knowing the detailed shape of biomolecules such as proteins is essential for biological studies and drug discovery.
Modern structural biology relies on techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy to discover the tiny structural details of biomolecules.
All these methods, however, require averaging over a large number of molecules and thus structural details of an individual biomolecule are lost often.
Now researchers from the University of Zurich, Switzerland have made a breakthrough by obtaining the first nanometer (one billionth of a meter) resolved image of individual tobacco mosaic virions
single-particle imaging technique for structural biology. The researchers describe their work in a paper published this week on the cover of the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing."
"The virions are imaged with one nanometer resolution exhibiting details of the helical structure of the virus. Our technique would be the first non-destructive imaging tool for structural biology at the truly single molecule level."
"Longchamp noted the technique would also open the door for"rational drug design,"an inventive process of finding new medications based on the knowledge of a biological target.
Second, low energy electrons are harmless to biomolecules, "Longchamp said. In many conventional techniques such as transmission electron microscopy, the possible resolution is limited by high-energy electrons'radiation damage to biological samples.
Individual biomolecules are destroyed long before an image of high enough quality can be acquired. In other words, the low permissible electron dose in conventional microscopies is not sufficient to obtain high-resolution images from a single biomolecule.
However in low energy electron holography, the employed electron doses can be much higher--even after exposing fragile molecules like DNA or proteins to a electron dose more than five orders of magnitude higher
than the critical dose in transmission electron microscopy, no radiation damage could be observed. Sufficient electron dose in low energy electron holography makes imaging individual biomolecules at a nanometer resolution possible.
In Longchamp's experiment, the tobacco mosaic virions were deposited on a freestanding, ultraclean graphene, an atomically thin layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice.
#Brightness-equalized quantum dots improve biological imaging"In this work, we have made two major advances--the ability to precisely control the brightness of light-emitting particles called quantum dots,
an assistant professor of bioengineering at Illinois."Previously light emission had an unknown correspondence with molecule number.
and tunable number of photons per tagged biomolecule. They are expected also to be used for precise color matching in light-emitting devices and displays,
allow quantitative multicolor imaging in biological tissue, and improve color tuning in light-emitting devices.
According to the researchers, the aim of the research was to prepare an injectable paste made of bioglass and sodium alginate polymer with biocompatibility properties.
"We embedded biosensors in it to measure several different substances in the blood or blood serum along with an array of electronics to transmit the results in real time to a tablet via Bluetooth,
"We embedded biosensors in it to measure several different substances in the blood or blood serum along with an array of electronics to transmit the results in real time to a tablet via Bluetooth,
#Biosensors; New Option to Diagnose Leukemia Iranian researchers from Tarbiat Modarres University designed a biosensor that enables the early diagnosis of leukemia in the test sample by using naked eyes.
The biosensors have been produced at low cost, and they enjoy high sensitivity, selectivity and speed. The aim of the research was to design an effective system to diagnose blood cancer (leukemia) by using gold nanobars.
To this end, samples of a nanobiosensor have been designed and their application has been evaluated in the diagnosis of the disease.
The presence of some proteins in biological liquids of humans (blood saliva and urine) with determined concentration can be the sign of dangerous diseases.
Lysozyme protein has been selected as the target biomolecule in this research. The excess secretion of this protein can be a sign of malfunction in kidney performance
the physicists applied their ultrashort electron pulses to a biomolecule in a diffraction experiment. It is planned to use those electron beams for pump-probe experiments:
as are many important biological research tools. A wide-range of technologies, including LEDS, diagnostic tools,
and technological issues that needed to be addressed before fundamental questions in cell biology could be address in living cells.
#Cyborg beetle research allows free-flight study of insects (w/video) Hardwiring beetles for radio-controlled flight turns out to be a fitting way to learn more about their biology.
to be published Monday, March 16, in the journal Current Biology, showcases the potential of wireless sensors in biological research.
"Biologists trying to record and study flying insects typically had to do so with the subject tethered.
"Mirkin is the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and professor of medicine, chemical and biological engineering, biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering.
says Akhilesh Gaharwar, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Texas A&m. The biomaterial, which consists of nano-sized,
chemical and biological properties of the hydrogel are enhanced, Gaharwar explains. For example, the hydrogel can be designed to remain at the injury site for specific durations by controlling the interactions between the nanosilicates and gelatin,
The animal uses a biochemical cascade to change the thickness of the layers and their spacing.
This could have implications for making new types of bioelectronic devices and even growing"living"semi-artificial squid skin n
Chemists, physicists, biologists, materials scientists and engineers team up to focus on these essential questions: Which material properties are new,
"Here we have a biological entity. We've made the sensor on the surface of these spores, with the spore a very active complement to this device.
The biological complement is actually working towards responding to stimuli and providing information
#Desalination with nanoporous graphene membrane Less than 1 percent of Earth's water is drinkable. Removing salt and other minerals from our biggest available source of water--seawater--may help satisfy a growing global population thirsty for fresh water for drinking, farming, transportation, heating, cooling and industry.
The so called DNA chip card employs electrochemical DNA chips and overcomes the complicated procedures associated with genetic testing of conventional methods.
and other bioengineering applications. The European Association of Geochemistry is highlighting this work as especially interesting.
through genetic engineering. But this is something that we do not know yet"Researchers from the University of Tübingen, the University of Manchester,
But we are still at an early stage of understanding the bioengineering implications of this discovery"e
and people with diabetes, said study co-leader David J. Sharp, Ph d.,professor of physiology & biophysics at Einstein.
Dr. Sharp collaborated with Joel Friedman, M d.,Ph d.,professor of physiology & biophysics and of medicine at Einstein,
the Gene K. Beare Professor of Biomedical engineering in the School of engineering & Applied science, was able to take images of blood oxygenation 50 times faster than their previous results using fast-scanning PAM;
Phd, program director for Optical Imaging at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering."
Given the importance of oxygen metabolism in basic biology and diseases such as diabetes and cancer,
"The material could help improve coatings used to protect surfaces from the build up of biological contaminants, particularly surfaces under the sea.
In nature, molecules called aquaporins, discovered in the 1990s, move water from one side of a biological membrane to another,
Now, researchers from the A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology have synthesized a much smaller molecule,
For some years, Huaqiang Zeng of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology has led a team aiming to produce tubular molecules that could pipe water across membranes.
when inserted into biomimetic membranes. Zeng thinks this and derivative molecules, may become ext-generation nanofiltration membranes for water purification applications,
in collaboration with bioengineers at Mcgill University, uncovered a new kind of synergy in the development of the nervous system,
Their breakthrough, published today in the scientific journal PLOS Biology("Integration of Shallow Gradients of Shh
"explains Dr. Charron, Director of the Molecular biology of Neural development research unit at the IRCM. Over the past few decades, the scientific community has struggled to understand why more than one guidance cue would be necessary for axons to reach the proper target.
that is to say they can study the developing axons outside their biological context.""This new method provides us with several benefits
which uses fluids at a microscopic scale to miniaturize biological experiments, with the cellular, biological and molecular studies we conduct in laboratories.""
"Thus, thanks to this unique program, we teamed up with Mcgill's bioengineers and microfluidic and mathematical modelling experts to create the device required for our study.""
said Benoit, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering. We had to figure out how to deliver the antibacterial agent to the teeth and keep it there,
Recently, a team from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular engineering in the School of engineering and Applied science has shown how to do just that.
"The technique could even be modified for imaging biological systems without the need for fluorescent labels.
and Biomolecular engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a novel photolithographic technology enabling control over the functional shapes of micropatterns using oxygen diffusion.
The research was dedicated also to the late Professor Seung-Man Yang of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular engineering at KAIST.
"Professors Ray and Paul Dupree have discussed the possibility of working together to solve outstanding questions in plant biochemistry for twenty years.
#Scientists a step closer to developing renewable propane (Nanowerk News) Researchers at The University of Manchester have made a significant breakthrough in the development of synthetic pathways that will enable renewable biosynthesis of the gas propane.
In this latest study, published in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels("A microbial platform for renewable propane synthesis based on a fermentative butanol pathway"),scientists at the Universitys Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB
working with colleagues at Imperial College and University of Turku, have created a synthetic pathway for biosynthesis of the gas propane.
more sustainable forms of energy as well as using biotechnology techniques to produce synthetic chemicals are currently being developed at The University of Manchester.
Natural metabolic pathways for the renewable biosynthesis of propane do not exist but scientists at the University have developed an alternative microbial biosynthetic pathway to produce renewable propane.
The team was able to achieve propane biosynthesis creating a platform for next-generation microbial propane production.
a cancer biologist and an assistant professor of biomedical sciences and pathobiology at the Virginiaaryland College of Veterinary medicine. t was astounding.
said Kelly, the project lead scientist and a biophysicist with extensive expertise in high-resolution imaging.
She is also an assistant professor of biological sciences In virginia Tech College of Science. t exciting to see things no one else has seen before,
Nagoya, Japan-Yutaro Saito, Yasutomo Segawa and Professor Kenichiro Itami at the Institute of Transformative Biomolecules (ITBM
"As altering the para position has been a common approach in biology and materials science for creating benzene-containing functional molecules,
"says Kenichiro Itami, the Director of the Institute of Transformative Biomolecules.""Since starting this research in 2009,
biological fl uids, strong electromagnetic fields, and fast-moving objects. The strategy followed to design this kind of devices relies on the thermal dependence of the phosphor luminescence,
biological fluids, strong electromagnetic fields, and fast-moving objects. The temperature determination is usually based on the change of the luminescence intensity or decay times.
#Millions of liters of juice from 1 grapefruit (Nanowerk News) The Austrian Centre of Industrial biotechnology (acib) uses the positive aspects of synthetic biology for the ecofriendly production of a natural compound("Production of the sesquiterpenoid
"The challenge of the biotechnologists Tamara Wriessnegger and Harald Pichler in Graz was to produce Nootkatone in large quantities.
as a biopharmaceutical component or as a natural insect repellent.""We have installed new genetic information in the yeast Pichia pastoris,
so that our cells are able to produce Nootkatone from sugar, "says acib researcher Tamara Wriessnegger.
The genome of the yeast cells has been extended with four foreign genes derived from the cress Arabidopsis thaliana, the Egyptian henbane Hyoscyamus muticus, the Nootka cypress Xanthocyparis nootkatensis and from baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
The common biotech variant via Valencene and a chemical synthesis step is less ecofriendly, more difficult and expensive.
"Synthetic biology could be of vital importance to humanity, as Artemisinin shows. Thanks to this substance malaria is curable.
which measures oxygen in cells and other biological material with high precision. The compound is based on rare earths emitting coloured light that vary in colour with the amount of oxygen present in the sample.
which are suited poorly for biological samples, useless in a microscope and quite incapable of showing where the oxygen is located in a cell.
which is highly compatible with biological studies, because it penetrates deeply into tissue, explains Sørensen."
#Bio-inspired eye stabilizes robot's flight without need for an accelerometer Biorobotics researchers at the Institut des Sciences du Mouvement-Etienne-Jules Marey (CNRS/Aix-Marseille
& Biomimetics("Flying over uneven moving terrain based on optic-flow cues without any need for reference frames or accelerometers").
In an animal study being published in the March 10 issue of the Journal of Controlled Release("Corticosteroid-loaded biodegradable nanoparticles for prevention of corneal allograft rejection in rats),
a new Biopart Assembly Standard for Idempotent Cloning provides accurate, single-tier DNA assembly for synthetic biology".
"The new system called BASIC is a major advance for the field of synthetic biology, which designs and builds organisms able to make useful products such as medicines, energy, food, materials and chemicals.
BASIC, created by researchers from Imperials Centre for Synthetic biology & Innovation combines the best features of the most popular methods while overcoming their limitations,
which is promoting the adoption of synthetic biology by industry. Two industrial partners Dr Reddys and Isogenica are also already making use of BASIC in their research laboratories.
Professor Paul Freemont, co-Director of the Centre for Synthetic biology & Innovation, says: This system is an exciting development for the field of synthetic biology.
If we are to make significant advances in this area of research, it is vital to be able to assemble DNA rapidly in multiple variations,
which is the future of synthetic biology. If innovations in the field are to be translated into the marketplace,
and will be one of the first protocols to be used in our new, fully automated platform for synthetic biology,
developed by researchers at University college London with funding from the Biotechnology & Biological sciences Research Council (BBSRC),
"Fundamental bioscience research is vital to reveal the biological mechanisms underlying normal physiology across the lifespan.
said lead researcher Prezioso. his memristor-based technology relies on a completely different way inspired by biological brain to carry on computation.
and may even have implications for understanding biological systems. Working at the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) and the Advanced Photon Source (APS), two DOE Office of Science User Facilities located at Argonne,
and can be engineered for physical and biological applications. However, on their own, these materials are terrible for use in the electronics world.
The research jointly lead by Professor Christoph Hagemeyer, Head of the Vascular Biotechnology Laboratory at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute and Professor Frank Caruso,
an ARC Australian Laureate Fellow in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular engineering at the University of Melbourne, was published today in Advanced Materials("Multifunctional Thrombin-Activatable Polymer Capsules for Specific Targeting to Activated Platelets").
But Ashutosh Chilkoti, professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical engineering at Duke university thought his team could do better.
"Through a combination of high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy (CRYO EM) and a unique methodology for image analysis, a team of researchers with Berkeley Lab and the University of California (UC) Berkeley has produced an atomic view of microtubules
and reform into spindles that are used by the dividing cell to move chromosomes. For chromosome migration to occur,
the microtubules attached to them must disassemble, carrying the chromosomes in the process. The dynamic instability that makes it possible for microtubules to transition from a rigid polymerized
or"assembled"nucleotide state to a flexible depolymerized or"disassembled"nucleotide state is driven by guanosine triphosphate (GTP) hydrolysis in the microtubule lattice."
a biophysicist with Berkeley Lab's Life sciences Division who led this research. Nogales, who is also a professor of biophysics
and structural biology at UC Berkeley and investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, is a leading authority on the structure and dynamics of microtubules.
In this latest study, she and her group used CRYO EM in which protein samples are flash-frozen at liquid nitrogen temperatures to preserve their natural structure,
to determine microtubule structures in different nucleotide states with and without EB3. With CRYO EM and their image analysis methodology, they achieved a resolution of 3. 5 Angstroms, a record for microtubules.
For perspective, the diameter of a hydrogen atom is about 1. 0 Angstroms.""We can now study the atomic details of microtubule polymerization
Beyond their importance to our understanding of basic cell biology, microtubules are a major target for anticancer drugs, such as Taxol,
#Super-small needle technology for the brain Microscale needle-electrode array technology has enhanced brain science and engineering applications, such as electrophysiological studies, drug and chemical delivery systems, and optogenetics.
and other biological tissues because of needle buckling or fracturing on penetration. high-aspect-ratio microneedles penetrating brain tissue A research team in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering
which dissolves upon contact with biological tissue. Silk fibroin is used as the dissolvable film because it has high biocompatibility,
including recording/stimulation electrodes, glass pipettes, and optogenetic fibers.""He added:""This has the potential to reduce invasiveness drastically
and probe biological molecules to explore their potential use as new drugs. The device has the potential to replace gold nanodevices used in current analytical techniques,
This quickly damages delicate biological samples and potentially melts the equipment. The innovation is expected to expand the ability of researchers to investigate potential new drugs more rapidly and accurately,
including investigating individual biochemical reactions and detecting molecules such as contaminants or explosives at extremely low concentrations.
Common laboratory analytical techniques such as Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy determine the properties of biological molecules,
"Amongst other things, this information can help to predict how the molecules might interact with biochemical processes in living cells,
such as in biochemical analysis,"said Dr Cortes. The discovery opens up the possibility for new equipment that can track individual biochemical reactions in over a period of time,
#Bioengineers identify the key genes and functions for sustaining microbial life (Nanowerk News) A new study led by bioengineers at the University of California,
San diego defines the core set of genes and functions that a bacterial cell needs to sustain life.
2015("Systems biology definition of the core proteome of metabolism and expression is consistent with high-throughput data".
"said Bernhard Palsson, the Galetti Professor of Bioengineering at UC San diego and corresponding author on the paper."
Consider, for example, the genetic engineering of microbes to make value-added chemicals. This engineering process is done typically by making changes to the genetic makeup of a cell,
"said Laurence Yang, a postdoctoral researcher in Palsson's Systems Biology Research Group at UC San diego and a co-first author of the paper.
"Other approaches have tried to define the paleome by comparing genome sequences and finding the gene portfolio that seemed to be similar in all of these sequences.
This just defines the minimal genome. Our definition of the paleome takes a more comprehensive approach.
It is a systems-biology-based definition that takes into account not just the minimum set of genes,
The team's approach to define the paleome is based on a genome-scale computational model for cellular growth in E coli.
and gene expression processes in the cell. Using this model the researchers simulated the growth of a well-studied strain of E coli across 333 different growth conditions.
We are hoping to use this paleome as a starter kit to rapidly build a new generation of genome-scale cellular growth models for other organisms,
and integrated them in the form of a computational model to arrive at our systems biology definition of the paleome
Its a future in which diseases like muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis and many others are treated permanently through the science of genome engineering.
"demonstrates a new technology advancing the field of genome engineering. The method significantly improves the ability of scientists to target specific faulty genes
and then edit them, replacing the damaged genetic code with healthy DNA. There is a trend in the scientific community to develop therapeutics in a more rational fashion,
Your disease is caused by a mutation in gene X, and were going to correct this mutation to treat it.
In theory, genome engineering will eventually allow us to permanently cure genetic diseases by editing the specific faulty gene (s). Revolutionizing health care Genome engineering involves the targeted
specific modification of an organisms genetic information. Much like how a computer programmer edits computer code, scientists could one day replace a persons broken
or unhealthy genes with healthy ones through the use of sequence-specific DNA BINDING PROTEINS attached to DNA-editing tools.
Future applications Currently much of the research in the field of genome engineering is focused on treating monogenic diseasesdiseases that involve a single geneas theyre much easier for researchers to successfully target.
He hopes his current work will play a role in helping genome engineering reach its full potential
co-senior author of a paper describing the work and an assistant professor in the joint biomedical engineering program at NC State and UNC-Chapel hill.
at least with respect to a chosen trait, could significantly aid basic biological research and development of high-throughput assays, says John Slater, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Delaware.
Now, Slater and a team of researchers from Duke university, Baylor College of Medicine and Rice university have developed an image-based,
biomimetic patterning strategy that produces a more homogeneous cell population for high-throughput cellular assays.
Biomimetic Patterning")."An important feature of the technique is that it could provide a means to decouple the influences of several factors on mechanotransduction-mediated processes,
which cells convert mechanical stimuli into biochemical activity. These factors include cytoskeletal structure, adhesion dynamics and intracellular tension,
"Our research shows how the structure of our genetic material-DNA-can be changed and used in a way we didn't realise."
#Water heals a bioplastic (w/video) A drop of water self-heals a multiphase polymer derived from the genetic code of squid ring teeth,
the researchers used biotechnology to create the proteins in bacteria. The polymer can then either be molded using heat
#3d bone marrow made from silk biomaterials successfully generates platelets (Nanowerk News) Researchers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging
and Bioengineering at Tufts University and their collaborators have developed successfully a 3-dimensional (3d) tissue-engineered model of bone marrow that can produce functional human platelets outside the body (ex vivo).
that was wrapped around a three-dimensional object about the size of a few biological cells and arbitrarily shaped with multiple bumps and dents.
and 3d printing techniques to create a custom silicone guide implanted with biochemical cues to help nerve regeneration.
#Proteins assemble and disassemble on command Scientists have deciphered the genetic code that instructs proteins to either self-assemble
and is the first time that scientists have reported the ability to create biological structures that are programmed readily to assemble
biotechnology and medical treatments. The study appears September 21 in Nature Materials("Sequence Heuristics To Encode Phase Behaviour In Intrinsically Disordered Protein Polymers"."
and biotechnology applications,"said Ashutosh Chilkoti, chair of the Department of Biomedical engineering at Duke.""We can now,
with a flick of a switch and a temperature jump, make a huge range of biological molecules that either assemble or disassemble."
"The study investigated several triggers that can cause protein structures to assemble or break apart, but it primarily focused on heat.
Because the laboratory identified the genetic sequences that encode this behavior, they were able to point out a long list of human proteins that likely exhibit it."
and the biochemistry communities,"said Quiroz.""They'll be able to push the limits of what we know about these kinds of materials
and then go back to explore how biology is already making use of them
#A thermal invisibility cloak actively redirects heat Light, sound, and now, heat--just as optical invisibility cloaks can bend
or kill cancer cells MIT biological engineers have developed a modular system of proteins that can detect a particular DNA sequence in a cell
says James Collins, the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science in MIT Department of Biological engineering and Institute of Medical Engineering and Science (IMES).
a professor of biotechnology and bioengineering at The swiss Federal Institute of technology in Zurich, described this experiment as an legant proof of conceptthat could lead to greatly improved treatments for viral infection. entinel designer cells engineered with the DNA sense
and then produce transcription factors that would activate the cellsown programmed cell death pathways. Research tool The researchers are now adapting this system to detect latent HIV proviruses,
whether genetic material has been delivered successfully to cells that scientists are trying to genetically alter. Cells that did not receive the new gene could be induced to undergo cell death,
or to study the 3-D structure of normal chromosomes by testing whether two genes located far from each other on a chromosome fold in such a way that they end up next to each other,
the researchers say
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