Newsletter, Department of Biotechnology Volume 1, Issue 3, January 2014

From the Editorial Committee

Its our pleasure to present the third issue of Biolink, the annual news

letter of Department of Biotechnology. This issue brings to you articles on

diverse field in Biotechnology from the basic to the industrial application

and in health care and many more. We hope that you would find it

interesting and also adds to your knowledge.

MOST OF ALL, WE HOPE IT MAKES YOU THINK & SMILE!!!

EDITORIAL TEAMStaff Coordinator: Dr. Biljo V. Joseph

Student Coordination & Editor: Hugo F. de Souza

Members: Shreya Harikesh PKTanima DebmallikSaranya Jayaram

Dean’s Message

I am very happy to know that the

Department of Biotechnology is

bringing out the third issue of an

annual newsletter. Biotechnology

being modern applied science, it

gives a good promise for the future

in every aspect of one’s life. The

Department is doing well with

advances in teaching, learning and

research. The students are made to

orient towards research and

development through projects in

the subject as a part of their

curriculum. A newsletter of this type

provides an opportunity as well as a

platform for the youth to showcase

their ideas and talents in terms of

contributing articles, cartoons,

poems and so on. I hope that this

issue of Biolink will be a good treat

for its readers. I congratulate the

Faculty, Department of

Biotechnology for consistently

encouraging the students and also

the editorial board of Biolink for

bringing out an informative

newsletter. I convey my best wishes

for all their future endeavors.

- Dr. Nanje Gowda N M

TOO MUCH OF ANYTHING IS GOOD FOR NOTHING.

"Buy one, get one free"What if you could do that to me?I was born as one, but now you say,To get another me, all I must do is pay?

Technology says its all possible,But people say the idea is terrible."We can barely handle one of you,What would we do with two?!"

The population stands seven billion strong,A number that made everything go wrong!Now if we copy and paste ourselves, WellThe world would go straight down to Hell!!

A long time ago, a man had a dream"What if" he thought "I could copy this gene?"With this in mind, he moved aheadAnd into young minds this idea he fed!

Years passed by, people changed.The Idea, still remained.They worked tirelessly, without sleep!And lo and behold, cloned Dolly the sheep!

An identical copy, both mother and daughter,The creation made half the world shudder.What would science copy next?A shark? A bear? It left people vexed.

The lawmakers thought long and hard.They decided to prevent us from using this art.The world believe they stomped on out thunder.But for how much longer, we sit and wonder.

Be it small, be it big.A worm or a pig.Would copying it, be a major blunder?

- Ashim Deb & Saranya Jayaram, 3 Year BCB, BCZ

A CURE FOR BLINDNESS ???

Scientists have made a significant leapin reversing blindness using stemcells. This study shows that the partof the eye that actually detects thelight can be repaired.Photoreceptors are the cells of theretina that detect the light andconvert it into electrical signals whichare sent to the brain via the opticalnerve. These cells sometimes die insome cases like Stargadt‘s Disease andmacular degeneration.

The London-based team of scientistshas proved that it is possible toreplace these dead cells with new

stem cells, reversing blindness. Whatthey do is builds retinas in the lab.The technique they use involvestaking thousands of stem cells, whichare stimulated to transform intophotoreceptors and then injectingthem into eyes of blind mice. Thesecells hook up with the shape of theeye and start to function.However, the drawback is that it hasa very low efficiency. Only a thousandcells of a transplant of 200,000 cellsactually attached themselves to theeye. The scientists are really excitedbecause this research is proof thatphotoreceptors can be transplantedfrom an embryonic origin and it can

also be done similarly in humans.The eye is an ideal organ for thistechnique. It has very low immunityand as a result there is a low chancethat inserted photoreceptor cells willbe rejected. It is also small and evenfew cells will matter. This techniquecannot be used to cure dementia orrevive a failing liver, because thatwould involve a much larger numberof cells and insertion of cells acrossthe entire organ.This is a significant breakthrough incuring blindness and it has hugeimplications across stem cell research.

Praveen Kumar Kasmas, 2 Year BCB

HUMAN CLONING- THE 21st CENTURY DILEMMA

In 1818 author Mary Shelley in her famed novel Frankenstein brought out thefictional concept of artificial life with the creation of Mr. Frankenstein, amonster created by Victor Frankenstein (a character playing the role of a scientist) .This must have inspired the future victor‘s and in 1996 the concept ofartificial life became reality when scientists‘ working at the Roslin Institutecreated Dolly, the first cloned sheep. Since then cloning has become a greatarea of interest to the scientific community, moviemaker‘s and lot manyother people….

Human cloning is defined as the creation of genetically identical copy of ahuman. Well, that sounds interesting, but there‘s more to it. If at all ahuman is cloned, would that prove to be a worthy creation or does it havesome ethical issues to address?

Let me now discuss the potential uses of cloning .Therapeutic cloning hasproved to be successful as it provides genetically identical cells forregenerative medicine and helps in the synthesis of organs fortransplantation. As this does not trigger immune response it is considered tobe a great relief to patients. Other possible applications would be in thetreatment of burns, cosmetic surgery etc. Another potential application buthighly controversial is reproductive cloning. This would prove to be asolution to infertile parents‘ as they could have children with their DNA intheir offspring‘s.

However this has been opposed by many organizations including the UN.Article 11 of UNESCO‘s ‗Universal declaration on Human Genome andHuman rights‘ asserts that reproductive cloning is contrary to Humandignity. Several religious bodies have opposed human cloning arguing thathuman cloning would meddle with life and could be used for selfishpurposes like creating them for their organs or for other selfish gains.Another reason is that cloning experimentation has abysmally low successrate and hence Human cloning could be beyond reality and a huge wastageof expenditure of money and man power which otherwise could be usedfor many other noble causes. For example it took 277 scientists and millionsof dollars to clone a stable Dolly, well that should give an idea of how muchof resources Human cloning would demand. If Human clones were to bemade they would only be treated as clones and not Humans. Since there areno legislative or judicial measures clones could become victims of injustice.

The need of the hour is to judge the issue on a rational basis keeping in mindthe consequences of such a creation and ensure that principles such asequality and justice are never compromised, something which science hasalways stood for. On a personal note, I believe that the best place for life todevelop is a mother‘s womb ,and to be born as a unique individual. Not as aclone of someone.

Sharun Jacob Alexander, 1 Year BCB

CrosstechAcross2. pollination between plants of differing

phenotypes or varieties

7. a pigment that acts like a hormone to control

flowering

10. type of plant propagation by which identical

offspring are produced by a single parent;

methods include the cuttings of leaves and

stems, and plant tissue culture, etc

11. abbreviation for the process of growing small

pieces of plants into small plantlets in or on

sterile plant tissue culture media

14. a class of hormones that regulates plant cell

division

15. Latin name (abbreviated) of an herbaceous plant,

related to radishes, that serves as a model

organism for many plant genetic engineering

studies

18. the practice of growing plants for ornamental

purposes

19. the breeding of closely related organisms

21. long, vine-like stems that grow along the soil

surface

22. Latin name (abbreviated) of the bacterium from

which the Bt gene was originally isolated; the Bt

gene codes for the production of a compound

that is toxic to insects

Down1. the practice of growing plants in a soil-less, water-

based medium

3. a plant hormone that regulates fruit ripening and

leaf development

4. a plant hormone that regulates seed germination,

leaf bud germination, stem elongation, and leaf

development

5. another name for plant hormones

6. the chromosomal DNA of a cell

8. sections or pieces of a plant that are grown in or

on sterile plant tissue culture media

9. Latin name (abbreviated) of a bacterium that

transfers the "Ti plasmid" to certain plant species,

resulting in a plant disease called crown gall; used

in plant genetic engineering

12. a plasmid found in Agrobacterium tumefaciens

that is used to carry genes into plants, with the

goal that the recipient plants will gain new

phenotypes

13. the practice of growing and harvesting animal or

plant crops for food, fuel, fibers, or other useful

products

16. a gene that codes for the production of the

enzyme that gives a cell resistance to the antibiotic

Kanamycin

17. a plant hormone produced primarily in shoot tips

that regulates cell elongation and leaf

development

20. a gene that codes for an enzyme called beta-

glucuronidase, an enzyme that breaks down the

carbohydrate X-Gluc into a blue product

Answers on page 9 Mariyam Begam, 2 Year BCZ

SUPERBUGS, THE INVINCIBLE!!!

Man has always been thinking that he is the mostpowerful being in this universe. But, sadly the reality isnot so. There are some miniscule organisms on thisEarth who could defeat mankind. Yes, I am talkingabout some bacteria which are resistant to majority ofthe drugs invented by mankind till date. Thesebacteria are referred to as ―Superbugs‖. The ―antibioticera‖ had seen the discovery of a lot of wonder drugswhich killed pathogenic bacteria without significantlyharming the host. The hopes soon died down with thereports of antibiotic resistant bacteria, the first ofwhich was the case of Penicillin resistance.

Microbes, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasitesevolve over time. Their primary function is toreproduce, thrive and spread, quickly and efficiently.Therefore, microbes adapt to their environment andchange in ways that ensure their survival. If somethingstops their ability to spread (eg: antibiotic), geneticchanges can occur that enable the microbe to survive.This survival mechanism is transferred to otherbacteria mainly by plasmids through vertical andhorizontal gene transfer. The extensive overuse andmisuse of antibiotics by human beings has given theproblem a larger dimension in that now we havesuperbugs resistant to a variety of antibiotics.

Drug resistant bacteria fall under different categories -single drug resistant, multidrug resistant, extremelydrug resistant and totally drug resistant. In 2008, therewas a report of a bacterial infection in a Swedishpatient of Indian origin in New Delhi. The patient wasnot responding to more than ten different antibiotics.Researchers found out that the culprit Klebsiellapneumonia was just one among such highly drugresistant bacteria which comes under the category ofsuperbugs. The most common bacteria that make thisenzyme are Gram negative.

The deadly super bugs include Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA), Klebsiella pneumonia, Clostridum difficile,Acinetobacter baunammii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa andVancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium.

All these bacteria have this special ability due to thepresence of an enzyme called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1) which can degrade beta-lactamring. Unfortunately, many antibiotics contain this ring,including the penicillins, cephalosporins and thecarbapenems. Bacteria that produce NDM-1 areresistant to all commonly used beta-lactam antibiotics.Though the first report came from India, NDM-1 waslater detected in bacteria in Pakistan, USA, UK,Canada and Japan. The danger lies in the fact that thegene for NDM-1 can spread from one strain of bacteriato another by a process called horizontal gene transfer.A study, conducted by a group of British scientists in2011, has shown that even the tap water samples inNew Delhi are contaminated with superbugs. So it ishigh time to act.

If mankind doesn‘t keep pace with the bugs byemerging with newer and stronger drugs, we are sureto lose the battle with the bugs. The need of the hour isto prevent antibiotic resistance by adhering to strictnorms during its prescription and usage and also todevise novel strategies for equipping ourselves withnewer and more efficient drugs.

Always keep these points in mind

• Have the full course of antibiotic prescribed by thedoctor.

• Never try to have over the counter antibiotics.

• Don‘t use antibiotics unnecessarily.

• Have probiotics or Vitamin B complex when youtake antibiotics.

Dr. Suma S., Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biotechnology.

PUTTING 'ADAM' IN HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE IN EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY

Our most common male ancestoremerged some 209,000 years ago --earlier than many scientists previouslythought, according to new researchfrom the University of Sheffield.

The pioneering study, conducted byDr Eran Elhaik from the University ofSheffield and Dr Dan Graur from theUniversity of Houston, also debunkedthe discovery of the Y chromosomethat supposedly predated humanity.

In the new research, published in theEuropean Journal of Human Genetics,Dr Elhaik and Dr Graur usedconventional biological models to dateour most common male ancestor'Adam' in his rightful place inevolutionary history.

The ground breaking results showedthat this is 9,000 years earlier thanscientists originally believed.

Their findings put 'Adam' within thetime frame of his other half 'Eve', thegenetic maternal ancestor ofhumankind. This contradicts a recentstudy which had claimed the human Ychromosome originated in a differentspecies through interbreeding whichdates 'Adam' to be twice as old.

Debunking unscientific theories is notnew to Dr Elhaik. Earlier this year hedebunked Hammer's previous workon the unity of the Jewish genome andtogether with Dr Graur they refutedthe proclamations made by theENCODE project on junk DNA.

We can say with some certainty thatmodern humans emerged in Africa alittle over 200,000 years ago," said DrElhaik.

"It is obvious that modern humans didnot interbreed with hominins livingover 500,000 years ago. It is also clearthat there was no single 'Adam' and'Eve' but rather groups of 'Adams and'Eves' living side by side andwandering together in our world.―

Dr. Elhaik added: "We have shownthat the University of Arizona studylacks any scientific merit. "In fact,their hypothesis creates a sort of'space-time paradox 'whereby themost ancient individual belonging toHomo sapiens species has not yet beenborn. If we take the numerical resultsfrom previous studies seriously we canconclude that the past may be alteredby the mother of 'Adam' deciding notto conceive him in the future, thus,bringing a retroactive end to ourspecies.

"Think of the movie Back to theFuture, when Marty was worried thathis parents would not meet and as aresult he wouldn't be born -- it's thesame idea.

"The question to what extend did ourhuman forbearers interbreed withtheir closest relatives is one of thehottest questions in anthropology thatremains open."

(Retrieved by Hugo de Souza, 3 Year BCZ from Paleontology & Archaeology)

A PEPTIDE TO PROTECT BRAIN FUNCTIONAn important part of our nervoussystem is a structure called '' themicrotubule network''. It acts as atransportation system within thenerve cells. It carries essentialprotein and thus enabling cell to cellcommunication. But, in certainneurodegenerative diseases likeParkinson's and Alzheimer's, thisnetwork is damaged thus hinderingmortar abilities and transmission ofnerve impulses.A research team of Tel AvivUniversity of Medicine headed byProf. Illana Gozes has developed anew peptide called NAP(Davunetide). Now, NAP has thecapacity to both protect and restoremicrotubule function. The peptideNAP is a compound derived from theprotein ADNP (Activity DependentNeuroprotective Protein), which isknown to regulate more than 400genes and is essential for brainfunction, memory and behavior. NAP

is a small, eight amino acid peptide.

Prof. Gozes and her team carried outtrials on animal models using NAP.They observed that animal modelshaving microtubule damage couldmaintain and revive the transmissionof proteins and other necessarymaterial with the help of NAP. Theseobservations that were reported inthe journal Neurobiology ofDiseases, indicates that this proteincan prove to be an effectivemachinery in fighting some of theharsh effects of neurodegenerativediseases.

Making a way through:

In their study, the team useddifferent kinds of animal models andinducing microtubule damageamong them. They also usedgenetically-engineered mousemodels in which the mouse waschronically damaged.

To observe the impact of NAP on thecell to cell communication, theresearch team administered themovement of manganese on theanimals using an MRI. It wasobserved that the mice that wastreated with NAP was able to travelthrough the brain normally and thatthe microtubule was protected andrestored to normal.NAP appears to be a boon for itswidespread potential in terms ofneuroprotective functions, says Prof.Gozes who was recently awardedthe Meitner-Humblodt ResearchAward for her lifelong contributionto the field of brain sciences. Shesaid that more research needs to beconducted to discover how to usethis on Human oriented braindisorder including which patientscan benefit enormously.

Mouli Mukharjee, 2 Year BCZ

ABSORBABLE HEART STENT

The concept of bio-absorbable stentshas created interest for more than 20years- Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold(BVS), a first of its kind device for thetreatment of coronary artery disease.Stents open arteries that have becomenarrowed or blocked because ofcoronary artery disease. Drug-elutingstents release medication that keepsthe artery from narrowing again. Thebio-absorbable version goes one stepfurther: Unlike metal stents, it does itsjob and disappears. After six monthsthe stent begins to dissolve, and aftertwo years it's completely gone, leavingbehind a healthy artery that has thepotential to naturally flex, expand andcontract as needed to increase theflow of blood to the heart in responseto normal activities such as exercise.

During an angioplasty procedure, astent is inserted into an artery using acatheter, a thin plastic tube. A typicalstent is a tiny wire mesh tube made ofmetal that opens a clogged artery,improving blood flow. The BVS ismade of polylactide, a material oftenused in dissolvable sutures. Thisallows the stent to gradually dissolve

over one or two years, leaving astrengthened artery that can stay openon its own.

The dissolvable stent does not replacethe traditional metal stent in all cases,but can offer advantages whentreating certain cardiac patients underthe age of 65. In case of youngerpatients, the best option is not to leavea metal stent behind, for example: a40-year-old has a heart attack or needsan angioplasty, the patient will mostlikely need the same attention five or10 years later, and may even need abypass in the future. The lack of metalmay actually make their ongoing caremuch better. This new bioresorbablescaffold technology actually helps toprotect people long-term.

Potential advantages of having thestent disappear from the treated siteinclude reduced or abolished late stentthrombosis, improved lesion imagingwith computed tomography ormagnetic resonance, facilitation ofrepeat treatments (surgical orpercutaneous) to the same site,restoration of vasomotion, and

freedom from side-branch obstructionby struts. Bioabsorbable stents have apotential pediatric role because theyallow vessel growth and do not needeventual surgical removal.

The bioresorbable scaffold is the nextdevelopment in being able to open aclogged artery and restore blood flowwithout leaving any foreign materialbehind except two tiny metallicmarkers to show us where the scaffoldwas originally placed is the currentstandard of care. Now that the fullybioabsorbable stents (BVS) are alreadyhere with absorption and vessel wallintegration being a real phenomena,what will be developed next tofascinate us?

- Saranya Jayaram, 3 Year BCZ

A bioengineer and geneticist at Harvard‘s Wyss Institute

have successfully stored 5.5 petabits of data — around 700

terabytes — in a single gram of DNA, smashing the previous

DNA data density record by a thousand times.

The work, carried out by George Church and Sri Kosuri,

basically treats DNA as just another digital storage device.

Instead of binary data being encoded as magnetic regions on

a hard drive platter, strands of DNA that store 96 bits are

synthesized, with each of the bases (TGAC) representing a

binary value (T and G = 1, A and C = 0).

To read the data stored in DNA, you simply sequence it —

just as if you were sequencing the human genome — and

convert each of the TGAC bases back into binary. To aid

with sequencing, each strand of DNA has a 19-bit address

block at the start (the red bits in the image below) — so a

whole vat of DNA can be sequenced out of order, and then

sorted into usable data using the addresses.

Scientists have been eyeing up DNA as a potential storage

medium for a long time, for three very good reasons: It‘s

incredibly dense (you can store one bit per base, and a base

is only a few atoms large); it‘s volumetric (beaker) rather

than planar (hard disk); and it‘s incredibly stable — where

other bleeding-edge storage mediums need to be kept in

sub-zero vacuums, DNA can survive for hundreds of

thousands of years in a box in your garage.

It is only with recent advances in microfluidics and labs-on-

a-chip that synthesizing and sequencing DNA has become

an everyday task, though. While it took years for the

original Human Genome Project to analyze a single human

genome (some 3 billion DNA base pairs), modern lab

equipment with microfluidic chips can do it in hours. Now

this isn‘t to say that Church and Kosuri‘s DNA storage is

fast — but it‘s fast enough for very-long-term archival.

HARVARD CRACKS DNA STORAGE, CRAMS 700 TERABYTES OF DATA INTO A SINGLE GRAM

(Retrieved from http://www.extremetech.com)

It was dark time in the Germanyoccupied part of Netherlands, nearingthe end of World War II. TheGermans blocked all food supply tothe Dutch for their reluctance to jointhe Nazi party. People received only30% of the daily calorie intake. Mostof them tried to eat grass and tulipbulbs. Around 22,000 people diedduring that famine. Although somesurvived because of soup kitchens, ithad a lasting effect that nobodyanticipated.

Mothers who were pregnant at thetime had small babies, which wassatisfactorily explained by theirundernourishment. Even if they werewell fed But what was surprising wasthat these children grew up they alsohas small babies, in spite of propernourishment.

What was even more surprising wasthat pregnant women who were wellfed in their first two trimesters but

malnourished in their last has tinybabies. But mothers who weremalnourished at first but compensatedon their nutrition in their thirdtrimester had normal size babies. Also,mothers who were starved throughoutthe pregnancy had children whowould later become obese. They hadother health problems as well. Thisintrigued scientists who suggestedthat epigenetics had a hand to play.

Epigenetics is the study of change ofgene expression without alteringDNA. This is done by severalenvironmental factors, namelymethylation. It is what separatesidentical twins, the queen bee fromthe worker. If only DNA matteredthen fetuses that were malnutritionedand those well fed, would be of thesame size, had they identical alleles forit. This meant that the environmentplayed a bigger role than wasoriginally understood.

Malnutrition changed those children'sgene expression resulting in a smallersize. This change passed onto theirchildren who were also bornunderweight. In the case of motherswho had obese children, the lack ofnutrition throughout the entirepregnancy caused a phenomenoncalled foetal programming. The foetus,sensing that nutrients would besparce now becomes miserly, storingevery bit of food it receives to survive.As the child grows older thattendency doesn't change. Even whenenough nutrition is available, his bodystores the food resulting in obesity.

Science is complex. Every day newdiscoveries are made. We now knowthat children adopt the behaviour oftheir parent. It's scary how ourlifestyle not only affects our life butthe lives of future generations, so let'smake our choices the right ones.

Surabhi R. Rao, 1 Year BCZ

IS THERE SUCH A THING AS HEART

CANCER???

Heart cancer (primary cardiac tumor) is a cancer that arise in the

heart. Cancerous (malignant) tumors that begin in the heart are

most often Sarcomas, a type of cancer that originate in the soft

tissues of the body. Vast majority of heart tumors are non cancerous.

Heart cancer is extremely rare. Most cancers found in heart have

come from elsewhere in the body. These include lymphomas that

originate in the chest, near to heart. Other cancers that can spread

to heart include melanomas & sarcomas. Heart cancer may cause

the following:

•Obstruction of blood flow through heart

•Stiffening of heart muscle (Cardiac Fibrosis)

•Interference with heart valves (Marantic Endocarditis)

In case of Marantic Endocarditis, the heart valves are damaged by

cancer and it may cause the valves to malfunction. In severe cases,

the heart valves may need to be replaced. Unfortunately, this is often

a sign of very advanced cancer and carries poor prognosis. Another

rare type of cancer, called carcinoid tumor, at times produces

hormones that can damage valves. Cancer treatment also can effect

heart. Radiation therapy dirtected at or near the heart can cause

damage to the heart muscles and increases the risk of coronary

artery disease later in life time. There is also evidence that hormonal

cancer therapy may increase the risk of heart cancer

Sruthy Janardanan, 1 Year BCB

LIQUID TO GEL TO BONE

Scientists of the Rice University have developed a

hydrogel scaffold for facial bones tissue

regeneration. The material they have developed is a

liquid at room temperature. It can be inserted in the

point of need into the body, where it becomes a gel.

It helps direct the formation of new bone to replace

the damage/diseased bones. Once sufficient quality

of the bone tissue is regenerated, this hydrogel

scaffold can be transition back into a liquid and

removed.

The material is poly (N-isopropyl acrlyamide), a thermo-

sensitive polymer. It is capable of forming shapes in

irregular 3D spaces, providing a platform for tissue

reconstruction. This hydrogel scaffold is extremely

useful because it enables growth factors and stem

cells to be delivered into the complex anatomical

shapes without much surgery. The growth factors

and stem cells are encapsulated by this gel for

injectable cell delivery. What makes this polymer

better than the others used so far is that its cross-

linkage prevents the normal gel shrinking without

reducing the swelling, increasing stability.

This research is highly important in minimizing

invasive tissue regeneration. It also provides an

alternative to prefabricated implantable scaffolds.

Praveen Kumar Kasmas, 2 Year BCB

THE DUTCH HUNGER WINTER (1944)

THE SUN AND THE SKIN.

The above phrase perplexed me or even I would say it

astonished me. I was amazed when I came to know about

this. I thought it was impossible like every normal human

being but the biotechnology student in me drove me crazy

to know more about this and that is how I started searching

for proofs for the above mentioned phrase. The very same

titillation hustled me to set this phenomenon as the point of

discussion in my article.

A team of researchers in the Michigan State University have

discovered the ability of ―Cupriavidus metallidurans‖ and

―Delftia acidovorans‖ to turn the ions of gold, particularly gold

chloride to pure gold nuggets of 24 karat! Isn‘t it interesting

to hear something like this?

Gold chloride is very toxic and the two bacteria that are

mentioned above are found to have the ability to withstand

high amounts of toxicity and it is also concluded from

various microbiological experiments that these bacteria are

capable of withstanding adverse environmental conditions.

These bacteria are found to have a special self-defence

mechanism which is explained below:

The aqueous solution of gold has gold ions (dissolved in

water) which are extremely toxic. When the bacteria are

introduced into aqueous solution of gold, particularly gold

chloride, they secrete/release a protein called ―Delfibactin-

A‖. It mainly serves as a protection shield for the bacteria

from the harmful toxic substance and it also helps in

changing the poisonous ions to pure solid form of the metal

(24 karat gold nuggets) which is of very high value. This

process begins with the precipitation of the gold ions

outside the cells which is followed by transformation of the

isolated and accumulated ions to 24 karat gold nuggets. The

solid gold thus produced gets accumulated outside the cells.

Though the amount of gold produced by the previously

mentioned bacterial species is very less, it is believed very

strongly that it can convert the ionic form of the metal to its

pure solid form and it is also discovered that its use is

significant in also detecting the presence of the element (as

gold ions) in rivers / streams etc. The gold thus produced by

this method is not 100% pure but it is 99.9% pure, says

Kazem Kashefi - Assistant professor of microbiology and

genetics and Adam Brown – Associate professor of

electronic art and media at the Michigan State University.

This research has also led to a conclusion that the two

bacteria are 25 times stronger than they are known for their

strengths. The research work was compiled with an art

installation called, ―The Great Work of the Metal lover―.

This is a combination of biotechnology, art and alchemy and

hence it is known as neo-alchemy or Microbial alchemy.

However the process is very expensive when carried out on

a large scale and hence when gold is produced in small scale

by this method it is not really much expensive. The gold

thus produced can be used for various experimental

purposes.

- Neeraja S., 1 Year BCZ

Gold particles produced by bacteria.

We have different skin tones. What

varies in it? Like in plants these

differences are not due to pigments

that vary amongst us. It is the

amount of a single pigment 'melanin'

that varies. Why do we need melanin

in our skin? Below the layer of

epidermis of our skin we have cells

called melanocytes that produce this

pigment.

Today, we have known through many

researches that ozone is a protective

layer of the earth filtering out UV

light. UV light is only partly absorbed

and the remaining reaches the earth.

Having known that UV rays have

harmful effects how is this taken care

of by our body? This is where mealnin

is of great importance. Other than

giving color those found in the skin

help in reducing the damaging effect

of UV light.

Melanin is synthesized inside

melanosomes of melanocytes. These

are then transported to keratinocytes

that form the epidermis. On exposure

to UV light the melanosomes

surround the nuclei of these cells and

dissipate the energy from UV light

into heat which moves out of the

body. When this happens

continuously the synthesis of melanin

increases. Tanning occurs due to

greater amount of melanin as well as

the increase in its color intensity

caused by UV light. If the UV light

cannot be greatly dissipated any

longer by melanin sunburn will

result.

Is this increase in melanin good? Our

body is also known to produce

vitamin D with the help of UV light.

The precursor of vitamin D is

cholesterol that lies beneath the

layers of melanocytes. If more

melanin accumulates in the upper

layers of the skin then the amount of

light reaching the cells beneath it

would decrease and thus an

inefficient synthesis of vitamin D

happens. Diseases can also be a

result.

- Jainy Samuel, 2 Year BCB

GOLD PRODUCING BACTERIA??!

For thousands of years Man hasmanipulated the resources around himto suit his needs. Then he began toquestion. So he sought out to unravelthe universe's mysteries, decode thesecret of life and what he found outchanged his life forever.

He discovered DNA and proteins, thevery basis for life itself. It was aphenomenal event. Technologicaladvances paved way for suchdiscoveries and using this informationhe found ways to cure untreatablediseases, to manipulate organisms toproduce materials to benefit humanlife.

But what about creating life?

That's where synthetic biology comesin. It can be defined as ' The designand construction of biological devicesand systems for useful purposes. ascientific focus on the design andfabrication of biological componentsand systems that do not already existin the natural world, and on the re-design and fabrication of existingbiological systems. It combinesbiology and engineering. It relies onDNA sequencing, creating new genes,behavior of synthetic genes. Basically,there are six sectors to it:

• Bioenergy- Synthetic fuels,biofuels, electricity

• Agriculture and Food Production-Engineered crops, pest control,fertilizers.

• Environmental Protection andRemediation

• Consumer Products- computers,sports gear, cosmetics

• Chemical Production- Industrialcompounds, plastics, chemicalsynthesis

• Human health- Medical drugs anddevices

Geneticists have found a number ofgene sequences which correspond todifferent traits in organisms. Theseindividual gene sequences have beendeveloped and incorporated into DNAsimilar to genetic "lego" blocks. Whatseparates synthetic biology fromgenetic engineering is that rather thanaltering an already existent DNAstrand, synthetic biology puts these"blocks" together from scratch to buildan entirely new strand of DNA whichis then placed into an empty livingcell. These new cells can be built toperform a number of functions thatcould greatly benefit humanity.

We can also create new organisms,manipulate existing ones to such largeextents, resurrect extinct organisms(probably the future of a whole newJurassic Park?). Scientists are trying tointroduce new base pairs, openingdoors to entirely different species,possibly introducing new phyla intothis planet. But that's not all, they aimto introduce new amino acids intoexisting genomes. This is commonlyknows as Xenobiology.

Naturally, this seems too good to betrue. Synthetic Biology becomes theanswer to the world's greatest

problems. But is it though? Likeeverything it does have its downside.One critic says "The proposed use ofsynthetic microbes in the productionof the next generation fuels, medicinesand industrial chemicals maymassively increase human impact onbiodiversity, while acceleratingbiopiracy and making a mockery ofany notion of 'benefit sharing'"

Synthetic biology is feared byconservationists as it may be a threatto the natural diversity of the world.Will the new species created increasethe diversity or will its presence resultin the extinction of existing species?Will the new micro organisms createdin labs lead to the introduction of newdiseases? In response to the fueldemand, algal biofuel is on the rise.Although it is cultured in containedenvironments, there is talk of openculturing in ponds, which raises heavyenvironmental concern.

With the advancement in technologyit is now possible to purchase DNAonline and tweak it around in thecomfort of your own home. Shouldthis freedom be allowed?

This is only the beginning of SyntheticBiology. Man is a curious creature.Who knows what might happen inthe future? Will we become diseasefree super humans or will we havedinosaurs for pets? Only time will tell.

Surabhi R. Rao, 1 Year BCZ

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Mariyam Begam, 2 Year BCZ

SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY- Boon or Bane?

Imagine this.. „you are in a park and you observe an oldman plucking a flower from one of the plants there. Youwonder what he is gonna do with it. Then you see himwalk up to his wife and gift the flower to his old wife.What would your reaction be? “awwww…”?‟ Why wouldyou feel such emotion when the event is not related toyou in any way…? Most would say it is an innate behaviorto feel someone else‟s emotion. After all, we are allhumans, the so called „social animals‟. Similarly, to feelhappy at someone else‟s success or feel sad for someone‟splight would simply pass as human emotions. One wouldsimply suggest the fact that the brain uses logicalthinking to process another being‟s actions and reflectthem in their own behavior.However, as a biotechnology student, I would beg todiffer. I would owe such behavior to a special system ofneurons within our nervous system. This special systemis called the mirror neuron system. This systemcomprises of a set of mirror neurons which trigger bothwhen an animal acts and when the animal observes anaction performed by another animal. The term “mirror-neuron” in itself is self-explanatory because it describesthat the observer „mirrors‟ an action. The activity of themirror neurons has been observed in other primates andin birds too. In humans, when the mirror neurons aretriggered, activity has been recorded in the premotorcortex, supplementary motor area, primarysomatosensory cortex and the inferior parietal cortex.The first animal in which experiments relating to themirror neuron system were conducted was the macaquemonkey, where mirror neurons are found in the inferior

frontal gyrus and the inferior parietal lobule. Recentexperiments by Ferrari and colleagues suggest that infantmacaques can imitate a human's face movements, thoughonly as neonates and during a limited temporal window.It has been proposed that the mirror neuron system is theunderlying reason behind this and other imitativefunctions.In humans, this fascinating system of neurons could bethe reason behind a number of our activities. The abilityto understand goals and intentions has been linked tomirror neurons. It has also been shown that people whoare more empathic have stronger activations in both themirror system for hand actions and the mirror system foremotions. V.S. Ramachandran also speculated that mirrorneurons may provide the neurological basis for humanself-awareness.It has been suggested that languages spoken by humanshas evolved from gesture performance and understandingsystem implemented in the mirror neurons.Some researchers claim there is a link between mirrorneuron deficiency and autism. EEG recordings frommotor areas are suppressed when someone watchesanother person move, a signal that may relate to mirrorneuron system. This suppression was less in childrenwith autism.Thus, this mirror neuron system provides andexplanation to all the emotions that arise in us even whenwe are just observers. A beautiful song may move us andbring us to tears and such an emotion is owed to theseneurons.

-Saurabh Gurung, 2 Year BCB

“Mr. Ralph Thomas has dementia. He doesn't remember that he is Ralph

Thomas!!!”

The process of memorizing hasaroused curiosity in researchers sincedecades, yet it still remainsunexplored and unknown.Memorizing forms an integral part ofour development. Learning fromexperience, recollection andapplication of a preformed memory,the mechanism of is unknown, is notjust restricted to humans.

ETH-Zurich researchers FabriceCaudron and Yves Barral, a professorof biochemistry have discovered that asingle-celled organism like yeast couldhelp us to understand how wememorize our experiences. They havenow discovered a previouslyunknown mechanism that enablesyeast cells to memorize "badexperiences" during reproduction. If amating attempt proves fruitless, amolecular memory, the protein Whi3is transformed and deactivated. Themodified Whi3 "contaminates" otherproteins of the same type and form

aggregates. The Whi3 aggregates havethe effect that future "mates" have torelease a much larger amount of themessenger substance for the cell torespond to it.

Yves explains, "Nobody expected tofind such a memory in a single-celledorganism.” The aggregation process isvery difficult to reverse. However, thedaughter cells that a mother cell givesoff do not inherit the memory. Thisprotein clump saves the yeast fromunproductive energy intensive mating.

"Cheating" yeasts that is another cellor even a foreign organism thatproduces similar pheromones wouldfool a male yeast cell and it wouldwait for a partner without dividing, inthe meantime, which rules it out as acompetitor for nutrients.

The system of protein clumps asmemory is however relatively old inthe history of evolution. Similarly amechanism has been detectedin Drosophila. Males perform acourtship dance to win the affectionof a female. If she has already been

fertilized, she does not show anyinterest and the male memorizes thisexperience in nerve endings, thesynapses, with the aid of proteinaggregates.

There is a high possibility of similarityin the memory process of single andmulticellular organisms. This is a hopefor people like Ralph Thomas who aresuffering from memory loss andthousands like him who are victims ofa similar kind of memorizingdisability. Research is being carried onto find out a similar mechanism inhuman brain and its possible isolationand reintroduction as “memory” inpeople like Ralph. These proteinclumps could also help in the brainassessment of criminals and peopleexposed to certain “bad memories” asa way to detect the actual reasonbehind their anti- social behavior.

The singularity of this discovery is initself a proof of its hidden potentialand an opening for furtherunderstanding of the mind.

- Anubha Bisht, 2 Year BCZ

PROTEIN CLUMPS AS MEMORY

WHY DO WE FEEL FOR OTHERS?

Building human organs cell-by-cell was considered

science fiction not that long ago. Artificial organs have

been a science fiction staple since writer Philip K. Dick

wrote about artiforgs (artificial organs) in his 1964 novel

Cantata 140. Approximately 18 people die every day

waiting for an organ transplant. But that may change

someday sooner than you think, thanks to 3D printing.

3-D printers can produce gun parts, aircraft wings, food

and a lot more, but this new 3-D printed product may be

the craziest thing yet: human embryonic stem cells. Using

stem cells as the "ink" in a 3-D printer, researchers hope

to eventually build 3-D printed organs and tissues. The

cells were floating in a "bio-ink," they were able to

squeeze out tiny droplets, containing five cells or fewer

per droplet, in a variety of shapes and sizes. To produce

clumps of cells, the team printed out cells first and then

overlaid those with cell-free bio-ink, resulting in larger

droplets or spheroids of cells. The cells would group

together inside these spheroids. After being squeezed out

of a thin valve, the cells which were still alive and viable,

were able to transform into any other cell in the body.

Stem cells taken from a patient's fat or bone marrow can

provide the 3D-printing material for making an organ

that the body won't reject. It's like with an inkjet printer,

where you have different colours whereas in bioprinting

we have different nozzles with different materials and

cells.

Eventually, they would be used to print out new tissues,

or as filler inside existing organs, which would be

regenerated. It could even serve to limit animal testing

for new drug compounds, allowing them to be tested on

actual human tissue. In the longer term, it could provide

organs for transplant on demand, without the need for

donation and without the problems of immune

suppression and potential organ rejection.

For now, bioprinting pioneers hope to make use of even

the smallest 3D-printed organs. Printing tiny hearts,

livers and kidneys is ideal for testing possible drugs and

the effects of diseases or chemical warfare agents on the

human body. 3D printing's efficiency can scale up the

manufacturing of such organs for widespread use, as well

as help make hearts, livers and kidneys suitable for

implanting in patients. The four tissues types in order of

complexity for bioprinting: Simplest are flat structures

like skin; second are tubular structures, such as blood

vessels or windpipes; third are hollow non-tubular

organs, such as the stomach, bladder, and uterus; and

last and most complex by far are solid organs, such as the

heart, kidney, and liver. These have more cells per area,

more cell types, and higher nutrition requirements, and

they need much more vascularity and blood supply. To

this point, scientists have only implanted the first three

types from handmade tissues in patients. No bioprinted

structure has been implanted. The mini-organs are small

enough that they don't require a complex vascular tree to

survive. The mini-livers, hearts, lungs, and kidneys are

not fully functional native organs, but they mimic the

functionality for the testing application.

Organovo (a biotech firm) has already started developing

a 3D-printed liver model for testing the safety and

efficiency of drugs. The company is also creating

cancerous versions of living tissue models for testing

cancer drugs. The bioprinting revolution could

eventually begin to deliver "tissue on demand" within the

next 10 or 15 years, even though it may not fulfil the

wildest of organ implantation dreams, but for many

patients, it may prove life-changing enough. We can see a

heart muscle patch, a blood vessel for bypass or a nerve

graft to bridge a gap in a nerve.

Dying patients could someday receive a 3D-printed organ

made from their own cells rather than wait on long lists

for the short supply of organ transplants. Such a

futuristic dream may not remain far from reality. Next

time when you hear someone say “Science fiction

indeed”, a small quantum leap is all that is required to

make that a reality in this advancing world which is

always hungry when it comes to new technology!

Sharaya Jayaram, 3 Year BCZ

3D ORGAN PRINTING

British scientists have developed a “Death Test” whichcan predict the life span of an individual. It examinesthe endothelial cells to determine the speed withwhich the human body would age. Importantly theDeath Test is a non invasive procedure which applies apainless laser pulse to the skin’s surface through awrist watch like device.

For centuries the concept of timeline of life has bothfascinated and divided the scientific community.While the expression that the biological clock is alwaysticking – but where exactly is it present in the humanbody? It was known earlier that the life span of anindividual could be predicted by measuring the size ofthe specialized part of their chromosome (thestructure that has the genetic material DNA, along withassociated proteins). The length of the chromosomedecreases with age as the cellular machinery fails toproperly duplicate the DNA at the end. To reduce thesudden decrease and loss of genetic information fromthe ends of the DNA, the nature has developed its ownmechanism by having a structure called telomerewhich is nothing but a specialized repeated sequenceof DNA which is present in tandem, 100-1000 copies.This can be understood like the plastic structure(aglets) that protects the ends of the shoelace. Like theprotective aglets becomes shorter and progressivelyworn out with the time because of continuous usage,the telomere of the chromosomes also become shorterwith time.

In the somatic cells or the body cells, as the cellsundergo division, during the chromosome duplication,the length of these repeats also goes down. Suchreduction in the length of the telomere leads to thesituation that the genetic information from the end ofthe chromosome is lost, leading to the aging and theperson exhibits the age related challenges. If theindividual is having a very short telomere, it will cause

rapid and premature aging and resulting in childhooddeath, called the disease progeria.

But what happens in case of germ cells/reproductivecalls? If the length of the telomere is getting shorterand shorter, the life expectancy of the progenybecomes less and it continues to the next generationswhich will lead to the extinction of the species fromthe earth. It was in 1984; Carol Greider showed thepresence of an enzyme, telomerase, responsible formaintaining of the length of the telomeres. Thistelomerase enzyme system is active in germ line cellsand this take care about the proper replication of thetelomere and maintains its length and helps tomaintain the life span of the next progeny. It’s clearfrom many studies that presence of telomere reducesthe aging process. When the information abouttelomere, telomerase and clues about the link of thesewith the aging is available, scientists were eager tostudy the possibility of telomerase as a therapeuticagent to stop aging.

On the other hand, telomerase activity in the cellsmakes the cells immortal. This happens in cancer cellsas well. For example, the telomerase enzyme is activein ovarian cancer cells but inactive in the other ovariancells. Telomerase can be a promise for anti-aging andthe same time it can be a reason for at least certaincancer cells. Thus using of telomerase for therapeuticsshould be very careful as there is a delicate balancebetween the mortality (for a normal cell) andimmortality (cancer cells). Thus presence anddeterioration of telomere and no telomerase activity insomatic cells could be a method devised by nature toprotect the multi-cellular organism from cancer.

- Dr. Biljo V. Joseph

Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology

For Internal Circulation Only

TELOMERASES