Cells Archives - 🔬 🧬 Chemir Database research station of worldwide internet https://www.chemir.com/category/cells/ We are here to tell you all about recent discoveries in biology and chemistry Wed, 13 Mar 2024 12:37:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 https://www.chemir.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-LogoMakr-8vCo5q-32x32.png Cells Archives - 🔬 🧬 Chemir Database research station of worldwide internet https://www.chemir.com/category/cells/ 32 32 The Role of Chemical Analysis in Ensuring Safety and Quality https://www.chemir.com/the-role-of-chemical-analysis-in-ensuring-safety-and-quality/ Wed, 13 Mar 2024 12:37:41 +0000 https://www.chemir.com/?p=238 In an age where consumers are increasingly concerned about the safety and quality of the products they use daily, chemical analysis emerges as a pivotal tool in ensuring these standards are not only met but exceeded. From the food we eat to the cosmetics we apply, every product undergoes rigorous testing to identify any potential

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In an age where consumers are increasingly concerned about the safety and quality of the products they use daily, chemical analysis emerges as a pivotal tool in ensuring these standards are not only met but exceeded. From the food we eat to the cosmetics we apply, every product undergoes rigorous testing to identify any potential health hazards, ensure compliance with stringent regulatory standards, and guarantee the highest levels of safety and effectiveness. This intricate process involves a variety of sophisticated analytical techniques, each designed to detect and quantify substances within complex mixtures. Chemir, with its comprehensive range of chemical analysis services, plays an essential role in this crucial endeavor, offering insights and solutions that help protect consumers and enhance product integrity.

The Process of Chemical Analysis: Techniques and Tools

Chemical analysis encompasses a wide array of techniques, from gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to spectroscopy and beyond. Each method offers unique advantages, allowing scientists to unravel the complex compositions of various products. These tools not only identify and quantify chemical constituents but also detect impurities and contaminants that could compromise product safety. The choice of technique depends on the specific requirements of the analysis, including the type of sample, the nature of the substances to be detected, and the sensitivity and specificity needed. Chemir’s state-of-the-art laboratory is equipped with the latest in analytical technology, enabling our experts to provide precise, accurate, and reliable results.

Ensuring Food Safety: The Role of Chemical Testing

Food safety is a major concern for consumers and regulators alike. Chemical testing in the food industry is crucial for detecting contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, and food-borne pathogens. Moreover, it ensures that nutritional information is accurate and that products comply with food labeling regulations. Through chemical analysis, companies like Chemir help identify potential risks and prevent food safety incidents before they reach the consumer, safeguarding public health and maintaining consumer trust in food brands.

Chemical Analysis in the Cosmetics Industry: Beyond Beauty

The cosmetics industry is another significant beneficiary of chemical analysis. Here, the focus is on ensuring that products are free from harmful substances, such as heavy metals, allergens, and carcinogens. Chemical testing also verifies the presence and concentration of active ingredients, ensuring that products are both safe and effective. By rigorously testing cosmetic products, Chemir helps manufacturers not only comply with regulatory requirements but also meet the high expectations of consumers who demand quality and safety in their beauty products.

Navigating Compliance: Regulatory Requirements and Chemical Analysis

In the labyrinth of local and international regulations governing product safety and quality, chemical analysis serves as a compass, guiding manufacturers through the complexities of compliance. The landscape of legal standards is as vast as it is varied, encompassing everything from permissible levels of certain chemicals in consumer products to the mandatory disclosure of ingredients in food and cosmetics. Chemir leverages its deep understanding of these regulatory frameworks, alongside its sophisticated chemical analysis capabilities, to ensure that clients not only meet but exceed these standards. This meticulous approach to compliance helps prevent the financial and reputational damage associated with product recalls and legal issues, reinforcing the importance of rigorous chemical testing in maintaining brand integrity.

Case Studies: Solving Real-World Problems with Chemical Analysis

The power of chemical analysis to address and resolve pressing challenges is best illustrated through real-world applications. Chemir’s portfolio of case studies demonstrates its expertise across a range of scenarios—from identifying unknown contaminants in consumer products to ensuring that a new food product meets nutritional claims. These stories reveal the depth of Chemir’s capabilities, showcasing how tailored analytical strategies can uncover critical insights, facilitate problem-solving, and drive innovation. Each case study underscores the company’s role as a pivotal partner in enhancing product safety, quality, and regulatory compliance, providing tangible evidence of the value that expert chemical analysis brings to the table.

The Future of Chemical Analysis: Trends and Innovations

The future of chemical analysis is marked by rapid advancements in technology and methodology, promising unprecedented levels of precision, efficiency, and automation. Next-generation sequencing, artificial intelligence, and nano-technology are just a few of the innovations set to revolutionize the way chemical analysis is conducted. These developments will enable faster turnaround times, lower detection limits, and the ability to analyze more complex samples than ever before. For companies like Chemir, staying at the cutting edge of these trends is crucial for delivering state-of-the-art services to clients. As the field evolves, Chemir is committed to harnessing these innovations, enhancing its analytical capabilities, and offering even more comprehensive and sophisticated solutions that address the emerging needs of industries and regulators alike.

Conclusion: Why Chemical Analysis Matters More Than Ever

In an era where consumer awareness and regulatory scrutiny are at an all-time high, the significance of chemical analysis in ensuring product safety and quality has never been more pronounced. It serves as the foundation upon which consumer trust is built, safeguarding public health and the environment against the risks posed by hazardous substances. Chemir, with its extensive expertise and advanced analytical services, stands as a beacon in this critical endeavor. By continually adapting to the latest trends and innovations in chemical analysis, Chemir not only meets the current demands of industries and regulators but also anticipates future challenges. This forward-thinking approach ensures that Chemir remains a vital ally to companies aiming to achieve the highest standards of product safety, quality, and compliance, highlighting the indispensable role of chemical analysis in our modern world.

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Economic Benefits of Investing in Chemistry Research https://www.chemir.com/economic-benefits-of-investing-in-chemistry-research/ https://www.chemir.com/economic-benefits-of-investing-in-chemistry-research/#respond Wed, 08 Mar 2023 16:22:09 +0000 https://www.chemir.com/?p=183 Chemistry has always been an important science with various applications across many industries, but over recent decades its importance has grown significantly as chemical research continues to bring new discoveries that help us to make progress across a range of fields – most notably business and economics. Today’s cutting-edge research into chemistry is helping us

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Chemistry has always been an important science with various applications across many industries, but over recent decades its importance has grown significantly as chemical research continues to bring new discoveries that help us to make progress across a range of fields – most notably business and economics. Today’s cutting-edge research into chemistry is helping us to understand its true economic value, which has implications far beyond the lab setting.

The economic benefits of investing in chemistry research programs can be far-reaching and significant. Research into this field is helping to improve manufacturing processes, create new products, and establish beneficial technology transfer initiatives that can have a positive impact on the economy both locally and globally. Read on to explore some of the potential economic benefits that chemical research can bring about.

Benefits of Chemistry Research for the Economy

Chemical research has many direct applications for businesses and industries as well as broader advantages for society as a whole – especially when it comes to improving economies within countries or regions where it is conducted. Here are some of the key ways that chemical research initiatives can provide powerful economic advantages:

Improved Manufacturing Efficiency and Quality Control

Chemistry research has helped manufacturers to improve their production processes, leading to more efficient operations with higher quality control standards than ever before. By developing better techniques for synthesizing chemicals and materials, researchers have enabled companies to produce goods faster while also reducing wastage rates – leading to cost savings that help boost profits in many industries around the world today. Additionally, this increased efficiency allows businesses to keep up with consumer demand more effectively, preventing any costly delays in providing products and services to customers.

New Product Development and Invention

Investment in chemistry research also offers the potential to create completely new products that can revolutionize whole industries, as well as improving existing products with novel innovations. In the medical field, for example, chemical research has been pivotal in developing new medicines and treatments that have improved patient outcomes around the world – leading to increased job growth within this sector plus higher profits for companies involved in producing these medications.

Economic Boost from Technology Transfer Initiatives

Technology transfer initiatives are a great way of helping local economies to benefit from innovations that have been developed through chemical research projects. By transferring knowledge between research institutions and businesses or industries, local regions can attract new investments which bring about economic progress through job creation and increased income levels among people living within those areas. This kind of technology transfer has played an important role in helping developing countries become more competitive on a global scale by modernizing their industries with cutting-edge developments gained through chemical research initiatives.

Higher Profits from Cost Savings and Increased Revenues

Chemical research programs bring cost savings both directly (through improved efficiency) and indirectly (via technology transfer initiatives). These cost savings can then be reinvested back into businesses by increasing the total amount of profits they make, which can be used to create more jobs or fund other economic development initiatives. Additionally, with chemical research enabling businesses to bring better products and services to market faster, they are also likely to experience a significant increase in revenues – leading to even greater profits for those involved. Also read here how to work with digital wallet.

Conclusion

The potential economic benefits of investing in chemical research are far-reaching and varied – from improved manufacturing processes and quality control through to technological advances that enable increased revenues and cost savings. Chemistry research holds the potential to unlock technologies and innovations that could revolutionize whole industries, giving modern businesses and manufacturers a competitive edge over their peers. Governments around the world are also seeing the value of such research programs and are committing funds towards them in order to help boost economic development within their own countries. With such a wide range of advantages brought about by chemistry research, it is clear that this field has a lot to offer for both businesses and economies at large.

With its ability to bring cost savings, new products, and improved efficiency to the manufacturing process, chemical research can be a powerful tool for economic development. By understanding the advantages that investing in chemistry research programs brings, govern mental organizations and businesses alike can take advantage of these benefits to help create jobs, increase incomes as well as  profits, and benefit society at large. Investing in chemistry research today is an investment for a better tomorrow.

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The antimicrobial peptide protected citrus fruits from bacterial infection https://www.chemir.com/the-antimicrobial-peptide-protected-citrus-fruits-from-bacterial-infection/ https://www.chemir.com/the-antimicrobial-peptide-protected-citrus-fruits-from-bacterial-infection/#respond Tue, 16 Feb 2021 14:19:48 +0000 https://www.chemir.com/?p=28 U.S. biologists have found a protein that can protect citrus trees from an infectious disease called citrus greening. The described compound proved to be more effective than the antibiotic streptomycin and also resistant to heat, which makes it an ideal candidate for the fight against pathogenic bacteria. The work is published in PNAS. Citrus greening,

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U.S. biologists have found a protein that can protect citrus trees from an infectious disease called citrus greening. The described compound proved to be more effective than the antibiotic streptomycin and also resistant to heat, which makes it an ideal candidate for the fight against pathogenic bacteria. The work is published in PNAS.

Citrus greening, or “yellow dragon’s disease”, originally originated in Asia, but has affected trees in Africa and the Western Hemisphere for more than a decade. This infectious disease of citrus trees is transmitted from plant to plant through insects (Diaphorina citri). The causative agents are bacteria of the genus Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas). Of all the citrus diseases, yellow dragon disease stands out as causing the most damage to plantations. Common symptoms include early yellowing and leaf fall, branch death, off-season flowering and ripening of small, irregularly shaped, thick green skins and sour fruit flavors.

Insecticides are now used to control disease vectors, and antibiotics are used to control the growth of pathogenic bacteria. However, none of the methods has been shown to be effective enough in controlling the disease. Experts hope for the innate immunity of plants: usually when faced with an infection, the plant’s defense system produces antimicrobial proteins. It is known that all cultivated citrus fruits are prone to greening, but there are hybrids that are resistant to CLas. Probably, disease-resistant plants just secrete antimicrobial peptides that fight pathogenic bacteria.

A team of researchers from the University of California, led by Hailing Jin, compared the template RNAs of resistant and green trees and identified a list of genes that could be responsible for protecting plants from CLas. Among them, the gene encoding a small protein of 67 amino acid residues attracted the attention of scientists. The predicted structure of the protein was similar to the heat-resistant antimicrobial peptide found in plants of the genus Arabidopsis. Similar genes have been found in related resistant citrus fruits, such as the Australian Finger Lime (Microcitrus australasica), Poncirus trifoliata, or Murraya paniculata. In cultivated oranges (Citrus sinensis) and clementines (Citrus clementine), which are poorly tolerated, such genes were longer and less actively expressed.

The researchers also tested for the presence of putative antimicrobial peptides in the phloem conducting plant tissue, where pathogens are usually concentrated. Proteins were found in the phloem of the finger lime and poncirus, they were not seen in the phloem of oranges. Together, these results suggest that antimicrobial peptides are most likely responsible for the resistance of citrus to CLas.

To test the effectiveness of antimicrobial peptides, the researchers used a previously created model that mimics infection in nature: insects with a positive test for the presence of pathogenic bacteria fed on the plant, and with the saliva of insects, the bacteria entered the plant. The model used Bactericera cockerelli and young tobacco-related plants Nicotiana benthamiana. The leafhopper does not usually feed on tobacco, but sometimes bites its young shoots. Tobacco, in turn, is usually not subject to greening, but its young sprouts turn slightly yellow in case of infection with Candidatus Liberibacter bacteria. It was chosen because citrus fruits grow slowly and show symptoms for a long time, and tobacco – much faster. To quickly assess the extent of infection and the effect of antimicrobial peptides on bacteria in this model, Bactericera cockerelli and Nicotiana benthamiana are used instead of Diaphorina citri and citrus. The plants were then treated with antimicrobial peptides derived from different resistant trees. Antimicrobial peptides from finger lime were the best at suppressing the growth of bacteria in plants. It was with this protein that further experiments were conducted.

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Insecticides prevented Drosophila from sleeping and remembering odors https://www.chemir.com/insecticides-prevented-drosophila-from-sleeping-and-remembering-odors/ https://www.chemir.com/insecticides-prevented-drosophila-from-sleeping-and-remembering-odors/#respond Thu, 10 Dec 2020 14:12:43 +0000 https://www.chemir.com/?p=25 The most popular insecticides in agriculture (neonicotinoids) have caused Drosophila sleep, circadian rhythm and memory disorders, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports. Neonicotinoids acted on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in fly brain neurons and interfered with normal signal transduction. Most likely, these insecticides pose such a threat not only to insect pests,

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The most popular insecticides in agriculture (neonicotinoids) have caused Drosophila sleep, circadian rhythm and memory disorders, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports. Neonicotinoids acted on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in fly brain neurons and interfered with normal signal transduction. Most likely, these insecticides pose such a threat not only to insect pests, but also to other species – including pollinators.

35 percent of the world’s crop production depends on pollinating insects, and their numbers have continued to decline since the last century. Despite this, the most popular insecticides are neonicotinoids, which act nonspecifically and cause damage to all insects at once: both harmful and beneficial. Some of them have even been banned by the European Union, but even there traces of pesticides are still found in bumblebee populations. Neonicotinoids also dissolve well in water, which traps them in ecosystems.

Neonicotinoids have a negative effect on insects through nicotinic receptors in neurons: insecticides bind to them and cause excessive excitation in the brain. Insects have such receptors in the fungal body, the structure of the brain that is responsible for memory. Nicotine receptors are also involved in transmitting visual signals about illumination and setting the biological clock. The effect of neonicotinoids on memory and sleep in insects has not been sufficiently studied.

Researchers at the University of Bristol, led by Kiah Tasman, studied the effects of neonicotinoids on a model insect, the fruit fly Drosophila Melanogaster. Biologists first confirmed the overall negative effects of insecticides on Drosophila: as with bumblebees, flies had reduced life expectancy, motility and fertility after exposure to substances in concentrations used in agriculture.

Biologists also evaluated the effects of insecticides on Drosophila memory and tested how insects can remember odors. Scientists fed them insecticides, then evaluated the memory: combined different odors with electric shocks to create an unpleasant association in flies, and an hour later asked the insects to remember the unpleasant odor. To do this, they were placed in a long sleeve of T-shaped design, where the remaining two sleeves were odors: unpleasant and control. The more Drosophila chose the control odor due to unpleasant associations with the current, the better the memory performance of the group.

Three of the four neonicotinoids, imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam, impaired memory in Drosophila (p <0.05). To assess the role of the fungal body’s nicotinic receptors, which is responsible for memory in insects, biologists partially “turned them off” and repeated the experiment without neonicotinoids. After that, fruit flies also had a reduced ability to remember odors, which indicates the need for these receptors to remember.

The researchers also studied circadian rhythms in Drosophila after insecticide feeding. They used special activity monitors – cells that recorded the mobility of flies, which judged sleep and wakefulness. The same three insecticides significantly disrupted the circadian rhythms of Drosophila (p <0.001). Also, all neonicotinoids caused restless sleep in flies: the number of sleep episodes increased, but each of them became much shorter.

Biologists have also confirmed the role of nicotinic receptors in this process, but already in the neural networks of Drosophila biological clocks: their partial shutdown caused similar effects. Neonicotinoids have also caused disturbances in flies in the cyclic processes of day and night: normally, the processes of their neurons in the biological clock branch more and form connections during the day than at night. However, after exposure to imidacloprid and clothianidin, no such differences between day and night were observed.

Thus, British researchers have been able to show that the most common insecticides have a strong effect on the brain of insects and prevent them from functioning, disrupting the work of nicotine receptors in the structures of memory and the biological clock. Most likely, this also applies to pollinating insects, which are important for agriculture, so the data in this article are a reason to reconsider the use of neonicotinoids and continue the search for more specific insecticides.

In order for Drosophila to sleep well, you can not only eliminate insecticides from their diet, but also lull them. We recently wrote that rhythmic swaying helps fruit flies sleep longer because of getting used to a certain stimulus.

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Exercise protected the muscles from inflammatory dystrophy https://www.chemir.com/exercise-protected-the-muscles-from-inflammatory-dystrophy/ https://www.chemir.com/exercise-protected-the-muscles-from-inflammatory-dystrophy/#respond Sat, 14 Nov 2020 14:09:23 +0000 https://www.chemir.com/?p=22 Scientists have confirmed that exercise prevents muscle loss, muscle weakness and dysfunction caused by chronic inflammation. For example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, rheumatoid arthritis, influenza, or a cytokine storm during covid. The study also proved that the 3D model of muscle tissue developed by scientists can be used in the future to study inflammatory muscle

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Scientists have confirmed that exercise prevents muscle loss, muscle weakness and dysfunction caused by chronic inflammation. For example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, rheumatoid arthritis, influenza, or a cytokine storm during covid. The study also proved that the 3D model of muscle tissue developed by scientists can be used in the future to study inflammatory muscle diseases in vitro. The article is published in Science Advances.

Skeletal muscles make up about 45 percent of a person’s body weight, and their ability to contract is necessary to maintain viability. Healthy muscles can regenerate after minor injuries with the help of muscle stem cells. This process is triggered by a local and systemic inflammatory response, in particular, the interferon-gamma cytokine (IFN-γ) regulates the process of muscle tissue formation. And if the inflammation caused by the injury stimulates the muscles to regenerate, then unregulated inflammatory processes, which are characteristic of some diseases, lead to loss of muscle mass and muscle weakness. Such diseases include, for example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, rheumatoid arthritis and dermatomyositis. In addition, elevated levels of IFN-γ in the blood are usually seen after the flu or cytokine storm due to severe covid.

The link between chronic inflammation and muscular dystrophy has been confirmed by rodent experiments and clinical studies. Appropriate in vitro studies have not been performed due to the lack of suitable models: conventional muscle cell culture does not reproduce many properties of muscle tissue. Previous work has suggested that IFN-γ affects muscles by activating the JAK / STAT signaling pathway.

Earlier, a team of researchers from Duke University (USA) led by Nenad Bursac developed a 3D model of human skeletal muscle (“muscle bundles”). Scientists then showed that muscle bundles respond to electrical stimulation that mimics exercise, with corresponding changes in metabolism and an increase in size and strength. In a new study, the same group of scientists described the mechanism of the direct effect of IFN-γ on the structure and function of skeletal muscle, and also showed the positive effect of exercise.

The researchers studied the effect of IFN-γ on muscle bundles cultured from cells from three independent donors. The beams were treated with interferon at a dose of 20 nanograms per milliliter for a week, and then checked for changes in their structure, biochemical and functional properties, and in the release of cytokine signaling molecules. In this case, some cells during the experiment received not only doses of interferon, but were exposed to electrical effects, which mimicked exercise. Another part only “went in for sports”.

The muscle bundles that received IFN-γ were weakened compared to the control group. For example, interferon reduced the amplitude of tetanus, a long-lasting muscle contraction, by 68 percent. Electrical stimulation improved cell performance, bringing it closer to that of the control group, which was not exposed to interferon.

The effects of interferon alone did not lead to muscle loss. However, those cells that only “exercised” gained more weight than those that received electrical stimulation at the same time as interferon doses. Interferon reduced the diameter of the muscle tubules (8.8 micrometers against 11.3 micrometers in cells from the control group), and electrical stimulation reversed this effect. A similar trend was observed when measuring cell length. “Exercise” also had a beneficial effect on the expression of contractile proteins in cells.

Exposure to interferon also affected the composition of signaling molecules secreted by cells: the content of some pro-inflammatory cytokines increased in the medium. And this effect was reversible by electrical stimulation of cells.

Electrical stimulation partially (by 50 percent) attenuated the activation of the JAK / STAT signaling pathway in muscle bundles. This proves that in addition to the direct benefits of exercise, there is a certain molecular mechanism that provides the anti-inflammatory effect of “exercise”, which prevents muscle weakness. In addition, existing Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, tofacitinib and baricitinib at clinical doses, also prevented structural and functional loss in muscle cells.

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Rays of support https://www.chemir.com/rays-of-support/ https://www.chemir.com/rays-of-support/#respond Sun, 11 Oct 2020 14:07:45 +0000 https://www.chemir.com/?p=19 Why hang purple lamps over the plants In winter, instead of warm yellow lights, you can often see an ominous purple glow in the windows of apartment buildings. These are glowing phytolamps, with the help of which amateur florists hope to cheer up their houseplants and seedlings. We tell why they use such an unusual

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Why hang purple lamps over the plants

In winter, instead of warm yellow lights, you can often see an ominous purple glow in the windows of apartment buildings. These are glowing phytolamps, with the help of which amateur florists hope to cheer up their houseplants and seedlings. We tell why they use such an unusual light, whether it really helps plants and how the astronauts participated in this story.

A rare plant lover – whether he has his own farm or just a couple of tubs on the windowsill – does without fertilizers. However, plants feed not only through the roots, but also through the leaves, which absorb carbon dioxide and light. Does this mean that they can be “fed” not only with fertilizers but also with light? And can this force them to yield even more?

Which light is tastier?

Kliment Timiryazev and Teodor Engelman found the answer to this question independently of each other in the second half of the 19th century. They decomposed sunlight into a spectrum, illuminated it with different parts of the plant, and measured how actively they photosynthesized (that is, absorbed carbon dioxide, released oxygen, and produced sugar). They used slightly different techniques, but obtained similar results. It turned out that not every part of the spectrum causes the sheet to absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen with equal efficiency. It worked best in red and blue light, and worst in green. The fact is that the pigments that capture light for photosynthesis – chlorophylls and carotenoids – absorb red and blue light well, and almost do not react to green.

Later, the same Timiryazev found out that red has another valuable property. The energy trapped in the red rays is used almost entirely by the leaf to form biomass – while in the blue light there is too much energy, so half is “lost” in the form of heat. So, you can save: if you illuminate greenhouses with one red light, electricity will be used more efficiently and will not be lost, and plants will become more productive – will be able to accumulate more nutrients than if they grew under normal sunlight.

There is only one thing: plants need light not only for photosynthesis. And also, for example, to determine in which direction to grow, when to bloom and bear fruit. In addition, the light triggers the opening of the stomata (through which the leaf exchanges gases with air) and regulates the circadian rhythms of leaf movement and flower opening. To do this, plant cells have special molecules – photoreceptors, which change the expression of genes and metabolism in the cell in response to light rays. The main photoreceptors of plants, as well as photosynthesis pigments, work with red and blue light, but can also catch green, ultraviolet and far red.

It turns out that the life of a plant depends on the sum of light signals of different colors, but what effect each of them produces in the absence of others, plant physiologists in Timiryazev’s time did not know – and do not quite understand until now. Therefore, the replacement of natural light with pure red rays can not lead to an increase in yield, but to the exact opposite result – theoretically in such conditions, plants should wither or at least give less fruit than usual.

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Bacteria have been taught to synthesize an important alkene https://www.chemir.com/bacteria-have-been-taught-to-synthesize-an-important-alkene/ https://www.chemir.com/bacteria-have-been-taught-to-synthesize-an-important-alkene/#respond Wed, 09 Sep 2020 14:05:30 +0000 https://www.chemir.com/?p=16 Researchers in the UK have taught E. coli to produce hepta-1,3,5-triene, a compound used in the chemical industry. The authors, published in ACS Synthetic Biology, hope that their proposed metabolic pathway will be an environmentally friendly alternative to obtaining this substance from fossil fuels. Polyunsaturated alkenes are used in the production of pharmaceuticals and the

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Researchers in the UK have taught E. coli to produce hepta-1,3,5-triene, a compound used in the chemical industry. The authors, published in ACS Synthetic Biology, hope that their proposed metabolic pathway will be an environmentally friendly alternative to obtaining this substance from fossil fuels.

Polyunsaturated alkenes are used in the production of pharmaceuticals and the synthesis of polymers, and now these substances are obtained from fossil fuels. Instead, scientists are looking for a renewable alternative.

One of the available options is to apply metabolic engineering techniques. Researchers have already learned to force bacteria to produce certain substances necessary for humans (including those that are not characteristic of these bacteria), or, conversely, to break down unnecessary ones (for example, polyethylene). To do this, scientists can overexpress the necessary genes in bacteria, block competing metabolic pathways, or express genes specific to other microorganisms, as well as apply enzyme engineering techniques. Work is underway to expand the list of substances that can be obtained using metabolic engineering methods.

There are decarboxylase enzymes capable of converting unsaturated carboxylic acids into the corresponding alkenes. It has also been shown that the bacterium Pantoea agglomerans in the natural process of biosynthesis of andrimidide, important for its metabolism, produces as an intermediate a derivative of 2,4,6-octatrienic acid. Combining these facts, scientists from the University of Manchester, David Leys, came up with a way to teach E. coli to synthesize hepta-1,3,5-triene, one of the representatives of polyunsaturated alkenes.

To begin with, biologists removed seven genes (which accounted for a third of the cluster) from the cluster of P. agglomerans genes required for andrimid synthesis, and introduced the remaining construct into Escherichia coli cells. Thus, 2,4,6-octatrienic acid with a concentration of 14.7 ± 2.0 milligrams per liter was developed. Interestingly, the authors tried to increase the yield of the product by transforming the genetic construct, but as a result got the opposite result – the complete absence of matter. The researchers suggested that there are some elements, not yet known to them, that control acid synthesis, and this will be known in future experiments.

Next, the scientists combined the resulting working construct with the decarboxylase gene from fungal cells. The production of hepta-1,3,5-triene was confirmed by gas chromatography coupled by mass spectrometry. The researchers estimated that the product concentration was 3.4 ± 0.3 milligrams per liter. The authors believe that they have shown an important example of the production of unsaturated hydrocarbons in vivo.

Not only biologists and chemists, but also physicists like to experiment with E. coli. For example, Spanish scientists tore a E. coli cell.

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Machine learning has helped generate more vector variants for gene therapy https://www.chemir.com/machine-learning-has-helped-generate-more-vector-variants-for-gene-therapy/ https://www.chemir.com/machine-learning-has-helped-generate-more-vector-variants-for-gene-therapy/#respond Fri, 03 Jul 2020 14:03:34 +0000 https://www.chemir.com/?p=13 American scientists have used machine learning techniques to create many variants of the adeno-associated virus, which is often used as a delivery agent in gene therapy. The models used during the work were viable particles with a large number of mutations. The authors of the paper published in Nature Biotechnology hope that the method developed

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American scientists have used machine learning techniques to create many variants of the adeno-associated virus, which is often used as a delivery agent in gene therapy. The models used during the work were viable particles with a large number of mutations. The authors of the paper published in Nature Biotechnology hope that the method developed by them will become an important tool for further development of gene therapy vectors.

Adeno-associated virus is often used as a vector (carrier) for gene therapy: to do this, the virus is deprived of part of its own genetic information and replaced with the necessary. It was the adeno-associated virus that became the basis for the first medically approved gene therapy, and several other similar drugs are undergoing clinical trials.

In creating vectors for therapy, bioengineers seek to change the natural capsid, the outer protein shell of the virus, inside which the genetic material is hidden, and give it the desired properties. For example, capsid proteins determine whether the therapy is specific to any tissue in the body. To create a device that targets a specific tissue or organ, it is necessary to obtain a viral particle, the capsid of which will have an increased ability to infect this tissue. In addition, the immune system of many people may already be familiar with the natural adeno-associated virus and will actively suppress the particles actually intended for treatment. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to make the capsid as unrecognizable as possible for immunity.

There are a number of methods in the arsenal of molecular biologists for changing the capsid, such as randomly shuffling parts of the genome encoding capsid proteins, or introducing random mutations. However, not all of the resulting genetic variants are viable (that is, they can form viral particles), and many of the successful capsids are still too similar to natural variants.

Scientists at Harvard University, led by Eric Kelsic, decided to use machine learning to create a model that would generate the design of viral particles and evaluate their functionality. To work, the researchers chose a 28-amino acid site that includes antibody-recognized sites.

Scientists first created a dataset of viral genetic information to train the model. To do this, the scientists first introduced either one amino acid substitution at each of the 28 selected positions in the capsid protein, or randomly from two to ten mutations in this region. In the two groups of viral particles obtained, the viability was 58 and 10 percent, respectively. The authors then randomly combined mutations from these two groups to obtain a third. Combining sequences from the three groups in different ways, the researchers obtained three data sets of different sizes to teach the model. For each of the three sets, the researchers applied three types of model architecture: logistic regression, convolutional neural network, and recurrent neural network.

The researchers obtained two sets of sequences: those that were evaluated by the algorithms and those that were compiled by them. Each of the sequences carried from 5 to 29 mutations. Scientists synthesized 201426 of them and evaluated their viability experimentally.

Based on the baseline model, the researchers expected that 62.5 percent of the machine-assisted capsids would be functional and that no capsid with more than 21 mutations at a given site would be viable. In fact, the algorithms did a good job of designing new proteins: 58.1 percent of the sequences they made (110,689 variants) formed functional capsids. Most importantly, 57,348 viable variants turned out to have 12 to 29 mutations in a given region, which strongly distinguished them from natural capsids (and exceeded the expectations of the authors). The second task, the assessment of viability, also performed well on neural networks: the prediction accuracy reached almost one hundred percent for variants carrying up to six mutations in a given area compared to a natural virus.

The authors note that the variants of the adeno-associated virus found during the study are promising candidates for vectors. It is possible that the new particles will have the functions required by different researchers: for example, increased tropism to the cells of certain tissues, or they will be easily produced on an industrial scale.

The adeno-associated virus vector was the first FDA-approved gene therapy. Clinical trials of hemophilia B gene therapy have also been successfully completed; such therapy for hemophilia A (and also with adeno-associated virus as a vector) has been called effective and safe in the long run.

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