Bacteria: FRIEND OR FOE

                 Bacteria: Friend or Foe? 

Bacteria are all around us and most people only consider these prokaryotic organisms to be disease causing parasites. While it is true that bacteria are responsible for a large number of human diseases, they also make it possible for certain elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen to be returned to the atmosphere. 

 

 Life as we know it would not exist without bacteria to decompose waste and dead organisms. These bacteria ensure that the cycle of chemical exchange between organisms and their environment is continuous. 

The decision as to whether bacteria are friend or foe becomes more difficult when both the positive and negative aspects of the relationship between humans and bacteria are considered. Let's discuss three types of symbiotic relationships: commensalism, mutualism, and parasitism.

Commensalism is a relationship that is beneficial to the bacteria which live off of the host, but does not help or harm the host. Most of the bacteria that reside within the bodies of humans are commensalistic.

In a mutualistic relationship, both the bacteria and the host benefit. For example, there are several types of bacteria which live inside the mouth, nose, throat, and intestines of humans and animals. These bacteria receive a place to live and feed while keeping other harmful microbes from taking up residence.

A parasitic relationship is one in which the bacteria benefit while the host is harmed. Pathogenic parasites, which cause disease, do so by resisting the host's defenses and growing at the expense of the host. These bacteria produce poisonous substances called endotoxins and exotoxins which are responsible for the symptoms that occur with an illness.

When all of the facts are considered, bacteria are more helpful than harmful. Humans have exploited bacteria for a wide variety of uses, such as: making cheese and butter, decomposing waste in sewage plants, and developing antibiotics. Bacteria have been able to survive without us, but we could never live without them.
 

Early menopause

Abnormal gene mutation causes early Menopause

According to a study, women with harmful mutations in the BRCA gene, which put them at higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, tend to undergo menopause significantly sooner than other women, allowing them an even briefer reproductive window and possibly a higher risk of infertility.

The study led by researchers showed that carriers of the mutation who are heavy smokers enter menopause at an even earlier age than non-smoking women with the mutation.

While the authors note that further research is needed, given the size and demographics of the study, women with the abnormal gene mutation should consider earlier childbearing, and their doctors should encourage them to initiate fertility counseling along with other medical treatments, the scientists said.

This is the first controlled study to explore the association between BRCA1 and BRCA 2 and the age at onset of menopause The mutation of these genes has been linked to early menopause, which may lead to a higher incidence of infertility
"This can add to the significant psychological implications of being a BRCA1/2 carrier, and will likely have an impact on reproductive decision-making,'' Rosen said.

The researchers looked at nearly 400 female carriers of mutations in the BRCA gene in northern California and compared their onset of menopause to that of 765 women in the same geographic area without the mutation. Most of the women in the study were white because almost all of the BRCA1/2 carriers within the UCSF cancer risk registry are white.

The scientists found that women with the harmful mutation experienced menopause at a significantly younger age - 50 years-compared to age 53 for the other midlife women.

Heavy smokers (more than 20 cigarettes a day) with the abnormal gene had an even earlier onset of menopause -- 46 years. 

NEW DNA REPAIRING ENZYME

Information of all living creature is stored on DNA double helix molecule. Just five round pinheads full of DNA could hold all the information of the earth’s entire human population. Just one of these pinheads would have 2 million times the information content of a 2 TB hard drive. And each of our 100 trillion cells has 3 billion DNA ‘letters’ called nucleobases worth of information.
But chemically, DNA is actually a very reactive molecule and RNA is even more so, so it’s highly implausible that it could have arisen in a hypothetical primordial soup. Indeed, about a million DNA ‘letters’ are damaged in a cell on a good day. One common form of DNA damage is called alkylation—this means a small hydrocarbon group is attached to one of the ‘letters’, and there are many places for the attachment. This changes the shape enough so it can no longer fit into the double helix. This can prevent DNA replication or reading the gene.
 


So living creatures must have elaborate DNA repair machinery. University of Chicago biologist James Shapiro points out that:  all cells from bacteria to man possess a truly astonishing array of repair systems which serve to remove accidental and stochastic sources of mutation. Multiple levels of proofreading mechanisms recognize and remove errors that inevitably occur during DNA replication. … cells protect themselves against precisely the kinds of accidental genetic change that, according to conventional theory, are the sources of evolutionary variability. By virtue of their proofreading and repair systems, living cells are not passive victims of the random forces of chemistry and physics. They devote large resources to suppressing random genetic variation and have the capacity to set the level of background localized mutability by adjusting the activity of their repair systems.
For example, there is ‘base excision repair’: special enzymes called DNA glycosylases run down the DNA molecule, detect the damaged ‘letter’, grab it, put it in a specially shaped pocket, then chop it out. Then other enzymes repair the resulting gap.

Scientists at North American universities have discovered another ingenious repair enzyme in bacteria, called AlkD. This has a very different structure. It works by flipping a positively charged damaged base—highly unstable—and the one it’s paired with, from the inside to the outside of the helix. Then they are both detached, and the gap filled. Understanding these enzymes could lead to more effective chemotherapy.

BEE VENOM VS HIV

Bee venom could prevent the spread of HIV. Researchers found that the toxin in bee venom, called melittin, puts holes in the protective protein coating that surrounds viruses and bacteria, killing them without harming healthy human cells. The finding could lead to the development of a vaginal gel that’s easier for some women to use than trying to convince their partner to wear a condom. It could help a person who is HIV +tive conceive child without spreading the virus to the fetus.

Before putting the toxin in a gel, it is first encased in extremely tiny spheres or nanoparticles, that were originally designed to deliver drugs. Because these nanoparticles have been around for a while, scientists know that they circulate safely in the body. But the researchers, , had to tweak the design of the nanoparticles so that they wouldn’t allow the toxin to come into contact with other cells in the body. To that end, they added molecular “bumpers” to the surface of the nanoparticles. The bumpers are just the right size so that small AIDS viruses can get through but large cells cannot.
The melittin kills the virus by breaking down the protective, which it needs in order to live and replicate. Other HIV medications focus on preventing the virus from reproducing. But focusing on reproduction doesn’t prevent the infection in the first place because the virus is still alive. Killing it outright prevents that infection.

One added benefit of the nanoparticles’ “bumpers” is that since they prevent the mellitin from reaching normal cells, they won’t harm sperm cells. That means a vaginal gel could be used by couples that want to have children and reduce their HIV risk at the same time. A gel could also help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases too. In other forms it might work against hepatitis, for instance.

Biotechnology

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a branch of medical science which deals with the study of organisms. In biotechnology scientist uses joins technology with biological world and make the useful products. Biotechnology is all around us and even in our house processes like making curd from milk, making bread and wine all these are done by the process of microbes.
Biotechnology provide us useful information and produce new biological products to improve our life.

The field of Biotechnology is divided into following types according to their field area of work:-

Bioinformatics- Bioinformatics also known as computational biology, which addresses biological problems with computational techniques and makes the rapid organization and analysis of biological data.

Blue Biotechnology:- It is the branch of biotechnology with deals with marine and aquatic  applications of biotechnology.

Green Biotechnology:- Branch of biotechnology, which is applied to study of agricultural processes. Green biotechnology helps us a lot as by producing transgenic plants, by producing pesticide resistant plants and also by increasing the life span of some vegetable products.

Red Biotechnology:- Red biotechnology is also known as genetics and is applied to medical processes. With the help of red biotechnology number of antibiotics have been invented which give a broad range of protection from number of antigens. In this field of biotechnology whole new and completely modified organisms can also be created.

White Biotechnology:- Also known as industrial biotechnology and is applied to industrial processes of biotechnology. Designing of an organisms to produce a new chemical is stepped out in this field of biotechnology.

Transgenic animal made by biotechnology:-

Animals that have had their DNA manipulated to possess and express an extra (foreign) gene are known as transgenic animals. Transgenic rats, rabbits, pigs, sheep, cows and fish have been produced, although over 95 per cent of all existing transgenic animals are mice. Why are these animals being produced? How can man benefit from such modifications?
Let us try and explore some of the common reasons:
 

(i) Normal physiology and development: Transgenic animals can
be specifically designed to allow the study of how genes are
regulated, and how they affect the normal functions of the body
and its development, e.g., study of complex factors involved in growth
such as insulin-like growth factor. By introducing genes from other
species that alter the formation of this factor and studying the
biological effects that result, information is obtained about the
biological role of the factor in the body.
 

(ii) Study of disease: Many transgenic animals are designed to increase
our understanding of how genes contribute to the development of disease. These are specially made to serve as models for human
diseases so that investigation of new treatments for diseases is made
possible. Today transgenic models exist for many human diseases
such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer’s.
 

(iii) Biological products: Medicines required to treat certain human
diseases can contain biological products, but such products are
often expensive to make. Transgenic animals that produce useful
biological products can be created by the introduction of the portion
of DNA (or genes) which codes for a particular product such as
human protein (α-1-antitrypsin) used to treat emphysema. Similar
attempts are being made for treatment of phenylketonuria (PKU)
and cystic fibrosis. In 1997, the first transgenic cow, Rosie, produced
human protein-enriched milk (2.4 grams per litre). The milk
contained the human alpha-lactalbumin and was nutritionally a
more balanced product for human babies than natural cow-milk.
 

(iv) Vaccine safety: Transgenic mice are being developed for use in
testing the safety of vaccines before they are used on humans.
Transgenic mice are being used to test the safety of the polio vaccine.
If successful and found to be reliable, they could replace the use of
monkeys to test the safety of batches of the vaccine.
 

(v) Chemical safety testing: This is known as toxicity/safety testing.
The procedure is the same as that used for testing toxicity of drugs.
Transgenic animals are made that carry genes which make them more
sensitive to toxic substances than non-transgenic animals. They are
then exposed to the toxic substances and the effects studied. Toxicity
testing in such animals will allow us to obtain results in less time.

REDHEAD

REDHEAD

Some parents worry that their children will be born with a rare disease or a hidden genetic disorder. Other parents, however, wonder if their children will possess something obvious: RED HAIR, MC1R gene that causes redheadedness.


The gene MC1R  for red hair is recessive, so a person needs two copies of that gene for it to show up or be expressed. some recent reports suggest having red hair is associated with a number of health issues and are redheads are more sensitive to pain and require extra anesthesia during surgery the pigment pheomelanin, which is responsible for red hair, may also make redheads even more susceptible to melanoma than fair-skinned blondes.

Advantage to having red hair, The pale skin that redheads usually have is more efficient at soaking up sunlight and sunlight is required for the body to manufacture vitamin D, an essential nutrient.

Worldwide, red hair is quite rare, and just over 0.5 percent, or one in 200 people, are redheads — this amounts to almost 40 million people.

PLANTS WILL GLOW YOUR HOME

PLANTS WILL GLOW YOUR HOME:


Scientists are engineering plants that glow as brightly as your typical household lamp. The mix of synthetic biology, genetic sequencing and glowing bacteria promises to produce a new kind of sustainable lighting. The bio-luminescent system consist of protein called luciferase that can break down the fuel to produce light, called luciferin. This process is so efficient that it hardly produces any heat.

That luciferase-luciferin system enables fireflies, fungi and some bacteria to glow. Getting that to happen in plants is fairly complicated so the Glowing Plant team used a prototyping method that relies on an agrobacterium. Although this agrobacterium can inject part of its genome into a plant. Amirav-Drory told that adding bio-luminescence removes energy from cells so these plants will be less adaptable than normal ones in the evolutionary sense.

SmartPill

Smart Pill

 SmartPill is a tool for the investigation of functional gastrointestinal disorders, including gastroparesis and functional constipation. It is made of a wireless capsule, a receiver, with computer software. Tests are conducted by a patient ingesting capsule meanwhile wearing the receiver on their hip. The capsule transmits pressure, pH, and temperature data to the receiver as it travels through the patient's Gastrointestinal tract. When the test is completed, data is transferred from the receiver to a computer for the analysis by the comrade software. The result provides complete pressure, pH, and transit profiles of the stomach, small bowel, and colon in a standardized protocol.

Smart Pill

 SmartPill minimizes patient downtime by allowing patients to continue most normal daily activities while information is being collected by the smart pill.  SmartPill also eliminates radiation exposure and it is the only motility test that provides a complete transit profile of the Gastrointestinal tract.  

Cavity Fighting Bacteria

                             Cavity Fighting Bacteria

We've all been taught that the way to prevent cavities is to brush, floss, and visit the dentist regularly. Researchers at the University of Florida have taken a different approach to fighting tooth decay. They have altered Streptococcus mutants bacteria, which are known to cause tooth decay, so that they are no longer harmful to teeth.

The leading researcher in the study, dentist J. D. Hillman, accomplished the task of turning cavity causing bacteria into cavity fighting bacteria by stripping the bacterium of its ability to produce lactic acid. It is this byproduct of the breakdown of sugar by Streptococcus mutants that causes tooth decay. If the bacteria are not able to produce lactic acid tooth decay is stopped.

As many as 500 different species of bacteria inhabit your mouth and can colonize on your teeth and gums. When you eat a meal bacteria help to digest the food and sugar left on your teeth and gums. In the process lactic acid is produced which breaks down tooth enamel and leads to cavities. Streptococcus mutans has been found to be the most carcinogenic (promotes tooth decay) of these bacteria.

The genetically altered strain of Streptococcus mutant appeared to thrive on sugar. It was tested on rats with positive results. Researchers introduced a solution containing the bacterial strain into the oral cavity of rats. The rats were fed a high sugar diet and showed no evidence of tooth decay. Researchers found that the strain was able to stay on the surface of the teeth indefinitely and prevented the natural strain from colonizing on the teeth. The altered strain is genetically stable and no ill effects have been noted.

Hillman is hopeful that human trials will begin soon. These trials will attempt to determine the number of applications needed to prevent tooth decay permanently. Researchers warn that this does not mean that you can get rid of your tooth brush. Brushing and other forms of dental hygiene would still be recommended to prevent plaque build-up.

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