Stem Cell Therapy and Biomedical Applications

Stem cells have revolutionized research and applications for biomedical sciences. In combination with gene therapy as well as regenerative medicine, stem cells have led to several breakthrough technologies. Utilizing these advances, coupled with rDNA techniques, adult stem cells can be re-engineered to behave like embryonic stem cells. These induced Pluripotent Stem cells (iPSCs) can be introduced into the body in order to repair and rectify the underlying issues. (Class Project

Gene Therapy and Biomedical Applications

Gene therapy has many uses today through the new treatment options and its potential to treat uncurable diseases. (Class Project

Point of Care Devices

A point of care device is a portable and/or compact device that allows for patient testing by the area of patient care (e.g., bedside) or generally within the proximity of the patient; this allows for decision making that can lead to an improvement of patient health outcomes. (Class Project

Cationic surfactant mediated hybridization and hydrophobization of DNA molecules at the liquid/liquid interface and their phase transfer

Hybridization of complementary oligonucleotides mediated by a cationic surfactant at the water/hexane interface leads to hydrophobic, double-helical DNA which may be readily phase transferred to the organic phase and cast into thin films on solid substrates

Desulfovibrio desulfuricans G20 Tetraheme Cytochrome Structure at 1.5 A˚ and Cytochrome Interaction with Metal Complexes

The structure of the type I tetraheme cytochrome c3 from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans G20 was determined to 1.5 A˚ by X-ray crystallography. In addition to the oxidized form, the structure of the molybdate-bound form of the protein was determined from oxidized crystals soaked in sodium molybdate. Only small structural shifts were obtained with metal binding, consistent with the remarkable structural stability of this protein. In vitro experiments with pure cytochrome showed that molybdate could oxidize the reduced cytochrome, although not as rapidly as U(VI) present as uranyl acetate. Alterations in the overall conformation and thermostability of the metal-oxidized protein were investigated by circular dichroism studies. Again, only small changes in protein structure were documented. The location of the molybdate ion near heme IV in the crystal structure suggested heme IV as the site of electron exit from the reduced cytochrome and implicated Lys14 and Lys56 in binding. Analysis of structurally conserved water molecules in type I cytochrome c3 crystal structures identified interactions predicted to be important for protein stability and possibly for intramolecular electron transfer among heme molecule

Nanotechnology for Algal Biofuels.

Because of their high productivity, algae are considered the biomass with a realistic potential to replace fossil fuels. This would require cost-effective and sustainable scale-up of growth and downstream processing of algal biofuels. Currently, there are several hurdles for commercialization, which call for innovative solutions. Nanotechnology has the potential to provide solutions to several of the challenges faced in algae growth and harvesting, lipid extraction, and processing of the biofuels. This chapter covers major nanotechnology techniques either already being applied in algal biofuel research or other biofuel-related fields that can be extrapolated to algal biofuel production. Application of silver nanoparticles for improved photoconversion, calcium oxide nanocrystals in transesterification, and mesoporous nanoparticles in biofuel separation are discussed along with some other promising nanomaterial-based components such as LEDs for improving production of algal biofuels

Uranium bioremediation: Nanotechnology and biotechnology advances

This chapter covers geomicrobiology of uranium, various methods currently applied for uranium bioremediation, microbial and biochemical mechanisms underlining them, and biotechnology- and nanotechnology-based advancements for microbial remediation of uranium

Nanotechnology and bioenergy: Innovations and applications

Nanotechnology has the potential to improve current technologies applied for biochemical as well as thermochemical processes for treatment and conversion of biomass to generate bioenergy in a variety of forms such as liquid biofuels, biohydrogen, biogas and electricity. These include improved materials for enzyme immobilization, materials with improved enzyme loading capacity, nanocatalysts, materials for storage of bioenergy products, materials for separation and purification of liquid biofuels, materials for improved performance of microbial fuel cells and so on. This chapter discusses in detail each of these areas. This chapter also elaborates on the applications of nanotechnology for bioenergy production, and defines the basic terms used in nanotechnology

The use of biomarkers for the diagnosis of preeclampsia

Preeclampsia (also known as toxemia) is a serious pregnancy complication characterized by hypertension and proteinuria that can occur at any time during pregnancy or shortly after birth

DNA-surfactant interactions: Coupled cooperativity in ligand binding leads to duplex stabilization

The cooperative nature of interaction of cationic surfactants with short oligonucleotides leading to eventual stabilization of DNA duplexes is demonstrated. At submicellar concentrations and DNA:surfactant charge ratios of 0.2 to 0.8, the association of single chain (CTAB) and double chain (DOTAP) surfactants to oligonucleotides is initiated by electrostatic interaction of cationic ligands with polyanionic DNA that aligns the surfactant molecules on the DNA template. This is followed by binding of new surfactant ligands to the initial complex, driven cooperatively by the hydrophobic forces, leading to in situ formation of surfactant-bound and bare duplexes as separate species. These exhibit independent melting behaviour characterised by double transition in thermal UV profiles, with a higher T(m) for surfactant-DNA complexes. Understanding the cooperative binding of the cationic surfactants to the DNA described here may have implications for rational design of DNA binding drugs and DNA delivery systems