Beginning with the production of the very first recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule in 1972 and continuing through the following decade, DNA-focused molecular biology researchers firmly positioned themselves on the cutting edge of scientific inquiry. With each passing day, month and year, these researchers made significant leaps forward in understanding, modifying and manipulating the key roles that DNA plays in all living organisms. Some of the key milestones…
Category: <span>Research</span>
In October 8, 2008, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Tsien ostensibly for the discovery, cloning, and applications of green-fluorescent protein (GFP). This protein is associated with bioluminescence in coelenterates, including jellyfish and sea pansies. This award is as much a celebration of basic research as it is an acknowledgement of the achievements of three accomplished researchers…
After braving the home of the world’s worst weather to study the affect of barometric pressure on pipette volumes, the ARTEL Extreme Pipetting Expedition team embarked on its next mission to explore the impact of another environmental condition on laboratory data. The destination: Yellowstone National Park, boasting the world’s largest active geyser field, and more than 10,000 geysers, steam vents and mud pots. The ARTEL team landed in the 2.2 million acre park and realized they were certainly not in Mount Washington, New Hampshire anymore (the venue for Mission #1). As hot springs bubbled and a geyser spewed steam up to 135 feet in the air just a short distance from Expedition members, the thermal variation at Yellowstone National Park was evident…
As scientific research has become more sophisticated, the field of bioinformatics — where computer technology and biology meet — has become increasingly critical to our understanding of the natural world. Entire databases of biological data are created, indexed, organized, and analyzed, requiring sophisticated and robust tools. Bioinformatics often make use of mathematical computations, algorithms, artificial intelligence, modeling, and other complex applications…
In order to unravel new protein activities and functions, we have expressed and purified a large number of human proteins. We have chosen to study secreted proteins and the extra-cellular domains of putative single transmembrane domain-containing proteins. In order to retain the natural protein characteristics as far as possible, we have used a mammalian expression system. Human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells were chosen as they have been shown to possess a high protein-secretory potential. The secreted proteins were expressed with a carboxy-terminal tag and purified by affinity chromatography. Each protein was produced at a routine scale from 500 ml cell cultures, and the secreted protein was purified from the culture supernatant…
The recent discovery of cancer stem cells in leukemia, brain cancer, and breast cancer has had a significant impact on cancer research and how cancers are thought to arise. Their discovery has resulted in unique, but pressing challenges that may ultimately only be resolved through the development of large-scale bioprocesses. The scarcity of these cells is currently impeding discovery of new cancer treatments that specifically aim to eradicate the population of tumour cells thought to be responsible for tumour growth and metastasis. Fundamental bioprocessing principles have been applied to develop scalable, large-scale cultures for cancer stem cells, to address this issue of cancer stem cell scarcity. Development of such bioprocesses differs significantly from other, more conventional cultures since it is the cells themselves that are of interest rather than the products of the cells (e.g., proteins)…
The efficacy of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cosmeceuticals depends not only on the chemical composition of the active ingredients, but also on the formulation of the product and the method of delivery. Nanoemulsions—formulations that encapsulate drug or nutrient molecules in sub-micron-sized oil droplets suspended in water—have been found to increase the rate and level of absorption into the body, and offer other benefits including the mitigation of side-effects as well as an antiviral and antibacterial action. With an emulsifier layer surrounding the droplet, nanoemulsions exhibit high levels of stability for extended periods of six months or more…
Many precautions are taken in a typical research lab to ensure the integrity of biological specimens. Temperature, storage, and personnel access, among others, are all tightly controlled, and codified into standard operating procedures (SOPs), if not almost biblical law. And no wonder — companies have millions invested in biotech solutions whose progress is often measured in years and decades. Scientists have their life’s work on the line. So, it is with some surprise that the diligence most companies exercise during the research and development process is not always maintained during specimen transport. Every time a specimen leaves the lab, be it for further analytical testing or investigational purposes, it runs a heightened risk of contamination, especially from fluctuating temperatures. Ensuring that this does not happen should be the responsibility and concern of everyone with a stake in a biological product’s success…
The significance of tissue culture is that an understanding of animal physiology will come from a study of the basic elements of the animal (the cell) in isolated, pure form (clonal culture), under defined conditions (hormonally defined media). This should be the fundamental approach to animal physiology for the foreseeable future. The problem with this formulation in 1958, when I began work on tissue culture, was that cells in culture did not display the differentiated properties of the tissue of origin…