Fusing plant protoplasts

As a result of improvements in regeneration of whole plants from isolated protoplasts and improvements in protoplast fusion technology, more new somatic hybrids plants are being produced. Both bulk electrofusions and microfusion of selected protoplast pairs are being applied to produce new combinations of genetic material. Practical application of this technology is leading to field testing of somatic hybrid plants.     

Chasing the dream: plant EST microarrays

DNA microarray technology is poised to make an important contribution to the field of plant biology. Stimulated by recent funding programs, expressed sequence tag sequencing and microarray production either has begun or is being contemplated for most economically important plant species. Although the DNA microarray technology is still being refined, the basic methods are well established. The real challenges lie in data analysis and data management. To fully realize the value of this technology, centralized databases that are capable of storing microarray expression data and managing information from a variety of sources will be needed. These information resources are under development and will help usher in a new era in plant functional genomics.     

利用丝状噬菌体展示技术进行抗原决定族图谱及其基因工程的研究

噬茵体展示是90年代初发展起来的一种新型表达技术。其主要特点是得到表达的蛋白或肽段能够被展示在病毒粒子的表面,从而使得大规模的专一性选择成为可能。目前此技术已被广泛用于生命科学研究的不同领域。比较突出的有抗体工程的研究,随机抗原决定族库的研究．以及随机肽在新药开发中的研究。本文将集中回顾一下噬菌体展示技术在抗原决定族定位研究中的应用,及其在新型诊断试剂和疫苗开发中的潜在前景。     

Validation issues related to expanded bed technology

Expanded bed adsorption technology is being implemented in manufacturing processes for biotherapeutics. In order to market a product, validation must be performed to document that the process performs its intended function. The key considerations for validation of expanded bed technology are presented.     

Transcriptomic signatures in breast cancer

High throughput DNA microarray technology has been broadly applied to the study of breast cancer to classify molecular subtypes, to predict outcome, survival, response to treatment, and for the identification of novel therapeutic targets. Although results are promising, this technology will not have a full impact on routine clinical practice until there is further standardization of techniques and optimal clinical trial design. Due to substantial disease heterogeneity and the number of genes being analyzed, collaborative, multi-institutional studies are required to accrue enough patients for sufficient statistical power. Newer bioinformatic approaches are being developed to assist with the analysis of this important data.     

3S技术与生物多样性研究

生物多样性是地球生物圈和人类发展的基础,是国际社会所共同关注的焦点问题。3S技术是集遥感、全球定位与地理信息系统于一体的高新技术手段,为生物多样性研究提供强有力的技术支持。近年来该领域的研究越来越受到人们的重视,并取得了大量的研究成果。     

转基因技术在玉米遗传育种中的应用

玉米转基因育种是通过基因转移方法创造玉米新种质或新品种。将转基因技术与玉米常规育种技术相结合,能尽快地培育出符合育种目标的新品种,带来了育种水平的提高、创新和突破,加快了玉米育种进程。论述了转基因技术在玉米育种中的主要应用方法、研究进展及应用现状。随着转基因技术的飞速发展及其研究的日趋成熟,转基因技术在拓宽玉米种质资源、提高杂交种的抗逆性、抗病虫性、提高产量和品质等方面将发挥更大的作用,应用前景广阔。     

Design of large scale containment facilities for recombinant DNA fermentations

Recombinant DNA technology is being used to produce a wide spectrum of products — vaccines, interferon, insulin, growth hormones, monoclonal antibodies, etc. One of the critical considerations in the design of large scale plants (volume >10l) utilizing this technology is to prevent the release of the recombinant DNA organisms into the environment.     

The use of hatchery technology for the conservation of Pacific and Atlantic salmon

Hatchery technology has been employed for the conservation of Pacific (Oncorhynchus spp.) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) for over 140 years. The initial societal paradigm was that nature is inefficient and hatcheries could be used to conserve stocks that were over utilized or suffering habitat degradation. Although these early hatcheries failed to meet their conservation objectives, they succeeded in developing the spawning-to-swimup fry culture technology used today. In the 1930s the paradigm shifted to artificial and natural production being equally effective and led to the closure of Federal hatcheries in areas with intact freshwater habitat. Hatcheries were maintained to mitigate for habitat loss from hydropower development. With the development of cost effective smolt production technology by 1960, the paradigm returned to nature being inefficient and ushered in the massive conservation utilization production of Pacific salmon that continues to this day. The early 1990s saw another paradigm shift with nature’s inefficiency recognized as being the foundation for evolution to maintain the fitness of salmon in their natural environment. This shift gave rise to a focus for hatchery technology to preserve stocks in their native habitats. Using hatcheries for preservation–conservation has become the norm for Atlantic salmon in the USA and Atlantic Canada and for Pacific salmon stocks listed under the Endangered Species Act in the USA or as species at risk in Canada.     

Silicon fingerprint sensors

The silicon fingerprint sensor is the first application of a technology where an integrated circuit needs to be touched to make the technology work. It should come as little surprise that there have been numerous technical barriers to overcome. Btt reviews how these hurdles are being tackled and follows the progress of a selection of leading companies and their products.     

Biosensors for cancer markers diagnosis

Point-of-care diagnostic devices present a viable option for the rapid and sensitive detection and analysis of cancer markers. With the growing number of cancer cases being diagnosed worldwide and the increased number of fatalities due to late disease detection, biosensors can play an important role in the early diagnosis of cancer. Molecular profiles of patients are being increasingly studied using new molecular tools such as genomic and proteomic techniques. These methods combined with bioinformatics tools are generating new data which is being employed in the elucidation of new disease biomarkers. As with many disease conditions finding specific and sensitive markers that are associated with only one type of the disease can be difficult. In addition to this, the level of the biomarkers in biological fluids can vary depending on different disease conditions and stages. A number of molecular markers are therefore usually evaluated for cancer diagnosis and these can include proteins, peptides, over/under expression of gene markers and gene mutations. This review provides an overview of the biosensor technology available today, areas which are currently being developed and researched for cancer markers diagnosis—and a consideration of future prospects for the technology.     

现代科学技术中的生态研究问题

环境污染、生态问题是当今世界所面临的主要问题,研究环境的保护与改善,首先必须解决生态失调问题。生态问题已成为众多学科涉足研究的课题。生态学的基本理论和方法就客观成为各学科处理生态问题所依据的准则,     

Genomic medicine and developing countries: creating a room of their own

The notion that developing countries must wait for the developed world to make advances in science and technology that they later import at great cost is being challenged. We have previously argued that developing countries can harness human genetic variation to benefit their populations and economies. Based on our empirical studies of large-scale population genotyping projects in Mexico, India and Thailand, we describe how these resources are being adopted to improve public health and create knowledge-based economies. A significant additional benefit is building the capacity for scientific research and internalizing advances in technology, whatever their source.     

悬浮芯片技术应用进展

悬浮芯片技术(SAT)是一种新型、高通量的生物芯片技术,它是将流式细胞术、激光技术及应用流体学等技术结合在一起,利用悬浮在液相中的分类荧光编码微球作为检测载体,具有高通量、速度快、灵敏度高、特异性强及检测范围广等特点.近几年来,悬浮芯片技术在免疫学、基因组学、蛋白质组学及临床诊断检测等方面应用较广泛.就其原理、技术特点...     

Technology and fear: is wonder the key?

Technology is a social practice that embodies the capacity of societies to transform themselves by creating and manipulating not only physical objects, but also symbols and cultural forms. It is an illusion that scientific and socioeconomic drivers are the sole elements determining the destiny of a technology. Although they are important, what is really crucial is the way in which a human community 'metabolizes' a new technology, that is the way in which a new technology becomes part of the mental landscape of people living in that society. In this paper I argue that today, fear of technology mainly emerges from a lack of meaning surrounding the technology revolution. Present technology is developing without a sound cultural framework that could give technology a sense beyond mere utilitarian considerations. Frightening stories then end up being a privileged way to incorporate technology into a meaningful context. However, fear is not the sole emotion that can enable integration of new concepts into mental schemes, two other powerful emotional forces should be considered: wonder and curiosity.     

A perspective on microarrays: current applications,pitfalls, and potential uses

With advances in robotics, computational capabilities, and the fabrication of high quality glass slides coinciding with increased genomic information being available on public databases, microarray technology is increasingly being used in laboratories around the world. In fact, fields as varied as: toxicology, evolutionary biology, drug development and production, disease characterization, diagnostics development, cellular physiology and stress responses, and forensics have benefiting from its use. However, for many researchers not familiar with microarrays, current articles and reviews often address neither the fundamental principles behind the technology nor the proper designing of experiments. Although, microarray technology is relatively simple, conceptually, its practice does require careful planning and detailed understanding of the limitations inherently present. Without these considerations, it can be exceedingly difficult to ascertain valuable information from microarray data. Therefore, this text aims to outline key features in microarray technology, paying particular attention to current applications as outlined in recent publications, experimental design, statistical methods, and potential uses. Furthermore, this review is not meant to be comprehensive, but rather substantive; highlighting important concepts and detailing steps necessary to conduct and interpret microarray experiments. Collectively, the information included in this text will highlight the versatility of microarray technology and provide a glimpse of what the future may hold.     

Sorghum bicolor - an important species for comparative grass genomics and a source of beneficial genes for agriculture

A high-resolution genetic, physical, and cytological map of the sorghum genome is being assembled using AFLP DNA marker technology, six-dimensional pooling of BAC libraries, cDNA mapping technology, and cytogenetic analysis. Recent advances in sorghum comparative genomics and gene-transfer technology are accelerating the discovery and utilization of valuable sorghum genes and alleles.     

Engineering radiation-resistant bacteria for environmental biotechnology

Seventy million cubic meters of ground and three trillion liters of groundwater have been contaminated by leaking radioactive waste generated in the United States during the Cold War. A cleanup technology is being developed based on the radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans, which is being engineered to express bioremediating functions.