The social, moral, ethical, legal and political implications of today's biological technologies: an Indian point of view

The last 50 years have seen an increasing emphasis on ethical, moral, social, legal, political and economic implications of science for reasons that are discussed in this article. Biotechnology has been no exception to this trend. Areas of biotechnology where the above implications have been important, are briefly described. Ethical and related issues in today's biology-based technologies are discussed with special reference to India. Examples of technological exploitation within a country, or of one country by another, using modern biology-based technologies are given. The possible implications of one new and emerging biology-based technology are discussed. It is concluded that a well-informed and knowledgeable society is the only assured insurance against possible misuse of biology-based technologies of today and tomorrow, including their use for the exploitation of people. The recent decision of the Prime Minister of India to set up a National Knowledge Commission is mentioned in this context.     

A new method for estimating the effective population size from allele frequency changes

A new procedure is proposed for estimating the effective population size, given that information is available on changes in frequencies of the alleles at one or more independently segregating loci and the population is observed at two or more separate times. Approximate expressions are obtained for the variances of the new statistic, as well as others, also based on allele frequency changes, that have been discussed in the literature. This analysis indicates that the new statistic will generally have a smaller variance than the others. Estimates of effective population sizes and of the standard errors of the estimates are computed for data on two fly populations that have been discussed in earlier papers. In both cases, there is evidence that the effective population size is very much smaller than the minimum census size of the population.     

The genus Aciachne (Poaceae)

A lectotype has been selected for Aciachne pulvinata. The name A. uniflora is rejected as nom. illeg. Two new species, A. acicularis and A. flagellifera are described and a key is provided. Leaf anatomy is described and discussed, several diagnostic-characters have been found. Distribution maps and altitudinal ranges are discussed.     

The carboxylate type siderophore rhizoferrin and its analogs produced by directed fermentation

Summary Rhizoferrin is a novel carboxylate-type siderophore which has recently been isolated fromRhizopus microsporus and other fungi of the Mucorales (Zygomycetes). The present investigation shows that a variety of rhizoferrin analogs can be produced by directed fermentation. Thus both the diaminobutane backbone and the citric acid side chains of rhizoferrin have been substituted by diamine and citric acid analogs added to the culture medium. The new ligands as well as their iron complexes have been characterized by physicochemical methods. Conditions of precursor incorporation and implications for the biosynthesis of the new siderophores are discussed.     

Where's the evidence that active learning works?

Calls for reforms in the ways we teach science at all levels, and in all disciplines, are wide spread. The effectiveness of the changes being called for, employment of student-centered, active learning pedagogy, is now well supported by evidence. The relevant data have come from a number of different disciplines that include the learning sciences, cognitive psychology, and educational psychology. There is a growing body of research within specific scientific teaching communities that supports and validates the new approaches to teaching that have been adopted. These data are reviewed, and their applicability to physiology education is discussed. Some of the inherent limitations of research about teaching and learning are also discussed.     

The development of ‘safer’ compounds for biocidal use

It is important that the biocides industry continues, if not accelerates its moves towards the supply of compounds with lower toxicological thresholds and greater environmental acceptability.Over the last few years a number of pesticides have been classified as harmful to the environment. These have been deleted from company product profiles which has meant that companies have been compelled to develop compounds which are ‘safer’ to use. However, it must be remembered that biocides are designed to kill biological material and the development of the non-toxic biocide is a long way from reality.The obvious but most difficult way to approach this problem, is to develop new active ingredients, however, the cost of such activities is now becoming prohibitive. This does not mean that industry will not continue the search for new biocides, on the contrary in this article such a new group is discussed. What it does mean, is that the development of new active ingredients must run concurrently along with modifications to existing biocidal products and methods of manufacture.     

The role of combichem in antibiotic discovery

Combinatorial chemistry (combichem) has had a significant impact on the discovery of new antibiotics. Most of the successes have come from the use of small libraries to explore a specific pharmacophore. However, large diverse libraries are more appropriate when identifying hits by screening specific bacterial or fungal targets. Combichem has been used to optimize new azole and oxazolidinone leads. An entirely new class of antibiotics, inhibitors of bacterial peptidyl-deformylase, has been discovered by combining mechanism-based drug design and combichem. These compounds are active in vivo. The impact of combichem on discovery projects that aim to develop new antibiotics for the treatment of infectious diseases is discussed.     

Stoichiometry of biological nitrogen transformations in wetlands and other ecosystems

The stoichiometric equations of ammonification, nitrification and denitrification have demonstrated that the nitrogen cycle in nature is rather complicated. The mechanisms of biological nitrogen transformations are very important for analysis, design, operation and optimal control of natural ecosystems or engineered systems for nitrogen removal, and accurate stoichiometric equations can help in the maintenance of these environments. In this study, the new stoichiometric equations of intermediate nitrification, and heterotrophic and autotrophic denitrification with sulfur as the electron donor have been developed and discussed. The parameter values of f(s) (the fraction of electron donor coupled to cell synthesis) in stoichiometric equations of nitrification and denitrification are calculated according to experimental results implied in previously reported stoichiometric equations. Some new stoichiometric relationships of nitrification and denitrification, such as the O(2) demand for nitrifications, chemical oxygen demand/N ratios and the yield coefficients for denitrifications have been established. The pathway steps of nitrification and denitrification have been discussed.     

Enzymatic and whole cell catalysis: Finding new strategies for old processes

The use of enzymes and whole bacterial cells has allowed the production of a plethora of compounds that have been used for centuries in foods and beverages. However, only recently we have been able to master techniques that allow the design and development of new biocatalysts with high stability and productivity. Rational redesign and directed evolution have lead to engineered enzymes with new characteristics whilst the understanding of adaptation mechanisms in bacterial cells has allowed their use under new operational conditions. Bacteria able to thrive under the most extreme conditions have also provided new and extraordinary catalytic processes. In this review, the new tools available for the improvement of biocatalysts are presented and discussed.     

Thymol derivatives from Eupatorium glechonophyllum

The known 10-acetoxy-8,9-epoxythymolisobutyrate and the new 8,9-dihydroxy-10-acetoxythymolisobutyrate and 8,9,10-trihydroxythymol have been isolated from the thallus of Eupatorium glechonophyllum. The acetonide of the last compound was also obtained. The possibility that the new compounds are artefacts is discussed.     

CHLOROPHYCEAN ALGAE FROM LIMESTONE SPRINGS

Two new chlorococcalean algae have been isolated from limestone springs and studied in axenic cultures. Their life histories have been elucidated and supplementary physiological attributes reported. The relationships of these species to previously described species of the genus are discussed, and a key to known species of Spongiococcum is presented.     

Optimization of cationic lipid mediated gene transfer: structure-function,physico-chemical,and cellular studies

The rationale design aimed at the enhancement of cationic lipid mediated gene transfer is discussed. These improvements are based on the straight evaluation of the structure-activity relationship and on the introduction of new structures. Much attention have been given to the supramolecular structures of the lipid/DNA complexes, to the effect of serum on gene transfer and to the intracellular trafficking of the lipoplexes. Finally new avenue using reducible cationic lipids has been discussed.     

The novel insights into spatiotemporal cell biology and its schematic frame, triple W

Numerous research results have suggested that the events occurred in a selected cell target and the fates of the cells are spatiotemporally regulated. It has been paying much attention to study the cell events with spatiotemporal proposal designation and analysis. We have been tracking and thinking the new scientific area for many years. Spatiotemporal cell biology and its schematic frame, triple W (when, where, which), are systemically introduced in this study. The triple W under pathological conditions is also discussed.     

Resistance to anticoccidial drugs in fowl

Resistance has been encountered wherever drugs have been used extensively for the control of parasitic infections. The poultry industry is dependent upon drugs for the control of coccidiosis, a major disease of chickens caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria. In modern poultry production, drugs are used prophylactically for the prevention of coccidiosis by including them in the diet. This has inevitably led to the development of resistance. We have been fortunate in that new drugs have become available to replace those to which resistance has developed, but this situation is unlikely to continue. The problem of drug resistance, discussed here by David Chapman, has provided impetus for the development of new approaches (such as vaccination) for the control of coccidiosis.     

The number of symbiotic origins of organelles.

Mitochondria and chloroplasts both originated from bacterial endosymbionts. The available evidence strongly supports a single origin for mitochondria and only somewhat less strongly a single, slightly later, origin for chloroplasts. The arguments and evidence that have sometimes been presented in favor of the alternative theories of the multiple or polyphyletic origins of these two organelles are evaluated and the kinds of data that are needed to test more rigorously the monophyletic theory are discussed. Although chloroplasts probably originated only once, eukaryotic algae are polyphyletic because chloroplasts have been secondarily transferred to new lineages by the permanent incorporation of a photosynthetic eukaryotic algal cell into a phagotrophic protozoan host. How often this has happened is much less clear. It is particularly unclear whether or not the chloroplasts of typical dinoflagellates and euglenoids originated in this way from a eukaryotic symbiont: their direct divergence from the ancestral chloroplast cannot be ruled out and indeed has several arguments in its favor. The evidence for and against the view that the chloroplast of the kingdom Chromista was acquired in a single endosymbiotic event is discussed. The possibility that even the chloroplast of Chlorarachnion might have been acquired during the same symbiosis that created the cryptomonad cell, if the symbiont was a primitive alga that had chlorophyll a, b and c as well as phycobilins, is also considered. An alga with such a combination of pigments might have been ancestral to all eukaryote algae.     

OPTIMIZATION OF CATIONIC LIPID MEDIATED GENE TRANSFER: STRUCTURE-FUNCTION,PHYSICO-CHEMICAL,AND CELLULAR STUDIES

ABSTRACT

The rationale design aimed at the enhancement of cationic lipid mediated gene transfer is discussed. These improvements are based on the straight evaluation of the structure-activity relationship and on the introduction of new structures. Much attention have been given to the supramolecular structures of the lipid/DNA complexes, to the effect of serum on gene transfer and to the intracellular trafficking of the lipoplexes. Finally new avenue using reducible cationic lipids has been discussed.     

Hansenula polymorpha as a novel yeast system for the expression of heterologous genes

The advantages of Hansenula polymorpha as a new yeast expression system are discussed in terms of the powerful and regulatable methanol oxidase promoter and the organism's ability to grow on cheap carbon sources. The development of techniques for conventional genetic analysis is described. A total of 218 mutants have been assigned to 62 complementation groups, three genes have been found to be linked forming the first linkage group in this organism. Methods for molecular transformation have been developed allowing the expression of heterologous genes. The disruptive integration and expression of the neomycin phosphotransferase is described.     

A new look at adipocyte lipid droplets: towards a role in the sensing of triacylglycerol stores?

Lipid droplets have been considered for a long time as inert intracytoplasmic deposits formed within cells under various conditions. Recently, new tools and new approaches have been used to visualize and study these intracellular structures. This revealed new aspects of lipid droplets biology and pointed out their organized structure and dynamic composition. In adipocytes, the specialized cell type for the storage of energy as fat, lipid droplets are particularly well-developed organelles, and exhibit unique properties. Also discussed in this paper is the view that lipid droplets, through specific candidate constituents, can play a role in the sensing of the level of their lipid stores by adipocytes.