后基因组时代的代谢工程:机遇与挑战

代谢工程的研究目的是要改进细胞性质,增加工业生物产品的收率及生产能力。现在越来越多的生物基因测序的完成及功能基因组学研究的进展正把代谢工程研究引入一个新时代。代谢工程正面临一个极好的机遇,同时也遇到一些严重的挑战。这是由于细胞内存在着复杂的,非线性的,在酶、调控子及代谢物之间未知的相互作用．从而使代谢途径的优化极为困难。为了促进后基因组时代代谢工程的研究,综述了过去13年基于功能基因组学的代谢工程原理与方法的国内外研究进展,功能基因组学与代谢工程之间的关系以及后基因组时代代谢工程面临的机遇与挑战。     

Proteomics applied to pediatric medicine: opportunities and challenges

Introduction: Care in pediatrics often refers to treatments directed to adults. However, childhood is a specific life period, with molecular pathways connected to development and thereby it requires distinctive considerations and special treatments under disease. Proteomics can help to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the human development and disease onset in pediatric age and this review is devoted to underline the results recently obtained in the field.

Areas covered: The contribution of proteomics to the characterization of physiological modifications occurring during human development is presented. The proteomic studies carried out to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying different pediatric pathologies and to discover new markers for early diagnosis and prognosis of disease, comprising genetic and systemic pathologies, sepsis and pediatric oncology are thereafter reported. The investigations concerning milk composition in human and farm mammals are also presented. Finally, the chances offered by the integration of different -omic platforms are discussed.

Expert commentary: The growing utilization of holistic technologies such as proteomics, metabolomics and microbiomics will allow, in the near future, to define at the molecular level the complexity of human development and related diseases, with great benefit for future generations.     

Multielectrode recordings: the next steps

At present, a growing number of laboratories are acquiring the capability of simultaneously monitoring the extracellular activity of over a hundred single neurons in both anaesthetized and awake animals. This paradigm, known as multielectrode recordings, is changing the face of systems neuroscience by allowing, for the first time, the visualization of the function of entire neural circuits at work. Current methods of multielectrode recording employ state of the art technologies; two potential new avenues of research will likely emerge from the further development of these experimental paradigms.     

Biological challenges to effective vaccines in the developing world

The reason for holding a meeting to discuss biological challenges to vaccines is simple: not all vaccines work equally well in all settings. This special issue reviews the performance of vaccines in challenging environments, summarizes current thinking on the reasons why vaccines underperform and considers what approaches are necessary to understand the heterogeneity in responses and to improve vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy.     

Sugarcane biotechnology: The challenges and opportunities

Summary Commercial sugarcane, belonging to the genus Saccharum (Poaceae), is an important industrial crop accounting for nearly 70% of sugar produced worldwide. Compared to other major crops, efforts to improve sugarcane are limited and relatively recent, with the first introduction of interspecific hybrids about 80 yr ago. Progress in traditional breeding of sugareane, a highly polyploid and frequently aneuploid plant, is impeded by its narrow gene pool, complex genome, poor fertility, and the long breeding/selection cycle. These constraints, however, make sugarcane a good candidate for molecular breeding. In the past decade considerable progress has been made in understanding and manipulating the sugarcane genome using various biotechnological and cell biological approaches. Notable among them are the creation of transgenic plants with improved agronomic or other important traits, advances in genomics and molecular markers, and progress in understanding the molecular aspects of sucrose transport and accumulation. More recently, substantial effort has been directed towards developing sugarcane as a biofactory for high-value products. While these achievements are commendable, a greater understanding of the sugarcane genome, and cell and whole plant physiology, will accelerate the implementation of commercially significant biotechnology outcomes. We anticipate that the rapid advancements in molecular biology and emerging biotechnology innovations would play a significant role in the future sugarcane crop improvement programs and offer many new opportunities to develop it as a new-generation industrial crop.     

Mahseer (Tor spp.) fishes of the world: status,challenges and opportunities for conservation

Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries - The mahseer fishes (Tor spp.) represent an iconic genus of large-bodied species of the Cyprinidae family. Across the 16 recognised species in the genus,...     

The Anopheles gambiae genome: next steps for malaria vector control

Malaria remains a major public health problem that is made worse by poor implementation of control measures, and by the spread of drug- and insecticide-resistant parasites and vectors, respectively. Availability of the Anopheles gambiae genome sequence will accelerate identification and exploitation of new target genes in this insect vector. This provides unique opportunities to improve on existing vector control tools and to generate new tools within a global partnership. However, significant capacity needs to be built for investigators in disease-endemic countries to exploit the genome data. When integrated with existing strategies, the new tools will form an effective package for selective vector control in an effort to prevent mortality and morbidity due to malaria.     

Tackling the epigenome: challenges and opportunities for collaboration

What are the key considerations to take into account when large-scale epigenomics projects are being implemented?     

The state of melanoma: challenges and opportunities

The Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF) has charted a comprehensive assessment of the current state of melanoma research and care. Intensive discussions among members of the MRF Scientific Advisory Council and Breakthrough Consortium, a group that included clinicians and scientists, focused on four thematic areas – diagnosis/early detection, prevention, tumor cell dormancy (including metastasis), and therapy (response and resistance). These discussions extended over the course of 2015 and culminated at the Society of Melanoma Research 2015 International Congress in November. Each of the four groups has outlined their thoughts as per the current status, challenges, and opportunities in the four respective areas. The current state and immediate and long‐term needs of the melanoma field, from basic research to clinical management, are presented in the following report.     

The secretome of mesenchymal stem cells and oxidative stress: challenges and opportunities in cell-free regenerative medicine

Molecular Biology Reports - Over the last decade, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been considered a suitable source for cell-based therapy, especially in regenerative medicine. First, the...     

Moving beyond genome sequencing into personalized genomic medicine: biological and computing challenges

A report of the second annual Beyond the Genome conference held on the 19-22 September 2011 at The Universities at Shady Grove, Rockville, Maryland, USA, where increases in computing that may help make personal genomics a reality were a major focus.     

Psychiatric training in the UK: the next steps

Postgraduate education and training in the UK is undergoing tremendous change. In this paper the changes affecting psychiatry are described, with an account of the drivers. Patients, their carers and politicians all expect psychiatric service providers to have certain characteristics. Psychiatric training is becoming more competency focused and it is right that assessments of competencies also occur at the place that trainees work. There are key competencies that trainees need to take into account while learning and working. These are described along with the way forward     

Cassava breeding: opportunities and challenges

Although cassava is a major food crop, its scientific breeding began only recently compared with other crops. Significant progress has been achieved, particularly in Asia where cassava is used mainly for industrial processes and no major biotic constraints affect its productivity. Cassava breeding faces several limitations that need to be addressed. The heterozygous nature of the crop and parental lines used to generate new segregating progenies makes it difficult to identify parents with good breeding values. Breeding so far has been mainly based on a mass phenotypic recurrent selection. There is very little knowledge on the inheritance of traits of agronomic relevance. Several approaches have been taken to overcome the constraints in the current methodologies for the genetic improvement of cassava. Evaluations at early stages of selection allow for estimates of general combining ability effect or breeding values of parental lines. Inbreeding by sequential self-pollination facilitates the identification of useful recessive traits, either already present in the Manihot gene pool or induced by mutagenesis.