Biotech Law

Purposely engineered drug–target mismatches for entropy-based drug optimization

Ariel Fernández, Christopher Fraser, L. Ridgway Scott. Proteins are dynamic objects that often undergo significant structural change and reduce their conformational possibilities upon ligand binding. Thus, unless dynamic information is incorporated, s….

Fruit improvement using intragenesis and artificial microRNA

Barbara Molesini, Youry Pii, Tiziana Pandolfini. Genetic engineering methods based on the use of transgenes have been successfully adopted to improve crops. A novel all-native DNA gene technology consists of the creation of intragenic constructs….

Organ printing: the future of bone regeneration?

Natalja E. Fedorovich, Jacqueline Alblas, Wim E. Hennink, F. Cumhur Öner, Wouter J.A. Dhert. In engineered bone grafts, the combined actions of bone-forming cells, matrix and bioactive stimuli determine the eventual performance of the implant. The current notion is that … Continue reading

Creating permissive microenvironments for stem cell transplantation into the central nervous system

Howard Kim, Michael J. Cooke, Molly S. Shoichet. Traumatic injury to the central nervous system (CNS) is highly debilitating, with the clinical need for regenerative therapies apparent. Neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) are promising because ….

Molecular aptamers for drug delivery

Weihong Tan, Hui Wang, Yan Chen, Xiaobing Zhang, Haizhen Zhu, Chaoyong Yang, Ronghua Yang, Chen Liu. The active targeting of drugs in a cell-, tissue- or disease-specific manner represents a potentially powerful technology with widespread applications in medicine, including the … Continue reading

Enzyme-assisted extraction of bioactives from plants

Munish Puri, Deepika Sharma, Colin J. Barrow. Demand for new and novel natural compounds has intensified the development of plant-derived compounds known as bioactives that either promote health or are toxic when ingested. Enhanced release of….

Emerging technologies for point-of-care CD4 T-lymphocyte counting

David S. Boyle, Kenneth R. Hawkins, Matthew S. Steele, Mitra Singhal, Xuanhong Cheng. A CD4 T-lymphocyte count determines eligibility for antiretroviral therapy (ART) in patients recently diagnosed with HIV and also monitors the efficacy of ART treatment thereafter. ART slows … Continue reading

Bioluminescence imaging: progress and applications

Christian E. Badr, Bakhos A. Tannous. Application of bioluminescence imaging has increased tremendously in the past decade and has significantly contributed to core conceptual advances in biomedical research. This technology provides ….

Improving photosynthesis for algal biofuels: toward a green revolution

Patrick G. Stephenson, C. Mark Moore, Matthew J. Terry, Mikhail V. Zubkov, Thomas S. Bibby. Biofuels derived from marine algae are a potential source of sustainable energy that can contribute to future global demands. The realisation of this potential will … Continue reading

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases: an update on perspectives for synthetic application

Vlada B. Urlacher, Marco Girhard. Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) are versatile biocatalysts that catalyze the regio- and stereospecific oxidation of non-activated hydrocarbons under mild conditions, which is a challenging t….