Molecular Defense against Huntington Disease

Leicester geneticists have discovered a potential defence against Huntington's disease a fatal neurodegenerative disorder which currently has no cure. A team of experts from the University's Department of Genetics carried out research for more than six years to identify new potential drug targets for the disease.


The team of University of Leicester researchers identified that glutathione peroxidase activity a key antioxidant in cells protects against symptoms of the disease in model organisms.
They hope that the enzyme activity whose protective ability was initially observed in model organisms such as yeast can be further developed and eventually used to treat people with the genetically-inherited disease. The disease affects around 12 people per 100,000.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130825171552.htm
http://mindletters.com/2012/10/10/dear-dr-huntingtons-disease/

E. Coli Engineered to Produce Record-Setting Amounts of Alternative Fuel

At UCLA, researchers have developed a new way to produce butane, and alternative fuel to diesel and gasoline. It can be said that butane is more "greener" fuel when compared to the alternatives. Butane is a four-carbon chain alcohol that has worked well with as a fuel source for other types of devices that need energy like vehicles designed for gasoline. E.Coli or also known as Escherichia coli is the bacteria that the people at UCLA are using for their research. The team of scientist at UCLA  had demonstrated success by producing 15 to 30 grams of n-butanol per liter of culture medium using genetically modified E. Coli. This is an increase from the amount of 1-4 grams per liter that was in the past.

The team of scientists, lead by James C. Liao, UCLA's Chancellor's Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, first constructed the made the biochemical pathway for E. Coli, even though it is not naturally produce n-butanol. This process cam up short and the production levels were limited. To tackle this problem what the team at UCLA did was add metabolic driving forces to the pathway, the researchers witnessed a tenfold increase in the production of n-butanol. The metabolic driving forces pushed the carbon flux to n-butanol.

We created driving forces by genetically engineering the metabolism," said Claire R. Shen, a UCLA Engineering graduate student and lead author of the study. While certain microbes, including species of the bacteria Clostridium, naturally produce n-butanol, Liao's team used E. coli because it is easier to manipulate and has been used industrially in producing various chemicals. The next step in the research, the researchers say, will be to transfer the study to industry for the development of a more robust industrial process.

This idea of alternative fuel through genetic engineering is a good idea. This would not solve the problem with dependence of fossil fuels but it is a step in the right direction. There will definitely be an interest in this topic because a species is being used to make something that is important to people. In this case it is fuel, however like i said this is just the primary step and more research is needed to further this experiment.

U.S. Approves Corn Modified for Ethanol

The article written is about genetically modified corn that makes it easier to convert it to ethanol. It was approved by the Department of Agriculture.  However, there are many people that object this decision claiming that the genetically modified corn, if cross-pollinated or mixed with corm used for food would lead to the products made with the modified corn to produce side effects. This corn was developed by Syngenta, contains a microbial gene that causes it to produce an enzyme that breaks down corn starch into sugar, the first step toward making ethanol. Manufacturers of Ethanol can buy the enzyme "alpha amylase" which is in liquid form, and add it to the corm to start the process. Syngenta says that the enzyme will be in the corn to breakdown to help reduce the use of water and increase the ethanol output.  The company said they they have made various measures to prevent the modified corn from getting into the food supply. This corm is called Enogen and is the first genetically modified crop to contain a trait that influences the use of the plant after harvest. Usually the traits are to help farmers for pest resistance. The Agricultural Department said the corn met the statutory requirements for approval. The corn is the third recent one in which the Agricultural Department has has to weigh the risk s of the spread of a genetically engineered trait.

The corn that was genetically modified is not for food consumption so as long as it does not get into the food supply, it is fine. This is because the corn is not made for consumption, rather it is to make ethanol. The only problem with this corn is that if it ever did get into the food supply it would most likely pollute the corn that is made for consumption.