Advancing in the Biotechnology Industry

 These trends in biotechnology show that today’s biotech professionals need more than just a background in biology, chemistry, or pharmaceutical science to advance their careers. Business skills are critical for managing a research project or technical team, while technology expertise can add real-time analysis to cutting-edge research and development. 

A Master of Science in Biotechnology from Northeastern combines an interdisciplinary and hands-on science curriculum with real-world work experience with leading industry, academic, and government employers. Concentrations include pharmaceutical technology, scientific information management, and manufacturing and quality operations.

Demand for Higher Agricultural Yields

 According to the United Nations, the global population is set to increase by more than 25 percent in the next 30 years, from 7.7 billion in 2019 to 9.7 billion in 2050. A growing population leads to a higher demand for food, both for people and for livestock, and it also puts pressure on the use of land as urban areas expand onto lands used for farming.

These global trends provide opportunities for biotechnology to improve agricultural yields. Gene editing, for example, could produce varieties of wheat or corn that can grow in harsher conditions or produce more grain in a smaller area than other crop varieties while providing the same nutritional value. In addition, the development of biological pesticides has the potential to protect crops without the use of harmful chemicals or environmental damage. 

The Use of Next-Generation Computing Technology

 Technology has always been at the heart of biotech. The emergence of advanced computing technology such as machine learning and artificial intelligence enables companies to expand the scope and scale of their research and improve efficiency in the manufacturing process—both of which reduce the time it takes for biotech firms to bring new products to market.

In medicine, for example, the ability to analyze large data sets helps drugmakers identify treatments based on the cause of a disease. This has the potential to reduce the $2.6 billion price tag and the 90 percent failure rate for developing new drugs.  

In addition, the evolution of cloud computing technology has removed a barrier for many innovations in biotech. The ability to run applications through the cloud allows companies to store and analyze data without buying expensive computer hardware. This benefits early-stage startups, which try to limit operating expenses as much as possible, but it also helps larger and more established companies, as it makes it easier and cheaper to allocate resources for new projects.

United BioPharma gets FDA approval for phase 2 HIV drug trial

Taiwan-headquartered United BioPharma (UBP) says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a phase 2 clinical trial IND submitted by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of NIH. 

The purpose of the study is to assess the safety and antiviral activity of UB-421 in combination with optimized background ART in HIV-1 infected patients with multi-drug resistance (MDR). 

The study protocol is entitled: “A Single arm Open Label Phase 2 trial of anti-CD4 Antibody UB-421 in Combination with Optimized Background Antiretroviral Therapy in Patients with Multi-Drug Resistant HIV-1 Infection.” 

In the NIAID/NIH-sponsored trial, UBP will be responsible for supplying the investigational drug, UB-421.

About the United BioPharma and NIAID partnership

United BioPharma has been collaborating with NIAID since 2015 to study the properties of UB-421 for treatment of HIV. The efficacy of UB-421 against HIV clinical isolates resistant to HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies, entry inhibitors, and other antiretroviral drugs is well documented, the company said. 

“We are excited for the NIAID to recognize the effectiveness of UB-421 through extensive collaborative studies, and to sponsor a phase 2 clinical trial in multi-drug resistant HIV patients.” said Shugene Lynn, CEO and president of United BioPharma.

The treatment of HIV-1 infection with antiretroviral therapy (ART) has significantly decreased HIV-1-related mortality and transformed HIV-1 infection into a treatable chronic disease. Successive generations of ART agents have shown improved efficacy and tolerability while minimizing drug-related toxicities.

However, the ability of HIV-1 to develop resistance to multiple classes of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs continues to present challenges to the treatment of some ARV treatment-experienced patients.

MDR HIV-1 has been associated with a higher risk of disease progression and death. Therefore, new agents and drug classes are necessary to keep up with ongoing viral mutations in an attempt to achieve sustained suppression of HIV-1 plasma viremia, and to prolong the life of those with MDR HIV infection, as well as to prevent viral replication and transmission of such MDR strains. Drugs with novel mechanism of action, such as UB-421, are of particular interest because empirical resistance is unlikely.

About UB-421

UB-421 is an Fc-aglycosylated, non-T cell depleting and CD4-specific humanized IgG1 derived from the parent murine B4, which binds to discontinuous, conformational epitopes on the HIV-receptor complex, including CD4 (domain 1), and competitively blocks HIV entry. 

Both the murine and humanized mAbs bind to CD4+ T cells with approximately 50-100-fold higher affinity than HIV-gp120. UB-421 has been shown to inhibit viral entry with viral load reduction potency in phase 1 and phase 2a clinical studies involving treatment-naïve HIV-infected patients. 

In the phase 2 study with ART-stabilized HIV-infected patients, UB-421 monotherapy maintained viral suppression for up to 16 weeks without viral rebound in the absence of ART. UB-421 is currently in the stage of phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials for ART substitution, treatment of multi-drug resistant HIV as well as proof-of-concept study of HIV functional cure. 

industrial visit

 

Department of Biotechnology Students went  Industrial visit to Annamalai University on 30.08.2022 and learned various species of marine organisms. 

MICROPLASTICS

 

Microplastics are small plastic particles smaller than 5 mm, and plastic particles smaller than 1 µm are defined as nanoplastics. Microplastic particles exist in water, are consumed by living things, and can affect human health. Currently, microplastics are detected in various areas, such as streams, rivers, seas, drinking water, and even food in the world. Microplastics can be divided into two parts: primary microplastics and secondary microplastics. Primary microplastic is defined as plastic made of 5 mm or less according to a specific purpose, and it is often included in toothpaste, face wash, cosmetics, industrial abrasives and 3D-printer particles. Secondary microplastics were large at the time of production and manufacturing, but the large plastics were crushed or degraded through physical, chemical, and biological weathering, due to the environment, and became microplastics, such as straw foam and mulching vinyl. As such, pollution from microplastics are becoming a serious problem around the world, and many studies on microplastics such as distribution, toxicity, analysis, and removal are being conducted by many researchers. Among the 192 countries of the world, 44 countries have carried out research regarding microplastics; the studies looking at the impacts on organisms have mostly targeted fish (38%), whereas few studies on other highly affected organisms, such as turtles (1%), have been conducted. The main sources of microplastics in flash water are from domestic and industrial sewage, sea littering, and runoff water. Household sewage contains many microplastic particles in cosmetics and detergents used in everyday life, which is mainly introduced into sewage when washing faces or showers. Industrial sewage mainly flows from the plastics industry, such as plastic pellets and abrasives used in the manufacture of plastic products.

Many countries around the world treat their sewage using adequate water treatment methods. The sewage treatment plant removes many microplastics contained in sewage, but nano-sized microplastics still remains in the treated sewage water. Therefore, microplastics are continuously discharged into the surface water by domestic, industrial, and agricultural processes. Microplastics exposed to surface water are mainly introduced into the sea through rivers or streams and accumulate downstream or in sediments, mainly showing a high degree of microplastic pollution. In seawater, plastic fragments are worn out by extreme environments, such as waves and salinity, and are absorbed in various ways by marine creatures and salt, etc., and are finally swallowed by humans

Trends in Biotechnology

 Biotech is disrupting how we approach health, medicine, and agriculture. Even without the impact of COVID-19, several trends in biotech have propelled rapid innovation. 

Industry expansion has followed such innovation. The global biotechnology market is currently valued at 752.8 Billion — and growing. The development of breakthrough health initiatives from biotech will transform our future as we tackle global problems including disease, environmental pollution, and food management.

Understanding these trends in biotechnology can help companies capitalize on the explosive growth potential of the industry. But before you can harness the potential of these new technologies and practices, it is essential to understand the context and challenges around biotech. 

This article will cover the trends in biotech that are set to change the world.

WHAT IS BIOTECH?

Biotech is a field of technology that implements biomolecular and cellular processes in the creation of healthcare, food, and fuel products. 

The usage of biological systems and organisms is not new — humans have relied on microorganisms for thousands of years to create items like yogurt, bread, alcohol, and cheese. 

The 1970s ushered in an era of genetic engineering, giving rise to biotech based on DNA modification. As the demand for biotech advancements and genetic sequencing activity continues to expand, the industry projects a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.8% between 2021 and 2028. 

There are three primary sectors of biotech:

Biotech in Medicine

Pharmaceuticals, therapies, genetics, and clinical research are all examples of medicinal biotech applications. These fields use nature's organic "toolbox" to improve health outcomes for people. For example, there are now more than 250 biotechnology health care products available for previously untreatable conditions. Biotech in medicine can:

• Reduce infectious disease rates
• Change the probabilities of life-threatening conditions emerging for people around the world
• Create treatments specific to the individual to minimize health risk
• Help those with illnesses in the developing world

Biotech in Industry

Biofuels, paper, and chemicals are all examples of biotech used in industry. By utilizing biological processes, the energy and manufacturing sectors can leverage yeast, enzymes, microbes, and other biocatalysts to manufacture microscopic solutions. Biotech involves using these biocatalysts to:

• Improve chemical manufacturing efficiency
• Lower the cost of cleaning clothes through temperature reductions
• Save money on manufacturing operation costs
• Minimize industry reliance on petrochemicals
• Reduce greenhouse gases via the use of biofuels
• Lower water usage and waste

Biotech in Agriculture

Sustainable farming and crop insect-resistance are examples of biotech in agriculture. These applications rely on existing microorganisms to modify and enhance agricultural products, making them safer and more efficient to produce. 

Worldwide, biotech in agriculture is anticipated to grow by $25.3 billion between 2021 and 2025. Agricultural biotech can help:

• Produce more crop yield with fewer resources
• Aid the environment by reducing the chemicals and runoff from crop production
• Create more resilient crops without the use of pesticides
• Alleviate vitamin and nutritional deficiencies to improve crops
• Alter the oil content in food to reduce heart health risks
• Create food without mycotoxins or allergens

New biotech innovations arise every day, and the industry will continue to grow as humans seek to surpass biological challenges with specific research-based solutions.

TRENDS IN BIOTECH

Biotech is undergoing a global evolution. The most notable innovations in biotech involve personalized medicine, drug research, artificial intelligence, big data, and synthetic biology. 

Let’s take a closer look at these growing trends in biotech.

Personalized Medicine

Personalized medicine is growing as a result of the reduced time and cost. The first genome sequencing project that began in 1990 took about 13 years — and $2.7 billion — to complete. Today, you can buy a quick at-home genome sequencing test for around $299.  

With personalized biotechnology, medical professionals can analyze genetics to identify medical risks in patients. By basing medical innovation on genetic sequencing, doctors develop unique, tailor-made health solutions. 

Another benefit of personalized medicine is that it uses data compiled from screened clinical trials, enabling medical professionals to create individual treatment and therapy from those insights. An increase in personalized therapy is advantageous for general treatment as it identifies medical issues at their source: the patient's molecular and genetic profile.

For instance, personalized cancer treatment for leukemia (blood cancer) called CAR T-cell therapy targets immune cells, stimulating the immune system to target tumors.

Drug Research

Drug research is one of the most promising biotech trends due to advancements in smart technology. Traditionally, drug research faced challenges with getting enough participants for trials, and long production timelines that can run into years. Machine learning technology presents immense possibilities for drug research, as well as ways to improve and assess diagnosis and treatment with medications.  

Just as telehealth provides a bridge over time and space to speed up triaging without patients having to physically visit a doctor, biotechnology accelerates drug production timelines without drugmakers having to actually get thousands of participants to complete clinical trials. 

Biotech companies can quickly analyze data from current trials and revisit data from previous trials. This analysis and ability to combine vast datasets offers the insight needed to provide a more accurate diagnosis, and ultimately, devise enhanced medicines and treatment paths for patients. 

A prime example is aducanumab, the medicine that many hope will cure Alzheimer’s disease. After a setback in March 2021, the drugmaker Biogen reported “a larger dataset for the EMERGE trial had become available, and that analysis of this dataset had shown a significant reduction in clinical decline.”

MRI scans and other in-patient monitoring devices provide medical professionals with more objective data that allows them to develop better drug treatments for patients. Biotech advances have made clinical trials less of a manual process, so drug manufacturers have lower costs when recruiting fewer in-person patients for trials.

With the digitization of clinical trials, biotech companies can combine genetic and biometric information to determine underlying causes of conditions such as heart disease.

INDUSTRIAL VISIT

 I B.Sc Biotechnology Students visited Genewin Biotech, Hosur on 21.06.2022

Regulatory Affairs and Pharmacovigilance

 2022 is set to be thrilling for regulatory and pharmacovigilance processes, with a focus on enhancing processes with technological innovations like AI, ML, and RPA. There will be an increased need to step up technologies with a risk of becoming obsolete otherwise. Service providers who are agile and swift in moving towards such advancements will forge better partnerships and drive growth for the next few years. The regulatory affairs outsourcing market from 2021-2026 is expected to grow by 4.63 Billion USD, reflecting exciting times for the BPO market. The conduct of clinical trials in Europe will also see a significant change with the Clinical Trials Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 536/2014) expected to come into effect from 31st January 2022. According to this regulation, a Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) will now ensure supervision and assessment of clinical trials in Europe.

Industrial Visit to Chennai

 Students from III B. Sc Biotechnology & I M.Sc Biotechnology went Industrial Visit to Madras Veterinary College on 13.04.2022

Industrial Visit

Students from 2nd year Biotechnology went industrial visit to National Research Centre for Banana on 08.04.2022

Novel treatment target for heart disease found in the blood vessel wall

 A molecule of RNA called CARMN has been found in abundance in the healthy smooth muscle cells that help give our blood vessels strength and flexibility, and distinctly decreased in vascular diseases like atherosclerosis, a major cause of heart attack and stroke, scientists report.

Their findings in human tissue and confirmed in rodent models of vascular disease, provide new insight into how smooth muscle cells in our blood vessel walls go from enabling a sound passageway for blood flow to instead enabling plaque development in places like our coronary arteries and/or reclosure of those arteries following common treatments including angioplasty and stent placement.

They also potentially point to a new approach to avoiding both, that could one day include adding CARMN to drug-eluting stents, which are currently coated with antiproliferative drugs to help deter the unhealthy cell proliferation and scar formation that may result from their placement.

"If you have a low level of CARMN, it mostly likely predisposes you to a higher susceptibility to get atherosclerosis or angioplasty- induced restenosis," says Dr. Jiliang Zhou, vascular biologist in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. "If CARMN is downregulated, it will induce or trigger those smooth muscle cells to become unhealthy or diseased."

When the scientists restored healthy CARMN levels in models of common vascular disease, unhealthy cell proliferation and scar formation inside blood vessels were dramatically diminished, and when they removed CARMN from smooth muscle cells, the damage response was exaggerated, leaving little room for blood to flow, they report in the journal Circulation. Many of us likely think about RNA making proteins, and which proteins the RNA makes determine a gene's function. Less-studied noncoding RNAs don't make proteins but do help regulate cells, and have been shown to have a role in many different normal body functions as well as disease states like cancer. So the scientists decided to look at what was happening with long noncoding RNA in vascular disease and that's where CARMN stood out.

Senior postdoctoral fellow Dr. Kunzhe Dong, the study's first author, led analysis of large-scale human datasets of RNA sequencing of multiple tissue and cell types to find the long-noncoding RNAs -- literally the longest of the noncoding RNAs -- that were abundant in smooth muscle cells and might have a role in their activity. The datasets enabled them to compare expression in healthy and changed, or modulated, cells in a single individual.

CARMN emerged as the sole long noncoding RNA consistently abundant in human smooth muscle cells, and subsequent studies of mouse tissues showed the same. Inside those cells, corresponding author Zhou and his colleagues saw CARMN bind to and increase the activity of myocardin, a protein and potent activator of genes critical to the differentiation of smooth muscle cells.

"They need each other to potentiate the function of each other," Zhou says. CARMN is the first non-coding RNA found to interact with myocardin in a relationship that appears specific and essential to smooth muscle cells.

The new data indicate CARMN's roles include helping regulate the response of vascular smooth muscle cells to injury, like those unavoidably sustained during common procedures like angioplasty, in which invasive cardiologists use balloons, lasers, even drills to restore blood flow through diseased arteries, and often place stents, wire-mesh cylindrical-shaped structures, inside blood vessels to help maintain that blood passage.

Smooth muscle cells likely are trying to help repair the injury, but they are known to become less contractile and more proliferative as part of their injury response. In some individuals they appear to overreact, which can result in reclosure or at least renarrowing of an artery following angioplasty and/or stent placement.

In their current laboratory studies, for example, 14 days after a balloon injury was induced, similar to what happens in angioplasty, they found CARMN expression significantly reduced compared to levels in a control artery. And, when they genetically knocked down natural CARMN levels in smooth muscle cells, cell proliferation and migration as well as scar formation inside the artery, called the neointima, were significantly increased, they write.

Conversely, when they used the infective power of the respiratory illness inducing adenovirus to deliver more CARMN directly to the injury site, it decreased the obstructions.

The scientists used a green fluorescent protein knock-in reporter mouse model, to look at how and where CARMN expression changed. When Zhou looks at the cell contents of diseased human or animal coronary arteries he sees essentially the same population of cell types and sees major CARMN expression is pretty much limited to the smooth muscle cells. That expression pattern provides great evidence of CARMN's importance to smooth muscle cells and, if the work leads to treatments that enhance CARMN expression, will likely limit any side effects, Zhou notes.

CARMN levels may even help determine initial disease risk, Zhou says. While more work is needed, CARMN levels are known to vary between individuals and animals, he says. While it's also known that a high-fat, high-cholesterol Western diet contributes to blood vessel disease in the heart, brain and legs, Zhou has some evidence it also decreases natural levels of CARMN. They found CARMN levels also decreased in human arteries in the brain that had aneurysms, a weak point in the vessel wall.

He and his colleagues are exploring that association further, and want to also answer questions like whether exercise can increase CARMN levels and whether aging decreases them, as he expects they do.

Smooth muscle cells are the major contractile component of blood vessel walls as well as many other "hollow" organs like the bladder and intestines, they write.

In addition to the smooth muscle cells, the scientists also found CARMN was transiently expressed in the heart cells, or cardiomyocytes, during heart development of both mice and humans, and slightly expressed following development in fibroblasts, a major cell type in connective tissue important to wound healing, and a component of artery walls. CARMN also was found in pericytes, a type of smooth muscle cell found in smaller blood vessels. But in healthy smooth muscle cells, CARMN is always present and expressed at high levels, Zhou says.

The research was supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and an Established Investigator Award and Transformational Project Award from the American Heart Association to Zhou.

Dr. Dong is also supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association

DEPARTMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY,

 

Student from 2nd year Biotechnology won prize in speech competition

Research sheds light on mysterious messenger RNA modifications

 A team led by scientists at the University of Birmingham has come a step closer to uncovering the purpose of a distinctive set of modifications found at the beginning of messenger RNA which have long remained a fundamental mystery in molecular biology.

Messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are vital for protein production. Their specific structure at the beginning of the chain, called a cap, has two main functions. It protects the mRNA from breaking down, but also it plays a key role in the way the messenger RNA produces proteins.

In addition to the cap structure, the first few nucleotides of an mRNA can carry small decorations called methylation. These occur in animals as well as in some of their parasites like SARS viruses and trypanosomes, but their purpose has remained enigmatic.

Although scientists have known about these mRNA modification for more than 45 years, its effect on the function of mRNA has not been well understood. This is because scientists have not been able to show what happens when this methylation in mRNA is 'knocked out', or removed from animal model organisms.

In a new study, published in Nature Communications, researchers from the Universities of Birmingham, Oxford, Nottingham and Warwick succeeded in creating a knockout model using fruit flies (Drosophila) by removing two key genes. That means they were able to show what happens when the flies don't have the two enzymes used in the methylation process.

They found that, although the modified flies did still live, the two enzymes played an important role in the animals' reward learning process. These flies showed a defect in their ability to learn the association of a specific odour with a sugar reward.

Lead author Dr Matthias Soller from the School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham says: "The study shows us that mRNA modifications have important functions in the brain. Even though these flies are alive, they are not very capable of learning essential survival skills."

The research builds on work previously done by one of the paper's co-authors, Professor Rupert Fray at the University of Nottingham, who found that cap modifications are highly dynamic in mice.

The team discovered that these modifications played a role in transporting the mRNAs to synapses -- the site of communication between neurons.

Professor Scott Waddell from the Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour at Oxford University said: "This learning phenotype opens many new questions. Although we do not yet know the detailed nature of the underlying neuronal dysfunction, it is reminiscent of the genetic disease associated with Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein FMRP, which also involves RNA biology and is known to produce defects in synapse development and plasticity."

Dr Irmgard Haussmann from Birmingham City University adds: "Analysing the cap modifications is very challenging and further technical hurdles need to be taken to look at modifications in specific mRNAs."

"This is highly relevant as SARS and other viruses that have their own cap methylation enzyme, but it is not really understood what role this plays in virus-host interactions," adds Dr Nathan Archer from the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Sciences.

The next step for the team will be to investigate in more detail the mechanism by which the modified mRNA is able to influence protein expression relevant to reward learning and virus propagation.

Field Visit

 Field Visit to Arivuthottam By Biotechnology Department Students on 24-12-2021