{"id":173,"date":"2024-08-28T07:12:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T07:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=173"},"modified":"2024-08-28T07:12:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T07:12:00","slug":"biology-to-the-rescue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=173","title":{"rendered":"Biology to the Rescue?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By KIM BELLARD<\/p>\n

I feel much about synthetic biology as I do AI: I don\u2019t really understand it from a technical point of view, but I sure am excited about its potential. Sometimes they even overlap, as I\u2019ll discuss later. But I\u2019ll start with some recent developments with bioplastics, a topic I have somehow never really covered.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with some work at Washington University (St. Louis) involving, of all things, purple bacteria. In case you didn\u2019t know it \u2013 I certainly didn\u2019t \u2013 purple bacteria \u201care a special group of aquatic microbes renowned for their adaptability and ability to create useful compounds from simple ingredients,\u201d according to the press release<\/a>. The researchers are turning the bacteria into bioplastic factories.<\/p>\n

One study, led by graduate student Eric Connors, showed that two \u201cobscure\u201d species of purple bacteria can produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), a natural polymer that can be purified to make plastics. \u00a0Another study, led by research lab supervisor Tahina Ranaivoarisoa, took another \u201cwell studied but notoriously stubborn\u201d species of purple bacteria to dramatically ramp up its production of PHAs, by inserting a gene that helped turn them into \u201crelative PHA powerhouses.\u201d The researchers are optimistic they could use other bacteria to produce even higher levels of bioplastics.<\/p>\n

The work was done in the lab of associate professor Aripta Bose, who said: \u201cThere\u2019s a huge global demand for bioplastics. They can be produced without adding CO2 to the atmosphere and are completely biodegradable. These two studies show the importance of taking multiple approaches to finding new ways to produce this valuable material.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s worth taking a look at bacteria that we haven\u2019t looked at before,\u201d Mr. Conners said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t come close to realizing their potential.\u201d Professor Bose agrees: \u201cWe hope these bioplastics will produce real solutions down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, researchers at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, led by Sang Yup Lee, have manipulated bacteria to produce polymers that contain \u201cring-like structures,\u201d which apparently make the plastics more rigid and thermally stable.\u00a0 Normally those structures would be toxic to the bacteria, but the researchers managed to enable E. coli bacteria to both tolerate and produce them. \u00a0The researchers believe that the polymer would be especially useful in biomedical applications, such as drug delivery.<\/p>\n

As with the Washington University work, this research is not producing output at scale, but the researchers have good confidence that it can. \u201cIf we put more effort into increasing the yield, then this method might be able to be commercialized at a larger scale,\u201d says Professor Lee. \u201cWe\u2019re working to improve the efficiency of our production process as well as the recovery process, so that we can economically purify the polymers we produce.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because the polymer is produced using biological instead of chemical processes, and is biodegradable, the researchers believe it can be important for the environment. \u201cI think biomanufacturing will be a key to the success of mitigating climate change and the global plastic crisis,\u201d says Professor Lee. \u201cWe need to collaborate internationally to promote bio-based manufacturing so that we can ensure a better environment for our future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Environmental impact is also very much on the minds of researchers at the University of Virginia. They are working on creating biodegradable bioplastics from food waste. \u201cBy creating cost-effective bioplastics that naturally decompose, we can reduce plastic pollution on land and in oceans and address significant issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and economic losses associated with food waste,\u201d said<\/a> lead researcher Zhiwu \u201cDrew\u201d Wang.<\/p>\n

The team is developing microorganisms that convert food waste into fats, which are then processed into bioplastics. Those bioplastics then should easily be composed. \u201cOur first step is to make single-layer film to see if it can be utilized as an actual product,\u201d said<\/a> Chenxi Cao, a senior in packaging and system design. \u201cIf it has good oxygen and water vapor barriers and other properties, we can move to the next step. We aim to replace traditional coated paper products with PHA. Current paper products are often coated with polyethylene or polyactic acid, which are not fully degradable. PHA is fully biodegradable in nature, even in a backyard environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The approach is currently still in the pilot project stage.<\/p>\n

If all that isn\u2019t cool enough, our own bodies may become biofactories, such as to deliver drugs or vaccines. Earlier this year researchers at UT Southwestern reported<\/a> on \u201cin situ production and secretion of proteins,\u201d which in this case targeted psoriasis and two types of cancer.<\/p>\n

The researchers say: \u201cThrough this engineering approach, the body can be utilized as a bioreactor to produce and systemically secrete virtually any encodable protein that would otherwise be confined to the intracellular space of the transfected cell, thus opening up new therapeutic opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of going to the hospital or outpatient clinic\u00a0frequently for infusions, this technology may someday allow a patient to receive a treatment at a pharmacy or even at home once a month, which would be a significant boost to their quality of life,\u201d said study leader Daniel Siegwart, Ph.D.<\/a> Professor Siegwart believes this type of in situ production could eventually improve health and quality of life for patients with inflammatory diseases, cancers, clotting disorders, diabetes, and a range of genetic disorders. \u00a0<\/p>\n

I promised I\u2019d touch on an example of synthetic biology and AI overlapping. Last year I wrote<\/a> about how \u201corganoid intelligence\u201d was a new approach to biocomputing and AI. Earlier this year Swiss firm FinalSpark launched<\/a> its Neuroplatform, which uses 16 human brain organoids as the computing platform, claiming it was: \u201cThe next evolutionary leap for AI.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur principal goal is artificial intelligence for 100,000 times less energy,\u201d FinalSpark co-founder Fred Jordan says<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now FinalSpark is renting<\/a> its biocomputers to AI researchers at several top universities\u2026for only $500 a month. \u201cAs far as I know, we are the only ones in the world doing this\u201d on a publicly rentable platform, Dr. Jordan told Scientific American<\/em><\/a>. Reportedly, around 34 universities requested access, but FinalSpark so far has limited<\/a> use to 9 institutions, including the University of Michigan, the Free University of Berlin, and the Lancaster University in Germany.<\/p>\n

Scientific America<\/em> reports<\/a> related work at Spain\u2019s National Center for Biotechnology, using cellular computing, and at the University of the West of England, using \u2013 I\u2019m serious! \u2013 fungal networks. \u201cFungal computing offers several advantages over brain-organoid-based computing,\u201d Andrew Adamatzky says, \u201cparticularly in terms of ethical simplicity, ease of cultivation, environmental resilience, cost-effectiveness and integration with existing technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bioplastics, biofactories, biocomputing \u2014 pretty cool stuff all around. I\u2019ll admit I don\u2019t know where all of this is leading, but I can\u2019t wait to see where it leads. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By KIM BELLARD I feel much about synthetic biology as I do AI: I don\u2019t really understand it from a technical point of view, but I sure am excited about its potential. Sometimes they even overlap, as I\u2019ll discuss later. But I\u2019ll start with some recent developments with bioplastics, a topic I have somehow never…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}