december 2013 volume 2, issue 2 mepco schlenk · pdf filedevelop experimental protocol /...
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Department of Biotechnology
Advancements 3
Articles 4
Articles 5
Articles 6
Articles 7
Articles 8
Articles 9
December 2013 Volume 2, Issue 2
Mepco Schlenk Engineering College
Biotechnology Association
Vision :
Impart strong theoretical
background in the fundamental
concepts of biology and
chemical engineering .
Train students to be methodical
and systematic and to pursue
laboratory experiments with
utmost care and purpose .
Expose students to modern
tools of biotechnology research
Mission :
To enable students to acquire
specialized skills in core aspects of
engineering and life sciences and
apply them for the development of
innovative technology .
To transform the department into a
full-fledged research facility by
developing infrastructure to pursue
research in cutting edges of
biotechnology .
To train students to realize
enormous responsibility of being a
biotechnologist to serve society
taking cognizance of ethical and
environmental responsibilities .
Vision and Mission of the Department :
Program Educational Objectives :
Understand and apply the concepts of biology , chemical engineering and related aspects
of science and technology to pursue higher studies / biotechnology oriented profession .
Identify , analyze and solve the problems with novelty and updated their knowledge in
product / process / techniques development to meet the social demands .
Demonstrate professional and ethical attitude with awareness of current issues and think
about the social entailment of their work especially its impact on safety , health and
environment .
Effectively communicate technical information facilitating collaboration with the experts
across different disciplines and execute multi-disciplinary projects .
Participate in team oriented , open ended activities aiding constructive thinking and
recognize the value of continuing education .
Apply the acquired practical skills and broad biotechnological training to excel in
entrepreneurship , teaching , research and development .
Program Outcomes :
Applications of fundamentals of physical , chemical concepts and mathematics in
biotechnology .
Showing originality and innovation in designing experiments ability to think critically to
analyze results and discussions of the experimental outcome in detail .
Develop experimental protocol / methodology / process to achieve set of objectives within
constrains of biosafety .
Adopt , grasp and absorb knowledge across disciplines and ability to integrate within
research ideas of biotechnology .
Troubleshoot experimental problems with intellectual agility .
Disposing professional and ethical responsibility .
Articulating concepts , hypothesis and problems eloquently.
Understanding implications of biotechnology in social context .
Realizing significance of life-long learning by evincing in specialized areas of
biotechnology.
Keeping updated with contemporary issues facilitating multi-dimensional learning
process .
Being inquisitive in understanding in cutting areas of biotechnology .
Ability to plan , act and perform in consonance with set carrier goals and objectives .
“Live ne ither in the
past nor in the
future, but let each
day’s work absorb
all your interest,
energy and
enthus iasm”
-Sir Wi l l iam Os ler
Page 3 Department of Biotechnology
Culturing animal cells invitro is one of the major tools used in biotechnology for
studying the physiology and metabolism of normal cells and cancer cells as well as for testing
the effect of drugs and toxic compounds on cells. Though researchers have been culturing cells
for more than hundred years cells are typically cultured in petri dishes or flasks in two
dimensional layers. These cells do behave the same as the cells inside our body. In vivo cells
grow three-dimensionally and form tissue that consists of cells that have changed their structure
to perform a specific function in the body and other components, called matrix, that the
specialized cells secrete. In vitro cells do not specialize, or differentiate. This poses obvious
limits to researchers who want to understand mechanisms that govern cell behavior and tissue
formation.
Hence researchers in NASA‘s Johnson Space Centre(JSC) discovered a new innovative
way of culturing cells three-dimensionally. They had a theory that if cells could be grown
without the influence of Earth's gravity, they would not settle to the bottom of the culturing
container; rather, they would be suspended in the media and therefore might assemble and form
tissue that more closely resembles tissue in the body.
The simulated growth of mammalian cells in tissue culture needed to duplicate the
quiet conditions of orbital free-fall in a way that allowed for maintaining fresh media and
oxygen. To solve the problem, researchers in NASA in the 1980s developed the bioreactor, a
can-like vessel equipped with a membrane for gas exchange and ports for media exchange and
sampling. This is known as High Aspect Ratio Vessel (HARV) .
As the bioreactor turns, the cells continually fall through the medium yet never hit
bottom. Under these quiet conditions, the cells "self assemble" to form clusters that sometimes
grow and differentiate much as they would in the body. Devised a new reactor vessel High
Aspect Ratio Vessel (HARV) for this purpose. It is a bioreactor about the size of a soup can was
rotated using an electric drill
Applications:
Our body tissues can be cultured three dimensionally for research and transplantations.
The tissue samples grown in the rotating bioreactor are being used to design therapeutic
drugs or antibodies.
Culturing of several infectious agents that are difficult to grow and control in a culture
setting for studying their virulence.
Researchers at the joint Center have also had success culturing the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) in full dynamic process, which should provide a new
perspective on the disease and on possible treatments.
A company called VivoRx is currently using the rotating bioreactor to culture the
differentiated pancreatic cells, which are then encapsulated in treated seaweed membranes to
make them acceptable to the human immune system. Once transplanted, the cells secrete the
appropriate amount of insulin for regulating the body's blood sugar levels.
Bioreactors have been used aboard the Mir Space Station to grow larger cultures than even
terrestrial-bioreactors can support. Several cancer types, including breast and colon cancer
cells, have been studied in this manner. Continued research using the NASA Bioreactor is
planned aboard the International Space Station.
High aspect ratio reactor vessel HARV:
"Great thoughts
speak only to the
thoughtful mind, but
great actions speak
to all
mankind." - Emily P.
Bissell
Page 4 Department of Biotechnology
The casein content of milk represents about 80% of milk protein. It is responsible for
the white, opaque appearance of milk in which it is combined with calcium as clusters of casein
molecules called 'micelles'. The formation of micelle depends on temperature. Caseins are used
in food industries (mainly in cheese production) because of its emulsifying property.
Emulsifying property is because of β-casein fraction. Generally food industries spent lot on
maintaining cooling conditions to enable emulsification as the micelle formation is temperature
sensitive. So β- casein is engineered to introduce double or single cysteine residue to form
intra/inter disulfide bridge. Therefore its micellization property is achieved even upto to 50°C.
Creation of semi-dwarf variety of White ponni rice plant A boon to
farmers G. Jothi lakshmi 2 n d M.Tech
Biofuel from Microalgae – “A Boon to modern society” J. Indumathi 2 n d M.Tech
Hike in petroleum cost as well as global warming and climatic change creates an urge
for us to research on effective alternative fuel source. The need for biofuel is increasing day by
day. Biofuel was initially extracted from food based crops namely sugarcane, wheat etc. but the
process is time consuming and also a large amount of food crops were wasted. Then to
overcome those disadvantages it shifted to non-food based crops such as wood, leaves, straw
etc. But still the demand was not able to meet. So there come the Microalgae a perfect
alternative for all existing non- renewable resources so far. They are considered to be a rich
source for carbohydrate and also negligible lignin content so that it can be easily treated to
extract ethanol. The process behind the biofuel extraction from microalgae is not a tedious one
to perform. Conversion of biomass from microalgae into biofuel could also be economically
feasible since some algae hydrolysates can contain more total carbohydrate and hexoses sugars
than some terrestrial, lignocellulosic biomass feedstock. In the United States, ethanol is actually
used in two forms: mixed with gasoline in maximum proportion of 10% or in mixtures
containing 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, as an alternative fuel. Biofuel production from algae
has great potential for sustainable development. However, there have been difficulties in order
to widely commercialize biofuel as an alternative to petroleum based fuels, and it needs more
studies in the future to resolve these troubles
India is an agricultural country. Farmers are the Backbone of India. Rice is the world's
most diverse crop which serves as food for half of the world's population. It is the most
important crop to millions of small farmers who grow it. White Ponni, a hybrid variety is
widely cultivated in states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The yield of ponni rice is about
45 quintals per hectare but loss due to lodging is almost equal to half of its yield. Lodging
usually occurs in grain crops when plant is mature and with filled grain heads due to the action
of wind, rain. The farmers suffer a lot due to lodging loss. Lodging problem can be overcome
by controlling the plant height and thereby supporting the backbone of India.
Gibberellins are found to be the major plant hormone that promotes the plant height.
Gibberellin biosynthesis can be disrupted and so a significant reduction in plant height was
noticed and upon treatment with active gibberellins, plant height is restored. The gibberellin
content is lowered by targeting the mRNA of the gene encoding gibberellin oxidase, an enzyme
that catalyzes the limiting step in gibberellin biosynthesis. This fact is utilized to reduce the
plant height for producing a semi-dwarf variety of White Ponni plant that can resist lodging.
This will be helpful for the farmers for improving the rice yield without any loss due to lodging.
Engineering of caseins – Enhanced cheese production S.Ananthi 4th B.Tech
“We will
either find a
way,or make
one”
-Hannibal
Page 5 Volume 2, Issue 2
Is it 1 / 2/ 3/ 4? What could it be? Ooosh! I am totally perplexed.....
Characterisation of novel dengue viral strain D.Febe Brightlin 2nd M.Tech
“Great things are
not done by
impulse,but by a
series of small
things brought
together”
-Vincent Van Gogh
Dengue is fast emerging pandemic-prone viral disease that flourishes rapidly in tropical
and subtropical countries. Dengue is the most important arthropod-borne viral disease of public
health significance. The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the primary vector of dengue. The incidence
of dengue has grown dramatically around the world in recent decades. Over 2.5 billion people –
over 40% of the world's population – are now at risk from dengue. In a small proportion of cases
the disease develops into the life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever, resulting in bleeding, low
levels of blood platelets and blood plasma leakage, or into dengue shock syndrome, where
dangerously low blood pressure occurs. Dengue virus is a member of the flavivirus family.
Dengue virus is a positive sense, single stranded RNA genome of approximately 11Kb which is
packaged in a relatively small enveloped virion that is 50 nm in diameter.
There are four distinct, but closely related, serotypes of the virus that cause dengue
(DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4). Recovery from infection by one provides lifelong
immunity against that particular serotype. However, cross-immunity to the other serotypes after
recovery is only partial and temporary. Subsequent infections by other serotypes increase the risk
of developing severe dengue. This has made us in trying to get more information in terms of the
clinical data that we have in order for us to zoom down and see whether it's focused and localised
to a certain locality. In this research, the serum samples yielding virus isolates were drawn within
1 week after onset of symptoms, which included fever, headache, muscular pain, rash, and
nausea.NS1 antigen detection is considered to be the first line for the diagnosis of acute dengue
virus infection, which was confirmed by using commercially available diagnostic kits. Vero cells
were used because it is the best suited cell line upon dengue infection. Vero cells were therefore
cultured and infected. The virus, thus obtained will be purified to complete homogeneity. The
viral RNA will be extracted to develop cDNA. The genomic component of the dengue virus will
be characterised further to identify the viral strain. Thereby, the study would demonstrate
extensive DENV serotype cocirculation and be helpful to predict the disease profile in future
dengue outbreaks in the areas were the sample is collected.
―Daytime mosquitoes endless chase
Ruins the life of human race
Why not one plan to characterise
In forthcoming days (Day:1/2/3/4)
The novel dengue viral strain
The serotype (DV:1/2/3/4)”
That exists down the lane”
Page 6 Department of Biotechnology
A Rapid, Cost-Effective Method of Assembly and Purification of Synthetic
DNA probes >100 bp H.Kavitha 4th B.Tech
Diagnos is of tuberculosis by Fus ion Proteins M.SivaSankar 2 n d M.Tech
“Action is
the product
of the
qualities
inherent in
nature”
Tuberculosis is a well-known infectious disease in human beings caused by
Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Currently new strategies are developed to replace the BCG
with safe and effective tuberculosis vaccine which provides a longer duration of
protection. The new tests evaluate the producttion of INF-γ by cells stimulated with two
specific M. tuberculosis antigens (CFP-10 and ESAT-6). CFP10 from M. tuberculosis is a
well characterized immunodominant (14KDa) protein antigen known to elicit a very po-
tent early gamma interferon response in T-cells from M. tuberculosis. ESAT-6 is another
protein secreted by M. tuberculosis and it is small 6KDa protein. It is released from the
bacteria by specialized secreted system and forms a complex with other protein. The
fusion of CFP-10 and ESAT-6 is more immunogenic and gives higher level of protection
than the individual antigens. INF-γ is currently used as a biomarker for tuberculosis
vaccine, but INF-γ alone is not sufficient for protection against tuberculosis. The fusion of
an epitope to a large carrier molecule coat protein could enhance the immunogenicity and
the stability of the epitope. These recombinant fusion proteins (CFP10, ESAT6 and INF-
γ) can be used as a diagnostic tool for tuberculosis.
Synthetic DNA probes are much needed in the molecular biology and genetic
engineering researches. The conventional means of chemical synthesis of probes are
expensive and much tedious in work. As an alternative researchers recently found the
application of fast link DNA ligase in synthesis of synthetic probes. It a rapid, cost-effective
method of generating molecular DNA probes in just under 15 minutes without the need for
expensive, time-consuming gel-extraction steps. Enzymatically concatenated six variable
strands (50 bp) with a common strand sequence (51 bp) in a single pool using Fast-Link
DNA ligase produced 101 bp targets (10 min). Unincorporated species were then filtered
out by passing the crude reaction through a size-exclusion column(<5min). Then compared
full-length product yield of crude and purified samples using HPLC analysis; the results of
which clearly show this method yields three-quarters that of the crude sample (50% higher
than by gel-extraction). Moreover, for large-scale assays, this method is also fully
automated with the use of robotics such as the Biomek FX . Here potentially thousands of
samples could be pooled, ligated and purified in either a in just minutes.
Saviour of Backbone of India- Integrated plant nutrient system through
effective microbes P.Maheswari 2nd M.Tech
Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy. 70% of population is dependent on
agriculture. World‘s population is assumed to increase from 7 billion in 2000 to 8.3 billion
in 2025. Food demand will also increase accompanied by population increase. Fertilizers
are important to improve crop yield and soil fertility. But applied chemical fertilizers are
lost due to leaching and it leads to environmental pollution. Biofertilizers play an important
role in plant growth and maintenance of soil fertility. But biofertilizers have shorter shelf
life, higher contamination and uneven distribution. Panchagavya is a promising source of
simple and less expensive plant nutrients. The integrated use of chemical fertilizer in a slow
release form along with panchagavya would be a promising fertilizer.
Dengue fever otherwise called as ―Breakbone fever‖ is a mosquito borne disease
caused by four serotypes of dengue virus. The two primary vectors of dengue virus is Aedes
aegypticus and Aedes albopictus. Recovery from infection by one serotype provides lifelong
immunity against that serotype but confers only partial and transient protection against
subsequent infection by the other three serotypes of dengue virus. It is essential to know
about the cellular modifications taking place after the infection by dengue virus. The
ultimate goal of this study is to elucidate the virus-cell interaction by two dimensional gel
electrophoresis which helps in analyzing the entire protein complement present in the
genome.
Viruses could be grown only in living cells. Vero cells isolated from African green
monkey kidney were found to be ideal and permissive for dengue viral infection. These cells
were grown under appropriate laboratory conditions and were infected with dengue virus for
the analysis of protein expression patterns in both the dengue infected and uninfected normal
cell lines. This cell-virus interaction reveals the basic idea about the components that are
required for viral replication as well as the host restriction factors raised against the virus.
Cellular response to dengue viral infection plays an important role in bringing about
immunopathological changes in the cell which in turn will provoke the immune system to
trigger an effective immune response against the virus in which powerful antagonist; the
proteins play a major defensive role thus leading to the virus clearance from the cell.
Extensive protein profiling methodology of two dimensional gel analysis was
performed by harvesting the infected and uninfected cells and a comparative study was done
by analyzing the protein expression patterns before infection and the modifications taking
place after the infection particularly concentrating the analysis of defensive proteins that has
been raised inorder to cease the activity of virus resulting in viral clearance from the cell
Following the traditional method (using random mutagenesis) of producing the
amino acid overproducing strain was difficult as it was tedious to follow the mutations
done and also there were problems of by-product formation. The most suitable way is to
engineer the metabolic pathways of E.coli as the mutations done are well defined.
Furthermore it will also be easy to keep in track of the mutations. Eg. Deletion of genes
responsible for Threonine degradation leads to accumulation of large amount of
threonine. And the accumulated Threonine was exported by overexpressing the
Threonine exporting genes. The added advantage is that the strain could be still more
developed to overexpress the aminoacid by further altering the metabolic pathway.
Page 7 Volume 2, Issue 2
Systems metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for L-threonine
production M.Priyanka 4th B.Tech
Identification and characterization of defensive proteins expressed in vero cells in
response to dengue viral infection B.Nageshwari 2nd M.Tech
"There is no one giant
step that does it. It's a lot
of little steps." - Peter A.
Cohen
Abiotic stress, such as high salinity and drought is the most common
challenge for sustainable food production in large parts of the world, in particular
in emerging countries. The ongoing and expected global climate change will
further increase these challenges in many areas, making improved stress resistance
of crops a key topic for the 21st Century. Proteomics, genomics and metabolomics
are methods allowing for the rapid and complete analysis of the complete
physiology of crop plants. This knowledge in turn, is the prerequisite for
improvements of crop resistance against abiotic stress through genetic
engineering.
Improving Crop Resistance to Abiotic Stress is a double-volume, up-to-
date overview of current progress in improving crop quality and quantity using
modern methods such as proteomics, genomics and metabolomics. Abiotic
stresses usually cause protein dysfunction. Maintaining proteins in their functional
conformations and preventing the aggregation of non-native proteins are
particularly important for cell survival under stress. Heat-shock proteins (Hsps)/
chaperones are responsible for protein folding, assembly, translocation and
degradation in many normal cellular processes, stabilization of proteins and
membranes, and can assist in protein refolding under stress conditions. They can
play a crucial role in protecting plants against stress by re-establishing normal
protein conformation and thus cellular homeostasis.
Recent studies have shown that the response of the plants to combination
of stresses could not be extrapolated from the response towards individual
stresses. Thus the future research on development of transgenic crops focus on the
combinatorial effects of stresses different stress conditions
The advent of new technologies made the life of man more sophisticated.
The world is now too small and the previously considered luxuries are now
becoming mandatory in most people life. Yet the dark side of these developments
are increasing pollution, fresh water depletion and global warming. The urgent need
to protect and create a sustainable environment is a cleaner, faster, cheaper and more
effective technology in waste water treatment. The organic matter present in waste
water increases the BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) resulting in death of aquatics
if released untreated into water bodies.
In this regard researchers have found a method called ‗Direct membrane
filtration (DMF). In this methodology a microfiltration membrane was investigated
to capture organic matter. The advantage of this method is that membrane fouling
can be controlled in DMF of domestic wastewater. It was also possible to achieve
stable continue membrane filtration with relatively high membrane fluxes by
applying chemically enhanced backwash (CEB) to recover organic matter.
Further chemical membrane cleaning could completely restore membrane
permeability, indicating the possibility of a much longer operation of DMF.
Selection of chemical reagents used for CEB was found to influence the amount of
organic matter recovered by DMF.
Page 8 Department of Biotechnology
Caption describing picture
or graphic.
Waste water treatment- Direct membrane filtration
C.Sri Sakthi 4th B.Tech
"The man who
follows the
crowd will
usually get no
further than the
crowd. The
man who walks
alone is likely to
find himself in
places no one
has ever been." -
Resistant Crops – Need of the hour S.RajaBlessina 4 t h B .Tech
The basic sources of energy are petroleum, natural gas, coal, hydro electrical
and nuclear. The need of energy is increasing continuously due to the increase in
population and industrialization. The continued use of petroleum sourced fuels is now
widely recognized as unsustainable because of the depletion supplies and the
contribution of these fuels to the accumulation of carbon di oxide in the environment
leading to increase of global warming. In the last ten years, many studies have been
conducted on biofuels for substituting fossil fuels and reduce the greenhouse gas
emission. In the European Union (EU), the transport sector is responsible for almost one
quarter of greenhouse gas emissions and it is, therefore, essential to find ways of
reducing emissions. Finding new energy resources to compensate the decrease of the
world petroleum reserves is an important challenge. Intending to replace oil-based fuels,
many studies have been conducted on non-renewable and renewable alternatives.
First generation biofuels correspond to those issued from food-based crops
(corn, beet, sugarcane, etc). Second generation biofuels are the cellulosic-based biofuels
obtained from non-food crops materials (wood, leaves, straw, etc.). Third generation
biofuels are microorganisms (Yeast, Fungi) biofuels and algae-based biodiesel. Second
and third generation biofuels are better than first generation biofuels for sustainable
development as they are carbon neutral, or they reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide as
they are carbon negative. But, the production of first generation biofuels is causing a
substantial rise of the world food prices. However, the second generation biofuels
greatly affect the wood production. As microalgae industrial culture does not directly
compete with food and wood production, it can represent a great potential economic
development. In fact, the use of microalgae for biodiesel production would permit to
reduce deforestation and preserving the forest heritage. Thus, the industrial production
of microalgae could be considered as a sustainable solution to energetic, environmental
and food problematic.
The world is now frequently invaded with strange new organisms. The viral
infections and consequent death are fast increasing in numbers. As virus needs living host
to multiply in most scenarios the blood cell platelets count decreases in number. So much
is needed to sustain their count in body. To enable this the advancement in invitro cell
culturing lead to platelet development in hematological settings (InVitro). The Culture
derived platelets generated from the CD34+ progenitor cells showed similar
morphological and functional characteristics as that of isolated platelets. The shedding of
platelets from megakaryocytes was induced by a specific cytokine cocktail of TPO, SCF,
IL6 and IL1β. The structural features analyzed using SEM and TEM indeed revealed sim-
ilarity between isolated natural platelets and culturally derieved platelets.
Page 9 Volume 2, Issue 2
Functional culture derived platelets from CD34+ progenitor cells – A
boon for treatment of Platelet disorders
J.Jason Raj 4th B.Tech
Biodiesel: Algae a Renewable Source for l iquid fuel S.Amuthalakshmi 2 n d M.Tech
"Shoot for the moon.
Even if you miss, you will
land among the stars." -
Les
Brown
The Department of Biotechnology,
MSEC comprises research laboratories on
par with international standard. The de-
partment has modern class rooms and la-
boratories equipped with sophisticated
instruments. Students are enlightened with
the fundamental concepts of Life Sciences
and Chemical Engineering to acquire skill
sets for manipulating the living organisms
and to exploit them for the production of
commercially important recombinant
products.
Our students are given hands on train-
ing in modern tools of Biotechnology in
our laboratories. One of the unique charac-
teristics of the courses offered by our de-
partment is we are having limited strength
of 30 and 18 students per batch for our B.
Tech and M. Tech courses and learning
process.
Carrier Opportunit ies and Competit ive Examinations :
Department of Biotechnology
Mepco Schlenk Engineering
College
Sivakasi—626 005
Virudhunagar District .
Phone : 91 4562 235150
Fax : 04562—235111
Email :
Discover the Thinker in you
www.mepcoeng.a
c.in/biotech.asp
Sigma -Aldrich:
Sigma– Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company. The biochemical
and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific and genomic research, biotechnology,
pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and chemical manufacturing. The career path is
endless.
Orchid Pharma:
Orchid chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd is a vertically integrated company spanning the en-
tire pharmaceutical value chain from discovery to delivery with established credentials in research,
manufacturing and marketing. It is ranked among the top 15 pharmaceuticals companies in India. They
offer a career opportunities in all aspects of pharmaceuticals research, manufacturing and marketing as
well as corporate support functions.
Competitive Examination:
The following exams are being notified in the month of January/February
Combined Biotechnology Entrance Exam (CBEE) conducted by JNU for
DBT sponsored M.Tech courses
Biotechnology Eligibility Test (BET) conducted by DBT for Junior Re-
search Fellowship and Ph.D
Ph . D and Research centers:
The following are some of the research centers available
Centre for cellular and Molecular Biology , Hyderabad
Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad