5 Recent Breakthrough Innovations in Biotechnology

The field of biotechnology is constantly advancing. From finding ways to slow down the process of food spoilage, advancements in genetic engineering, to adapting organisms to clean up contaminated environments, new applications and biotechnological inventions are continuously being developed to help improve our world. Here are five breakthrough biotechnological innovations currently underway.

Oil-Eating Bacteria to Clean up Oil Spills

(Image:Source)
The oil-spill has been one of the biggest issues the environmental, health, agricultural and financial sectors have been tackling, and scientists in Europe have sequenced the genome for an oil-eating bacterium, which could lead to faster, more efficient ways to clean up oil spills.

That certain bacteria have the ability to metabolize oil isn’t a new discovery of course. Back in 1989, bacteria were used experimentally in attempts to clean up the 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez after it ran aground off the coast of Alaska. Though it made little to no difference back then, now that researchers have a complete blueprint for the oil-hungry bacteria:Alcanivorax borkumensis, they’ll have the ability to optimize the conditions for these bugs, enabling them to soak up the hundreds of millions of liters of oil that enter our waters each year.[Source]

Tumor-Fighting Immune Cells to Attack Cancer

(Image: Source)
Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have created a large, well-armed troop of tumor-seeking immune system cells to locate and attack dangerous melanomas. Dr. Antoni Ribas, the senior author of the study says: “We’re trying to genetically engineer the immune system to become a cancer killer and then image how the immune system operates at the same time.”

In the study, melanomas grown in mice used an inactive HIV-like virus to serve as a vehicle to arm the lymphocytes with T cell receptors, which caused the lymphocytes to become killers of cancerous cells. A reporter gene, which glows “hot” during PET scanning, was also inserted into the cells which helps researchers track the genetically engineered lymphocytes after they get injected into the blood stream, make their way to the lungs and lymph nodes, and then home in on the tumors wherever they may be located within the body. The team created and injected about one million genetically engineered lymphocytes into a mouse but say that in humans, the number of tumor-seeking cells needed to fight the cancer is approximately one billion. The researchers say, if all goes well, human studies of the process could begin in approximately one year. [Source]

Engineered Tobacco Plants as Biofuel

(Image: Source)
Finally putting tobacco plants to good use, researchers from the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University have identified a way to increase the oil in tobacco plant leaves, with the aim of using it as biofuel. This is a promising prospect, one, because it offers an alternative to exploiting plants that are used in food production, and two, because tobacco plants generate biofuel more efficiently than other agricultural crops.

The challenge researchers faced was that this precious oil is mostly found in tobacco seeds, and tobacco plants only produce about 600 kg of seeds per acre. However, they have now found ways to genetically engineer the plants so that their leaves express more oil. According to one of the project’s researchers, Dr. Andrianov, they have been able to modify plants to produce 20-fold more oil in the leaves. Andrianov says “”Based on these data, tobacco represents an attractive and promising ‘energy plant’ platform, and could also serve as a model for the utilization of other high-biomass plants for biofuel production.” [Source]

Cheap, Effective Genome Sequencing Technology

(Image: Source)
Personalized healthcare is increasingly being applied to develop more effective treatments for disease and prevent a wider variety of conditions. Genome sequencing is one the most critical tools for personalized medicine, as it provides the individual genetic information necessary for the effective diagnosis and targeted treatment of particular diseases. Last month, a new collaborative agreement between Roche, a leader in biotechnology and research-focused healthcare, and IBM, one of the world’s largest technology companies, has them joining forces to develop a nanopore-based sequencer that will directly read and decode human DNA quickly, efficiently and affordably.

Similar to vps hosting offering affordable shared hosting, their goal is to reduce the cost of sequencing an individual’s genome to between $100 and $1000.Currently, companies such as San Diego’s Illumina, which specializes in array-based solutions for DNA, RNA and protein analysis, charge anywhere from $9,500-$19,500, an already drastic drop compared to its previous $48,000 price tag.

In order to reduce the cost so significantly, the new partners want to be able to perform true single molecule sequencing, that will decode molecules of DNA as they are threaded through a nanometer-sized pore in a silicon chip. This approach should deliver significant advantages in cost, throughput, scalability, and speed compared to other sequencing technologies currently available or in development. [Source]

Stem cell culturing without the use of animal substances

(Image: Source)
Researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, one of Europe’s largest medical universities, have managed to produce human stem cells without the use of other cells or substances from animals, in a completely chemically-defined environment. Embryonic stem cells have, up to this point, been cultured with the help of proteins from animals, ruling out the possibility of using them for treatment on humans. Now, they are cultured on a matrix of a single human protein: laminin-511, a part of our connective tissue that acts as a matrix that our cells can attach to. The possibilities are tremendous thanks to this scientific breakthrough that will give scientists the ability to develop different types of cells, which can be tested for the treatment of various human diseases. [Source]

Eco-Friendly Heater Will Keep You Warm and Cut Energy Cost

It’s that time of the year when cold snaps cripple large swaths of the United States and those heating bills go up and up and up. But did you know you can heat a small room with some candles and a clay or terracotta pot? This candle powered do-it-yourself heater can reach radiant temperatures of 160 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit, and the pot itself remains warm for hours after you’ve blown the candles out. Be very careful when handling or moving the heater though; the inner chamber of the pot has been known to reach extremely high temperatures – 500 degrees if you believe the video.

How does it work?

I’ve encountered some people who were pretty skeptical of how well this home made heater works. This heater works by trapping and concentrating heat that would normally just rise to the ceiling and rapidly dissipate into the surrounding air. This method allows the heat to radiate out of the sides of the pot too. As mentioned before, the pot keeps warm for hours after you’ve blown the candles out.

Will you be able to heat your whole house with it? Not by a long shot. But if you have a small bedroom, a bathroom that has trouble warming up in the winter, or even a shed that you like to work in, this can help increase the temperature by a good amount.

 

LG's Smart Bulb Connects With Your Smartphone

LG has launched the Smart Bulb in Korea, a light bulb that connects with Android and iOS devices, providing several interesting features. The 10W LED bulb will let you control lighting in the house with a smartphone, and it can also flash-alert when you get a phone call. Other features include a security mode which makes it look like you're at home when you're away, as well as pulsating to the tune of music (but only on Android devices).

 The bulbs should run for more than 10 years, provided you use them five hours a day, LG claims. LG's Smart Bulb is not the only connected light bulb around. Recently, a company called AwoX announced a light bulb that can double as a Bluetooth speaker. We've also seen several Kickstarter projects to create a connected light bulb; the Wi-Fi enabled LIFX is one example.

 The price for the LG Smart Bulb is 35,000 won ($32) in Korea; there's no word when the device might come to the U.S.


For over 100 years, the light bulb didn't evolve much, generally sporting the same, well, bulbous design ever since Thomas Edison gave us the original in 1879. Lately that's changed as LEDs and CFLs have challenged the conventional bulb, and now Philips is taking light bulb design in a new, flatter direction.

 The SlimStyle looks like a light bulb that's hit the gym. It emits light at a brightness equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent bulb, but it's powered by an LED (light-emitting diode), meaning it consumes just 10.5 watts. It also has a rated lifetime of 22 years, so you can count the number of times you'd need to change the bulb in a human lifetime on one hand.

 The most novel thing about the SlimStyle, though, is its design. At first glance, it looks shaped like a regular bulb, but when you look at it from the side you can see how slim it is. It still fits in a normal socket, so it's not overly thin, but it's definitely unusual — and easier to screw in.
 I got a little hands-on time with the SlimStyle. The light it produces is as warm as an incandescent bulb and it's extremely consistent, with no flicker. It feels more durable, too, with an exterior that's more like hard plastic than glass (though I didn't stress-test it). Unlike some of those twisty CFL bulbs, The LED-based SlimStyle is dimmable.

LED lights are considered by many to be the most promising candidate to fully replace the incandescent bulb since they consumer far less power and don't have the trace amounts of toxic mercury found in CFL bulbs. Starting Jan. 1 they'll get a big boost when a federal law goes into effect that will make it illegal to manufacture or import traditional 60- or 40-watt incandescents.
"Right now we're at a really exciting point because LED bulbs have started to break the $10 mark, and fall well below it once you factor in subsidies," says Sal Cangeloso, author of LED Lighting: A Primer to Lighting the Future. "We're still not at the point of mass adoption — it's not entirely clear where that is — but right now we have two significant factors coinciding: dropping prices and the the phase-out of 40W and 60W incandescents going into effect."

The Philips SlimStyle bulb goes on sale January 2 exclusively at HomeDepot.com.

The bulbs cost $9.97 a pop.

Confirmed: DNA From Genetically Modified Crops Can Be Transferred Into Humans Who Eat Them

In a new study published in the peer reviewed Public Library of Science (PLOS), researchers emphasize that there is sufficient evidence that meal-derived DNA fragments carry complete genes that can enter into the human circulation system through an unknown mechanism. I wonder if the scientists at these biotech corporations have already identified this method? In one of the blood samples the relative concentration of plant DNA is higher than the human DNA. The study was based on the analysis of over 1000 human samples from four independent studies. PLOS is an open access, well respected peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers primary research from disciplines within science and medicine. It’s great to see this study published in it, confirming what many have been suspecting for years.

When it comes to genetically modified crops and foods, we really have no idea of what the long term effects will be on the public. The very first commercial sale of genetically modified foods was only twenty years ago in the year 1994. There is no possible way that our health authorities can test all possible combinations on a large enough population, over a long enough period of time to be able to say with certainty that they are harmless. Geneticist David Suzuki recently expressed his concern, saying that human beings are part of a “massive genetic experiment” over many years, as thousands of people continue to consume GMO’s, and it makes sense.

Advances in genome science over the past few years have revealed that organisms can share their genes. Prior to this, it had been thought that genes were shared only between individual members of a species through reproduction. Geneticists usually followed the inheritance of genes in what they would call a ‘vertical’ fashion, such as breeding a male and female -you follow their offspring and continue down the road from there. Today, scientists recognize that genes are shared not only among the individual members of a species, but also among members of different species.

“Our bloodstream is considered to be an environment well separated from the outside world and the digestive tract. According to the standard paradigm large macromolecules consumed with food cannot pass directly to the circulatory system. During digestion proteins and DNA are thought to be degraded into small constituents, amino acids and nucleic acids, respectively, and then absorbed by a complex active process and distributed to various parts of the body through the circulation system. Here, based on the analysis of over 1000 human samples from four independent studies, we report evidence that meal-derived DNA fragments which are large enough to carry complete genes can avoid degradation and through an unknown mechanism enter the human circulation system. In one of the blood samples the relative concentration of plant DNA is higher than the human DNA. The plant DNA concentration shows a surprisingly precise log-normal distribution in the plasma samples while non-plasma (cord blood) control sample was found to be free of plant DNA.”

Figure 1 A possible route for transfer of DNA from plant cells in the human diet to bacteria. Some DNA in food is degraded during cooking and processing, but the remainder is ingested intact. Consumed DNA is largely hydrolyzed during digestion. Netherwood et al. provide evidence that intact transgenic DNA can be recovered in the human ileum and taken up by bacteria in this environment.

It’s not like a human being mates with an apple, banana or a carrot plant and exchanges genes. What biotechnology and biotech corporations like Monsanto have done, is they have allowed for the transfer of genes from one to the other without any regard for the biological limitations, or constraints. The problem with this is that it is based on very bad science. The conditions and biological ‘rules’ that apply to vertical gene transfer, at least those that we are aware of, do not necessarily apply to horizontal gene transfer. Biotech science today is based on the assumption that the principles governing the inheritance of genes are the same when we move genes horizontally as they are when they are moved vertically. It just goes to show that GMO’s should be subjected to much more experimentation and rigorous research before we continue to consume them.

How can our governing health authorities approve these as safe? It’s almost as if they told us they were safe, and we just believed them without questioning it. We seem to be a very gullible race, but things are changing and more are starting to question the world around them.

“One small mutation in a human being can determine so much, the point is when you move a gene, one gene, one tiny gene out of an organism into a different one you completely change its context. There is no way to predict how it’s going to behave and what the outcome will be. We think that we design these life forms, but it’s like taking the Toronto orchestra prepared to play a Beethoven symphony and then you take some random drummers from “here” and flip them in with the Toronto symphony and you say play music. What comes out is going to be something very very different. Publicists say that there is good intention behind GMOs, but the fact of the matter is it’s driven by money.” – David Suzuki

It’s also pretty clear that DNA from food can and does end up in animal tissues and the milk products that people eat.

There are studies that show when humans or animals digest genetically modified foods, the artificially created genes transfer into and alter the character of the beneficial bacteria in the intestine. Researchers report that microbes found in the small bowel of people with ilestomy are capable of acquiring and harboring DNA sequences from GM plants. Genetically modified crops have infiltrated animal feed since 1996, and it’s normal for them to have a complete GM diet. Studies have linked GMO animal feed to severe stomach inflammation and enlarged uteri in pigs.

It’s also important to note that gene transfer among genetically engineered agricultural crops and surrounding native species has given rise to a highly resistant species called super weeds. According to the world health organization, gene transfer and the movement of genes from GM plants into conventional crops or related species may have an effect on food safety and food security. “This risk is real, as was shown when traces of maize type which was only approved for feed use appeared in maize products from human consumption in the United States.” 

The truth is, genetic engineers have never taken the reality of gene transfer into consideration when they produce these things and introduce them into the environment. As a result, we are now starting to see the consequences of genes that are engineered, particularly how they spread and alter other organisms in various environments. Watrud et al (2004) found that the herbicide-resistance transgene spread via pollen to an area up to 21 km beyond the control area perimeter and had pollinated wild creeping bentgrass.

Prior to this year, governments concluded that transfer of DNA from GM crops/foods is unlikely to occur. Now we can see that they are wrong, or perhaps they had knowledge of this already? Regardless of the fact that DNA from GM foods can be transferred to humans and animals, very little is still known today and what is known does not look good. There are studies linking GMO’s and pesticides to various ailments. We’ve presented and written about them on our website numerous times, this is another article to add to the growing amount of evidence to suggest we need to halt the production of GMO’s until we conclusively know that they are safe for human consumption.

It’s not a mystery why most countries around the world have completely banned GMO’s.

Japanese Scientists Prove That Teleportation Is Possible

The future is already here: for the first time in the world, a team of Japanese scientists managed to implement teleportation! A beam of light was moved from point A to point B.

For the purpose of the experiment, Noriyuki Lee and his colleagues divided light into elementary particles - photons. They kept only one photon that carried the information about the rest beam. This photon was entangled at the quantum level with another photon, which was located at point B. It turned out that these two photons instantaneously affected each other, being physically located in different places. Thanks to this phenomenon, the original beam was at the same moment recreated elsewhere using the information carried by the photon.

It is interesting that the possibility of quantum entanglement of elementary particles was suggested by Albert Einstein in 1935, but in that time even the physicist himself considered his theory absurd. However, subsequently physicists have proved that quantum entanglement exists, and already in our days some companies have created technology of secure communication channels on the basis of this phenomenon.

Furthermore, among other things, the phenomenon of quantum entanglement might be used as evidence for the existence of a plurality of parallel universes.

Here’s Why You Should Convert Your Music To 432 Hz - Itz spritiual Magic

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” – Nikola Tesla 

What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.” – Albert Einstein 

 Tesla said it. Einstein Agreed. Science proved it. It is a known fact that everything—including our own bodies—is made up of energy vibrating at different frequencies. That being said, can sound frequencies affect us? They sure can. Frequencies affect frequencies; much like mixing ingredients with other ingredients affects the overall flavor of a meal. The way frequencies affect the physical world has been demonstrated through various experiments such as the science of Cymatics and water memory. 


The science of Cymatics illustrates that when sound frequencies move through a particular medium such as water, air or sand, it directly alters the vibration of matter. Below are pictures demonstrating how particles adjust to different frequencies.

Watch a video demonstrating the patterns of sound frequencies

Water memory also illustrates how our own intentions can even alter the material world. This has been demonstrated by Dr. Masaru Emoto, who has performed studies showing how simple intentions through sound, emotions and thoughts can dramatically shape the way water crystallizes. 




We all hold a certain vibrational frequency, not to mention our bodies are estimated to be about 70% water… so we can probably expect that musical frequencies can alter our own vibrational state. Some may call this ‘pseudoscience,’ however the science and patterns shown above don’t lie. Every expression through sound, emotion or thought holds a specific frequency which influences everything around it—much like a single drop of water can create a larger ripple effect in a large body of water.

  Music Frequency

With this concept in mind, let us bring our attention to the frequency of the music we listen to. Most music worldwide has been tuned to A=440 Hz since the International Standards Organization (ISO) promoted it in 1953. However, studies regarding the vibratory nature of the universe indicate that this pitch is disharmonious with the natural resonance of nature and may generate negative effects on human behaviour and consciousness. Certain theories even suggest that the nazi regime has been in favor of adopting this pitch as standard after conducting scientific researches to determine which range of frequencies best induce fear and aggression. Whether or not the conspiracy is factual, interesting studies and observations have pointed towards the benefits of tuning music to A=432 Hz instead.

 432 Hz is said to be mathematically consistent with the patterns of the universe. Studies reveal that 432hz tuning vibrates with the universe’s golden mean PHI and unifies the properties of light, time, space, matter, gravity and magnetism with biology, the DNA code and consciousness. When our atoms and DNA start to resonate in harmony with the spiraling pattern of nature, our sense of connection to nature is said to be magnified. The number 432 is also reflected in ratios of the Sun, Earth, and the moon as well as the precession of the equinoxes, the Great Pyramid of Egypt, Stonehenge, the Sri Yantra among many other sacred sites.


 “From my own observations, some of the harmonic overtone partials of A=432hz 12T5 appear to line up to natural patterns and also the resonance of solitons. Solitons need a specific range to form into the realm of density and span from the micro to the macro cosmos. Solitons are not only found in water mechanics, but also in the ion-acoustic breath between electrons and protons.”– Brian T. Collins

“The Solar Spectrum & The Cosmic Keyboard: All of the frequencies in the spectrum are related in octaves, from gamma rays to subharmonics. These colors and notes are also related to our Chakras and other important energy centers. If we are to understand that (…) Chakras are connected to the Seven Rays of the Solar Spectrum, then the notes and frequencies we use for the same should be the same. A432 Hz is the tuning of the Cosmic Keyboard or Cosmic Pitchfork, as opposed to the A440 Hz modern ‘standard.’ It places C# at 136.10 Hz ‘Om,’ which is the main note of the Sitar in classical Indian music and the pitch of the chants of the Tibetan monks, who tell us ‘It comes from nature.’” – Dameon Keller