Vidya Moksha wrote:
Yes Jim Stone is quite emotive, but from knowing a little of what he does you can quite understand it. We all react differently to the overwhelming and increasing madness in the world.... oxy does his best impression of marvin from hitch hikers guide to the galaxy, Jim tends to scream 'wakeup!'.
I like his info, its different and well thought out and nobody digs as deep as he does.... He cant always be right but I think hes genuine, unlike a lot of the so called alternative news sources. Recommended daily reading. (actually I recommend throwing the computer away and walking barefoot around the garden for a few hours, but thats a different thread)
It does'nt matter how one reacts as long as one comes with pertinent data Vidya.
Yes I agree on grounding :) Our shoes have extracted us from a contact with earth that is most valuable indeed.
http://www.themistsofavalon.net/t2314-earthing-experiment?highlight=grounding+earthingIn the meantime I did some research on the T4 bacteriophage and how it could relate to nano technology.
New Understanding of Complex Virus Nano-Machine for Cell Puncturing and DNA DeliveryResearchers have learned how the bacterial virus, bacteriophage T4, attacks its host, the E. coli bacterium. This discovery could eventually lead to a new class of antibiotics.
Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation and published in the January 31, 2002 issue of the journal Nature, the research describes for the first time how the virus uses a needle-like, biochemical puncturing device to invade its host. "We show, in its entirety, a complex machine that allows a virus to efficiently infect its unfortunate host cell, the E. coli. The baseplate portion of the virus tail is essential in this process," says lead researcher Michael Rossmann of Purdue University. Rossmann conducted the research with colleagues Shuji Kanamaru, Petr Leiman, and Paul Chipman of Purdue University, Victor Kostyuchenko and Vadim Mesyanzhinov of the Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry (Russia), and Fumio Arisaka of the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan).
Because of increasing resistance of infectious bacteria to pharmaceutical antibiotics like penicillin, new antibiotic tools are needed. Bacteriophages may play a future role in controlling disease-causing bacteria. "Knowing the exact mechanism of T4 bacteriophage infectivity is a significant breakthrough. This information could eventually help in creating "designer viruses" that could be the next class of antibiotics," said Kamal Shukla, the NSF project officer for this research.
Although only about a hundred nanometers in length and width, bacteriophage T4 is considered the "Tyrannosaurus rex" of bacteriophages as it is one of the largest of the bacterial viruses. It is also a "tailed virus" because it has a tail with fibers that are used to grip its host. The tailed viruses are very common; up to one billion phages can exist in a milliliter of freshwater.
The T4 virus consists of a head, tail, baseplate, and tail fibers - six that are long, and six that are short. The long fibers first find the E. coli and make a loose attachment; then the short fibers fasten to get a tighter grip.
The baseplate is the "nerve center" of the virus. When the long and short fibers attach to E. coli, the baseplate transmits this message to the tail, which contracts like a muscle. The baseplate both controls the needlepoint of the tail and the cutting enzyme that make a tiny, nanometer-sized hole through the cell wall of the E. coli. The viral DNA is then squeezed through the tail into the host. The E. coli, thus infected, starts to make only new phage particles and ultimately dies. "Our research described for the first time the structure of phage baseplate proteins and their role in cutting through the host cell wall," said Rossmann.
For more information, see:
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/02/pr0207.htmEngineered bacteriophage T4 tail fiber proteins for nanotechnology
author : Harrah Tim summary:The field of nanotechnology aims to create useful structures and devices from components ∼1 to 100nm. However, control over the synthesis and arrangement of matter at this length scale remains quite challenging. Biological self-assembly is one promising avenue in which to overcome such issues, and living systems offer a wealth of design paradigms for the efficient and environmentally sustainable manufacture of nanoscale materials. The long-term goal of this work is the development of a system of engineered rod-like proteins 5nm in diameter and 50-150nm in length that can be rationally assembled into ordered materials with nanometer resolution. These rods are derived from the long tail fiber proteins of bacteriophage T4. Purified tail fiber components are a source of robust, effectively monodisperse, rod-shaped particles that are readily modified using standard techniques of recombinant biotechnology.
In the present work, we report a novel 10 liter scale purification scheme resulting in highly purified, stable, concentrated solutions of engineered protein rods. This process is scalable and well suited for production use. In addition, we describe the ability to control the length of the tail fiber after its production using bacteriophage infection via site-specific protease cleavage. Also described is the in vivo biotinylation of the fiber rods at discrete locations, providing a versatile attachment strategy with highly accurate nanoscale spatial control.
Finally, as an initial translational outlet of the platform, we also report on work to develop a magnetically labeled rod-shaped Brownian molecular sensor. Measurement of the AC magnetic susceptibility of magnetic nanocrystals is known to yield information about the hydrodynamic behavior of the magnet and has been shown to be an effective method to detect protein binding. Our approach uses sensors constructed of a 14nm diameter magnetic CoFe 2 O 4 nanocrystal attached to tail fiber derived protein rods. The rod-like shape of our sensor offers several theoretical advantages over spherical geometry. We describe the functionalization and magnetic characterization of highly monodisperse CoFe2 O4 nanocrystals and their attachment to biotinylated tail fiber proteins using streptavidin.
Passages of the book available here :
http://books.google.be/books?id=EueWUpyp1OwC&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=T4+bacteriophage+nanotech&source=bl&ots=0bfu6cRoE2&sig=KWHqUXDHf_2VYBaZ0qWF6zlxKjI&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=mCjiU7e7NtGB7Qbl3oHAAg&ved=0CGcQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=T4%20bacteriophage%20nanotech&f=false
Also : Nanoscale bacteriophage biosensors Bacteriophages are traditionally used for the development of phage display technology. Recently, their nanosized dimensions and ease with which genetic modifications can be made to their structure and function have put them in the spotlight towards their use in a variety of biosensors. In particular, the expression of any protein or peptide on the extraluminal surface of bacteriophages is possible by genetically engineering the genome. In addition, the relatively short replication time of bacteriophages offers researchers the ability to generate mass quantities of any given bacteriophage-based biosensor. Coupled with the emergence of various biomarkers in the clinic as a means to determine pathophysiological states, the development of current and novel technologies for their detection and quantification is imperative. In this review, we categorize bacteriophages by their morphology into M13-based filamentous bacteriophages and T4- or T7-based icosahedral bacteriophages, and examine how such advantages are utilized across a variety of biosensors. In essence, we take a comprehensive approach towards recent trends in bacteriophage-based biosensor applications and discuss their outlook with regards to the field of biotechnology.
read on:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3797607/The New phage biologyExtract :
VaccinesA novel and exciting use of phages is the use of whole phage particles to deliver vaccines in the form of immunogenic peptides attached to modified phage coat proteins, or as delivery vehicles for DNA vaccines. Phage display is useful for the identification of immunogenic epitopes or mimotopes on displayed peptides which could, in turn, become the basis of peptide vaccines. A study carried out comparing the humoral immune response of animals immunized with a recombinant hepatitis B vaccine or with mimotopes generated by phage display demonstrated that the mimotopes could induce a response similar to that induced by the original antigen; in fact, the mimotopes induced the most reproducible and potent response.
read more:
http://www.highveld.com/virology/phage.htmlHere an article that mentions exploiting bacteriophages for biocontrol purposes: I understood from this that these bacteriophages not only have a use in the medical field but in the environnement as well . Humm
Tools from viruses: Bacteriophage successes and beyondBiocontrol of pathogens in food products may represent an economically viable field for bacteriophage-based biocontrol. This topic was extensively reviewed (Garcia et al., 2008, Goodridge and Bisha, 2011, Hagens and Loessner, 2010 and Mahony et al., 2011). Many studies reported success in decreasing the bacterial load (for Listeria, Salmonella and E. coli species among others) on food surfaces (cheese and meat), hard surfaces and also cattle hide ( Anany et al., 2011, Coffey et al., 2011, Guenther et al., 2012, Viazis et al., 2011 and Viscardi et al., 2008). Several systems have already been approved by authorities for use on food products such as ListShield™ (Intralytix) or LISTEX™ (Micreos) for the control of L. monocytogenes (both FDA- and USDA-approved), EcoShield™ (FDA-cleared) targeting E. coli O157:H7 and SALMONELEX™ against Salmonella which also beneficiated from a Temporary Use Exemption by the Dutch Medicine Evaluation Board for the currently ongoing field trials. Bacteriophages were also found to be efficient for the decontamination of livestock raised for the food industry, therefore limiting the risk of pathogens reaching the food chain, or to detect the presence of pathogens in animal-derived alimentary products. Bacteriophages have shown success in control of plant pathogens too with recent examples including the development of a bacteriophage-based biocontrol technique for Dickeya solani, a bacterium which causes potato plants to waste, and the effective prevention of wilting using a cocktail of three lytic bacteriophages for the bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum ( Adriaenssens et al., 2012 and Fujiwara et al., 2011). The company Omnilytics developed the bacteriophage product “Agriphage” for the control of bacterial spot caused by Xanthomonas campestris or bacterial speck caused by Pseudomonas syringae (
www.omnilytics.com). The effectiveness of this product in protecting the crops against these pathogens is reflected by the report of a marked increase in yield. However, early suggestions that bacteriophage interaction with plants might actually decrease plant growth or not show improvements compared to regular treatments are also reported, highlighting the need for further evaluation of possible biocontrol strategies before implementation is considered ( Gill and Abedon, 2003, Jones et al., 2007, Kocharunchitt et al., 2009 and Ye et al., 2009).
Finally bacteriophages are currently being investigated for their potential as natural biocontrol agents for environmental issues. Their natural presence in the environment would suggest a lower risk of natural ecology disturbance, making them an attractive alternative to chemicals as antibacterial agents. In this field, works have been carried out in the context of wastewater treatment and sludge processing. Only a few studies have been conducted so far but encouraging results in foam, sludge volume or biomass bulking reduction were reported (Choi et al., 2011, Kotay et al., 2011 and Petrovski et al., 2012).
Besides the use of entire bacteriophage particles, the use of isolated proteins has also raised interest lately. The use of single gene products by-passes the difficulties of using infective particles and tends to reassure the community by eliminating the risk of genetic recombination and general instability linked to the idea of using viruses while keeping the benefit of the main hallmark of the bacteriophage, that is to say its specificity.
source:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042682212004588Well it's a bit long to read but quite interesting if one wants to understand these bacteriophages specially the T4 bacteriophage that is if I understood well the biggest virus found so far and the study basis it offers for nanotechnology.
It says here :
In nature, the bacteriophage T4 contains about 168,800 base pairs of double stranded DNA. This genetic blueprint contains all of the necessary information to create new bacteriophage T4.
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http://www.dform.com/projects/t4/virus.htmlLove Always
mudra