Biomass is defined as organic matter grown by the usual functioning of a living organism. This matter holds inside a multitude of compounds rich in bonds and therefore energy. Understanding the concept of biomass is not difficult, because we have always used it. I venture to say even more: without the primary production of plant …
All living things degenerate in health as they use their molecular machinery to extract nutrients and energy from the environment. We can say that aging is an obligatory disease of living beings. There are many reasons for this natural aging, losing telomerase action encoded in our genome, being lost is the main one. Telomeres are …
Biotechnology has dramatically increased the supply of many pharmaceuticals and other products for human consumption, especially thanks to the technique of heterologous expression, which seeks to express genes in a “heterologous system”, a different organism from the one that originally produced the compound. Perhaps the greatest example is human insulin, a polypeptide hormone that is …
The transformation of the environment is an intrinsic characteristic of nature. Not only the physical history of the universe, through cosmic collisions, exchanges of inert energies end up metamorphosing the principles of the matter that conforms us; but also, a magical conversion – somewhat alchemical –, occurs thanks to the action of living beings. The …
Bio-Manufacturing – Current State of Digital-to-Biological Converter Read More »
Human blood that flows through our circulatory system mainly contains white cells, red cells, platelets, and plasma. It is responsible for many functions such as carrying oxygen and essential nutrients to the lungs and tissues, clot formation, maintaining the amount of blood in the body, transporting immune cells to different parts of the body, and …
Artificial Blood – Fantasy or Soon to be Reality? Read More »
Biotechnological successes are often reinforced by a social need or desire. The rise of alternate proteins, insect based foods and other “new” foods has become the cornerstone of the new food industry. The trend towards vegetarian and vegan diets means more people are looking for meat-free protein alternatives. A lot of work has gone into …
Agriculture has undergone some transformations throughout history, some based on empiricism and others more on superstition. The reforms that have been preserved today have undergone a kind of natural selection, discarding those that are not productive enough to perpetuate the system. Of course, the primary objective of modifying the method of cultivation is to take …
Bio-Pesticide – Current State & Future Potential Read More »
The history of vaccines is older than is usually thought. There is written evidence showing primitive vaccination during the 10th century in China, during the Liao dynasty. This remedy against smallpox consisted of pulverizing dried cow pustules and applying them to a wound inflicted on the patient. It should be noted that this was long …
Universal Vaccine – How Synthetic Biology is charting the path. Read More »
The alternative-to-traditional meat market is entering an interesting feedback loop. External and very diverse factors support this trend: mainly climatic, sanitary and ethical. The latter will be the ones that will end up making governments act in order to prevent cruel situations for traditionally farmed animals. A few days ago, the case of the Vivotecnia …
Current State of Plant Based Meat Replacement Products Read More »
The effects of climate change are evident in multiple areas. Even the most skeptical cannot deny the great evidence of global warming, such as coral bleaching – which means a mass death of thousands of benthic organisms such as polyps, which are indispensable for the balance of an ecosystem as complex as the marine one. …
Synthetic Biology to help Carbon Footprint in Food Production Read More »
