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Understanding Biomedical Chips

January 9, 2015 By biotechcheck.com Leave a Comment

A biomedical chip insert is a little rice-sized electronic circuit that is intended to be embedded into the body. It is secured in a lodging that won’t respond with the body or break down with utilization. This blanket ensures the chip is covered inside for the lifetime of the wearer. The chip itself just stores a sixteen digit identifier which telecasts radio waves to a scanner. The chip can then be filtered to get to diverse sorts of information from data concerning anaphylaxes to information that holds distinguishing proof data. This chip has received mixed reactions from human population around the world. Some individuals are concerned that the administration can track individuals using the insert; however, the chip doesn’t hold any GPS following capacities. Dissimilar to different manifestations of a recognizable proof, a biomedical chip insert cannot be lost, stolen, lost, or duplicated. It can likewise be securely uprooted if fancied. The chip first came into official use during its endorsement in October 2003. From that point forward, Silverman says, in the range of 4,000 individuals worldwide are utilizing them for therapeutic or security purposes (Fair 265).

As of late, “biomedical chips,” which are the results of the consolidation of microelectronics, micro-hardware, life sciences and bio-data, has turned into a standout amongst the most-mainstream examination zones in science and innovation. As per gauges, the worldwide business sector for biomedical semiconductors will achieve 4.5 billion in the year 2011 and turn into a force for mechanical development (Fair, 265). The world’s biggest IC configuration organization Qualcomm has put impressive measure of R&D assets into creating bio-medicinal chips owing to the chips’ incredible future possibilities.

To effectively create a bio-medicinal chip, one must have proficiencies in IC outline, MEMS engineering and bio-therapeutic learning. Therefore, cross-interdisciplinary incorporation is regularly the most discriminating and the most-troublesome point. Through the Chip programming, analysts could vanquish the boundaries between remote engineering and bio-therapeutic sensing innovation. This creates a c-touchy protein remote sensor in the measure of a grain of rice that use perfect MEMS innovation to incorporate micro-cantilever sensor and remote bio-restorative framework on chip to transmit the thickness indicates remotely to a particular computer (Chang 834). Thus, a little measured, ease, and continuous CRP discovery strategy was effectively created. This was the first bio-medicinal related paper distributed, and the first remote protein locating remote chip on the planet.

Despite the fact that we can sense our physiological data and distinguish the sicknesses, when we confront sudden ailment like cardiovascular maladies, on the off chance that we can’t provide for them first-time treatment, we are prone to wind up with hopeless second thoughts. The conventional system for taking prescription or taking infusions obliges that the solution pass through the body’s circulatory framework before it achieves the influenced part. Alternatively it may require the vicinity of expert restorative work force, so regularly the prime time for powerful treatment is lost (Sackmann and Fulton et al. 184). This implantable CMOS chip unites various remote control and driving hardware, and a medication conveyance cluster, which can discharge medications like nitro-glycerine, acetic acid derivation, leuprolide, and Nonapeptide, which could be connected to neighbourhood conclusion or treatment, or for the prompt help of coronary illness. This micro-framework could be embedded into the human body through negligible surgery, and the remote capacity which it has permits therapeutic staff to direct non-obtrusive continuous treatment on patients. This framework on chip can give results that are superior to the current advances as far as size, cost, and force conditions. Electrical nerve incitement treatment has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on more than twenty sorts of neurological issue with a reversible security. Beat radio recurrence electrical incitement is another strategy in interventional ache help which primarily uses beat radio recurrence electrical incitement to fortify the nerve conduction way neutrons to attain the reason for viably obstructing the torment. The good thing about this is that, patients won’t lose other development capacities in light of this (Sackmann and Fulton et al. 184)

At present, clinically, one treatment methodology must be compelling for three to six months, after which the inclination of torment will progressively continue. Therefore, patients must rehearse the same help handle over and over, yet the terminals must be utilized once and are very costly, bringing about medicinal load. Biosensor advances joining abiotic recognizing component with a physicochemical locator segment are broadly pertinent in medication advancement at all phases of the improvement track (from lab to clinical tests), for confined help, for reasonable and agreeable apparatuses for post-treatment, for the right on time analysis (hereditary profiling) and for the avoidance. Inventive biosensors focused around Nano-electronics and nanotechnology will be scratch to making a finer, patient-situated and less expensive curative service later on.

The pharmaceutical business’ enthusiasm toward an illness determination is developing. Nowadays, judgment is constantly done particularly by post-symptomatic dissection and conclusion in research facilities. Later on, innovations focused around Nano-gadgets will empower conclusion by method for hereditary or other early screening of patients, and treatments will be controlled with customized perception (Chang 834). Biomedical hardware will additionally enhance treatment efficiencies and diminish its expenses. Sensor-based innovations will empower confined help, just interceding when essential and diminishing the reactions of the treatment. Post-treatment focused around Nano-electronics will be less stressful on the day by day life of the patient. Such instruments ought to be ease, convenient, and agreeable in support and operation.

A vital viewpoint for the pharmaceutical industry is that new measuring routines are not just quick and productive; they ought to likewise be broadly relevant and accordingly might be created in vast volumes at sensible expense. The business is searching for instruments that could be utilized for medication advancement, as well as amid the post-helpful stage, to keep an eye on the patients that took an interest in the clinical tests for medication improvement.

New-measuring routines utilizing Nano-electronics-based biosensors are of a key enthusiasm to the pharmaceutical business due to the mixed bag of uses. They are helpful for determination, additionally in lab studies (hereditary profiling), for preclinical and clinical tests, and for treatment and post help. Sub-atomic biosensors distinguish a biomarker (antibodies, proteins, DNA, unhealthy cells, outside substances, for example, radioisotopes) in the blood. They permit quick, correct and particular estimation of a biomarker or a few diverse biomarkers in the meantime (Fair 265).

In conclusion, the Biomedical Chip engineering’s part in health awareness has the world’s consideration. Nano-electronics will help a greater number of patients than we can today, at a lower expense cost and for a bigger number of ailments, or at any rate such is the trust. Research exploration upholds the vital development of biomedical instruments for avoidance, determination and treatment. Inside its life science program coordinates with mechanical accomplices for brilliant electronic frameworks to study infections, determination and ailment help: lab-on-chip frameworks, Nano-particles for treatment of sicknesses, advances for shrewd inserts.

 

Work Cited

Chang, Hsien-Chang. “Biomedical chip for blood coagulation test, method of production an use thereof.” U.S. Patent Application 13/073,834.

Fair, Richard B. “Digital microfluidics: is a true lab-on-a-chip possible?.”Microfluidics and Nanofluidics 3.3 (2007): 245-281.

Sackmann, Eric K., Anna L. Fulton, and David J. Beebe. “The present and future role on microfluidics in biomedical research.” Nature 507.7491 (2014): 181-189.

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Dominant Allele

January 9, 2015 By biotechcheck.com Leave a Comment

To begin with, dominant is an allele that is usually expressed in an individual who is heterogeneous. Recessive allele on the other hand is that trait that is only expressed in a homozygous situation. In Dominant allele, single copy of a gene is sufficient to express its character, and it is usually denoted by the capital letter. With recessive allele, it requires two copies of the gene to express its character, and it is usually denoted by small letters. If a mom for instance is Aa, and a dad is aa, we see that here the A is dominant. What this portends for their offspring is that it will have 50 percent chances of taking up all the characteristics of A. In the case of a dominant allele, what is needed for that characteristic to manifest is one allele, however, for the recessive, both parents have to contribute the recessive allele for the trait to be manifested in the offspring (Clark, et al., 2003).

An autosomal trait is that trait that is passed on to an offspring via genes, it, however, does not determine the sex of that individual. The opposite of that would be sex-lined traits which are likewise inherited through genes though these ones do determine the sex of an individual. Some examples of autosomal traits are inability or ability to roll the tongue, widow’s peak or continuous hairlines among other. Autosome dominant traits occur due to a dominant allele that is present in one of the autosomes. For this allele to be manifested in the phenotype, it has to be inherited from either of the parents. Because of this therefore, any child stands a 50 percent chance of inheriting the allele and showing the trait that is inherent in one of the parents (Clark, et al., 2003). Example of sex-linked trait is color blindness. Males have Xy chromosomes and females XX chromosomes. In that regard, therefore, in order for a female to be colorblind, then both X chromosomes need to be recessive for this allele. If any of the other allele does not have this recessive trait, then there would be no colorblindness. On the other hand a male who is recessive for this trait on his X chromosomes would contract colorblindness.

DNA was discovered in 1869 but became a recognized genetic material a century later. Swiss medic student called Johann Friedrich Miescher found it by coincidence when he was working on some white blood cells that he had taken from the pus out of a drained surgical wound. He realized that the nuclear had an abundance of phosphorous and was equally acidic. He thus named it nucleic acid, a name it has retained to dat. It was not until the early 1950s that scientists recognized it as a genetic material. Fredric Griffith had in 1920 discovered that bacteria had the capacity to acquire something with each other that would see harmless bacteria turned into deadly bacteria. This was further pursued by a group of scientists led by Oswald Avery who was convinced that it was DNA that caused that change. In 1953, Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase found out that the virus that they had been working on injected only the DNA into a bacteria cell so as to infect it. Further discovery of the DNS structure was kicked off by Erwin Chargaff who found out if the DNA was broken down into numerous components, then the amount of guanine that was fluctuated from one of the organisms to the other was always equal to the cytosine that was present (Dahm, 2005). Further, the amount of adenine was the same amount of thymine. Scientist James Watson, Francis Crick and Rosalind Franklin would then realize why ratio was crucial to the structure of DNA. Watson and Crick used Franklin data on the shape of the DNA molecule which showed the DNA as taking the structure of a double helix. This inspired them to synchronize Franklin’s data with Chargaff’s rules enabling them to finally crack the code on the structure of DNA.

Formation of proteins or protein synthesis takes place in two processes which are transcription and translation. These are the two main processes that link a gene to protein. That said, the bridge between DNA and protein synthesis is the RNA. DNA and RNA are chemically similar. The only difference is that RNA contains ribose as its sugar, and secondly, it substitutes the nitrogenous base uracil for thymine. At the transcription stage a DNA strand gives a template for synthesis of a contemporary strain of RNA. It is at this process that any type of RNA is synthesized from a DNA template. Gene transcription produces a messenger RNA molecule usually written as mRNA. During translation process, the information that is contained in the form of nucleotides in the mRNA and is the one that determines the amino acid sequence of a polypeptide. The process of translation occurs at ribosomes (Troopp, 2008).

DNA -> RNA -> protein

 

 

References

Clark, D. P. et al., (2003) Molecular Biology London: Elsevier

Troopp, B. E. (2008) Molecular Biology: Genes to Protein New York, NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning

Dahm, R (2005) Fredrick Miescher and the Discovery of DNA Marx Plank Institute of developmental Biology. 278(2): 275-288

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Mechanism of Evolution Acting on Plant Linanthus Parryae.

January 9, 2015 By biotechcheck.com Leave a Comment

Theories surrounding evolution have sparked controversy among scientists and researchers, because of conflicting results in specific plants and animals.  Some of the evolutionary theories include; natural selection, genetic drift, mutation and gene. Scientific research on the desert plant known as Linanthus parryae has sparked controversy and debates for almost six decades because of contradicting theories on the plant`s evolutionary process. In this paper, I will discuss scientific evidence and evolutionary research on L.parrynae indicated that natural selection, genetic drift ,  mutation and gene flow theories influenced the plant`s flower color change and which evolutionary mechanism caused spatial differentiation in the flowering plant.

The linanthus parrynea, which is a winter annual plant of the Mojave Desert in California, has been the subject of scientific and evolutionary research because of its flower color dimorphism. Scientific analysis indicated that the genetic drift theory could explain the spatial distribution of color morphs in the flower. A few years later, Wright adopted the in breeding coefficients in order to estimate the exact size of L.parryae populations. Genetic drift was supported by the isolation by distance model which proved that spatial distribution was responsible for flower color change (Schemske & Bierzychudek. 2001).  Isolation by distance model proved that blue colored flowers would change to white within a short distance. The genetic drift theory was responsible for population differentiation based on the size of the local population and the average rate of migration within an area. This theory supports spatial differences in flower morphs, if there is a barrier to gene flow within the plant. Schemske and Bierzychudek (2006) noted that local differences in flower colors in L.parryae were caused by the effects of genetic drift. Evidence proved that allozymes provided in- depth insight on the patterns, causes, and effects of spatial differentiation. In depth research indicated that the genetic drift mechanism was solely responsible for spatial differentiation in the flowering plant based on genetic markers used to establish the distribution of flower colors within the spatial scale.

The natural selection theory has been attributed to the flower color change in L.parryae. Research proved that the nature surrounding the plant significantly impacted the color change of the flower. Researchers noted that on the west side of shallow ravine areas in the Mojave Desert supported the growth of blue flowered plants and the east had white flowered plants. Natural selection theory proved that L.parryae plants grew in large numbers in land with quality soil properties like organic matter concentration and mineral content.  This theory was also supported by the ecological factor based on the abundance of the plant species in the research area. Soil composition influenced the degree of flower color morphs because researchers noted that it was associated with spatial patterns (Irwin& Strauss. 2005). Thus, evolutionary research proved that local differences were caused and maintained by natural selection based on different flower color morph in different locations.

The L.parryae plant produced either white or blue flower and the flower`s color was controlled by a single gene where the blue color was dominant to white. However, gene flow reorganized the genetic makeup of the plant resulting to genetic differentiation within plant populations in a specific ecological environment (Schemske & Bierzychudek 2001). Ecological systems influenced the flower`s gene flow because of the natural resources within the area. The mutation theory suggested that the plant`s gene mutated in order to adapt to new regions as the plant`s population traversed through different ecological surroundings. The mutation theory was based on different locations, whereby the flowering plant would change its flower population based on ecological factors like soil quality.

 In conclusion, the natural selection theory influenced the flower color based on location and soil composition while genetic drift theory influenced flower color change based on spatial differentiation in the plant (Linhart & Grant 1996). However, evidence pointed out that natural selection was the most compelling theory in determining the flower color change in L. parryae.

 

 

 

 

Works cited.

Irwin, R. E., and S. Y. Strauss. 2005. Flower color microevolution in wild radish: evolutionary     response to pollinator-mediated selection. Am. Nat, 165:225–237. Print.

Jain, S. K., and A. D. Bradshaw. 1966. Evolutionary divergence among adjacent plant      populations. Evidence and its theoretical analysis. Heredity, 21:407–441. Print.

Linhart, Y. B., and M. C. Grant. 1996. Evolutionary significance of local genetic differentiation in plants. Annual Revolution Ecological Systems, 27:237–277. Print.

Schemske, D.W., and P. Bierzychudek. 2001. Evolution of flower color in the desert annual         Linanthus parryae: Wright revisited. Evolution, 55:1269– 1282. Print.

Schemske, D.W., and P. Bierzychudek. Spatial Differentiation for Flower Color in the Desert      Annual Linanthus Parryae: Was Wright Right?  Michigan State University, Michigan.        2006. Print.

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Hereditary Cancer

January 9, 2015 By biotechcheck.com Leave a Comment

Hereditary cancer includes all types of cancer that develops because of gene mutation passed from a parent to child. Inheritance of gene mutation does not mean a person might develop cancer, but it increases the risks of having cancer. According to research, cancer is not inherited, but the gene mutation that increases the chances of developing various types of cancer is the one that may be passed from parent to child (Ellis, 2011). This paper discusses the common types of hereditary cancer.

The commonly inherited types of cancer include:

Breast Cancer

All types of breast cancer are caused by multiple gene mutation. Sometimes the initial mutation can be inherited or may occur after conception. Inherited gene mutation is said to be responsible of all 27% cases of breast cancer. There are two types of mutation associated with early breast cancer in many families. These include BRCA1 and BRCA2.

Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is said run across some families. This suggests that in some cases, there might be an inherited or genetic factor. Having a brother or father with prostate cancer is said to double the risk of developing this disease. The risk is said to be higher for those who have an affected brother, and lower to those with an affected father. However, it is higher for those with several affected relatives especially if the relatives developed it at a young age.

Ovarian Cancer

Although 90% of ovarian cancer cases develop sporadically, 10% of women with ovarian cancer are said to inherit the gene mutations that caused the disease. Ovarian cancer in women with families with the history of ovarian cancer develops at an early age than sporadic cancer.

Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer is said to be inherited or hereditary when several generations of a family have developed the disease. Several gene mutations that cause colorectal cancer and allow it to be transmitted to various family members have been found. These include familial adenomarous polyposis and nonpolyposis colorectal cancer. These two can affect both sexes, and children with parents having these gene mutations have 50% chance of inheriting the gene mutations (Rodriguez-Bigas, 2010).

 

 

References

Ellis, C. N. (2011). Inherited cancer syndromes: Current clinical management. New York: Springer.

Rodriguez-Bigas, M. A. (2010). Hereditary colorectal cancer. New York: Springer.

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