Topic Review
Research on COVID-19
As of March, most of the world is under the order of a “lockdown” or “restricted movement control” whereby world leaders and medical experts believe that social isolation is the best option at reducing the spread of the highly infectious and novel disease, that is Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). While this preventive measure is in place, various diagnostic kits and treatment strategies are being researched daily to diagnose and curb this disease quickly. This report summarizes the characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and evaluates the diagnostic kits and treatment drugs as well as vaccines that are either currently being used (RT-PCR) or in the clinical pipeline for safety and efficacy testing, respectively. The sooner efficient diagnosis and treatment can be made, the greater the number of lives will be saved.
  • 2.7K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Tea EGCG and Coffee CGA
Tea and coffee are consumed worldwide and epidemiological and clinical studies have shown their health beneficial effects, including anti-cancer effects. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and chlorogenic acid (CGA) are the major components of green tea polyphenols and coffee polyphenols, respectively, and believed to be responsible for most of these effects. Although a large number of cell-based and animal experiments have provided convincing evidence to support the anti-cancer effects of green tea, coffee, EGCG, and CGA, human studies are still controversial and some studies have suggested even an increased risk for certain types of cancers such as esophageal and gynecological cancers with green tea consumption and bladder and lung cancers with coffee consumption. 
  • 2.7K
  • 20 Oct 2020
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Metal Binding Proteins
Metal ions play several major roles in proteins: structural, regulatory, and enzymatic. The binding of some metal ions increase stability of proteins or protein domains. Some metal ions can regulate various cell processes being first, second, or third messengers. Some metal ions, especially transition metal ions, take part in catalysis in many enzymes. From ten to twelve metals are vitally important for activity of living organisms: sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, manganese, iron, cobalt, zinc, nickel, vanadium, molybdenum, and tungsten. This short review is devoted to structural, physical, chemical, and physiological properties of proteins, which specifically bind these metal cations.
  • 2.6K
  • 18 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Development of Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies
We provide an overview of the challenges and advancements in the development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and antibody products.
  • 2.7K
  • 21 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Thermodynamic Dissipation Theory of Life
The Thermodynamic Dissipation Theory of the Origin and Evolution of Life argues that the escence of the origin of life was the microscopic dissipative structuring under UVC light of organic pigments (now known as the fundamental molecules of life - those common to all three domains) and their proliferation over the entire Earth surface, driven by the thermodynamic imperative of dissipating this part of the Archean solar spectrum into heat. With time, dissipative structuring led to ever more complex biosynthetic pathways for creating pigments and their support structures (and processes) which could dissipate not only the UVC region but also other UV regions and the visible wavelengths, until today reaching the "red edge" (at approximately 700 nm). The heat of dissipation of photons absorbed on organic pigments in water then catalyzes a host of coupled secondary dissipative processes such as; the water cycle, ocean and wind currents, hurricanes, etc. pushing the limit for dissipation of the incident light even further towards the infrared. The thermodynamic dissipation theory thus assgins an explicit thermodynamic function to life; the dissipative structuring, proliferation, and evolution of molecular pigments and their complexes from common precursor carbon based molecules under the impressed short wavelength solar photon potential to perform the explicit thermodynamic function of dissipating this light into long wavelength infrared light (heat). In a general sense, the origin of life is no different than the origin of other dissipative structuring processes like hurricanes and the water cycle, except that these latter processes deal with structuring involving hydrogen bonding while life deals with structuring involving covalent bonding. The external photon potential supplied continuously by the environment (our Sun), and its dissipation into heat by the assembly of dissipative structures, are, therefore, both integral components necessary for understanding life. Difficult problems related to the origin of life, such as enzyme-less replication of RNA and DNA, homochirality of the fundamental molecules, and the origin of amino acid -codon assignments (information encoding in RNA and DNA), also find simple explanations within this same dissipative thermodynamic framework once the existence of a relation between primordial RNA and DNA replication and UV-C photon dissipation is established.
  • 2.7K
  • 04 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Mosquitoes of Etiological Concern in Kenya
Kenya is among the most affected tropical countries with pathogen transmitting Culicidae vectors. For decades, insect vectors have contributed to the emergence and distribution of viral and parasitic pathogens. Outbreaks and diseases have a great impact on a country’s economy, as resources that would otherwise be used for developmental projects are redirected to curb hospitalization cases and manage outbreaks. Infected invasive mosquito species have been shown to increasingly cross both local and global boarders due to the presence of increased environmental changes, trade, and tourism. In Kenya, there have been several mosquito-borne disease outbreaks such as the recent outbreaks along the coast of Kenya, involving chikungunya and dengue. This certainly calls for the implementation of strategies aimed at strengthening integrated vector management programs. Here we look at mosquitoes of public health concern in Kenya, while highlighting the pathogens they have been linked with over the years and across various regions. 
  • 2.7K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Innovative Preservation Methods Applied to Fish Products
Fish products are highly perishable, requiring proper processing to maintain their quality and safety during the entire storage. Different from traditional methods used to extend the shelf-life of these products (smoking, salting, marinating, icing, chilling, freezing, drying, boiling, steaming, etc.), in recent years, some alternative methods (non-thermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP), pulsed electric fields (PEF), pulsed light (PL), ultrasounds (US) and electrolyzed water (EW)) have been proposed as innovative processing technologies able to guarantee the extension of their shelf-life while minimally affecting their organoleptic properties. 
  • 2.7K
  • 13 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Role of Glutathione in Cancer
       Molecular changes in the glutathione antioxidant system and disturbances in its homeostasis have been implicated in tumor initiation, progression, and treatment response with glutathione having both protective and pathogenic roles. Although in healthy cells it is crucial for the removal and detoxification of carcinogens, elevated glutathione levels in tumor cells are associated with tumor progression and increased resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. Recently, several novel therapies have been developed to target the glutathione antioxidant system in tumors as a means for increased response and decreased drug resistance. In this comprehensive review we explore glutathione functionalities and different therapeutic approaches and their development through experimental and computational approaches. 
  • 2.7K
  • 03 Nov 2020
Topic Review
GC-IMS
Gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) is a powerful technique for the separation and sensitive detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). It is a rapid, robust and easy-to-handle technique, which has recently gained attention for targeted as well as non-targeted screening (NTS) approaches. In this article, the general working principles of GC-IMS are presented.
  • 2.7K
  • 03 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Transcription
Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA. The segments of DNA transcribed into RNA molecules that can encode proteins are said to produce messenger RNA (mRNA). Other segments of DNA are copied into RNA molecules called non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Averaged over multiple cell types in a given tissue, the quantity of mRNA is more than 10 times the quantity of ncRNA (though in particular single cell types ncRNAs may exceed mRNAs). The general preponderance of mRNA in cells is valid even though less than 2% of the human genome can be transcribed into mRNA (Human genome), while at least 80% of mammalian genomic DNA can be actively transcribed (in one or more types of cells), with the majority of this 80% considered to be ncRNA. Both DNA and RNA are nucleic acids, which use base pairs of nucleotides as a complementary language. During transcription, a DNA sequence is read by an RNA polymerase, which produces a complementary, antiparallel RNA strand called a primary transcript. Transcription proceeds in the following general steps: If the stretch of DNA is transcribed into an RNA molecule that encodes a protein, the RNA is termed messenger RNA (mRNA); the mRNA, in turn, serves as a template for the protein's synthesis through translation. Other stretches of DNA may be transcribed into small non-coding RNAs such as microRNA, transfer RNA (tRNA), small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA), small nuclear RNA (snRNA), or enzymatic RNA molecules called ribozymes as well as larger non-coding RNAs such as ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). Overall, RNA helps synthesize, regulate, and process proteins; it therefore plays a fundamental role in performing functions within a cell. In virology, the term transcription may also be used when referring to mRNA synthesis from an RNA molecule (i.e., equivalent to RNA replication). For instance, the genome of a negative-sense single-stranded RNA (ssRNA -) virus may be a template for a positive-sense single-stranded RNA (ssRNA +)[clarification needed]. This is because the positive-sense strand contains the sequence information needed to translate the viral proteins needed for viral replication. This process is catalyzed by a viral RNA replicase.[clarification needed]
  • 2.7K
  • 14 Apr 2023
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