Absract Archive   August 2007 Phytoremediation of chromium- A green clean technology Abstract Green plants and trees are used to absorb metal pollutants through root, and store in the plant parts. It is a permanent solution, cost effective, green technology, but utilizes specially selected metal-accumulating plants to remove toxic metals. Metal exclusion and metal accumulation are the two basic strategies observed in phytoremediation. Importantly, only selective plants could be used for bioremediation, mainly because of the variation in the tolerance levels of different plant species and also due to the phytotoxicity of these metal ions. Of the several pollutants, chromium is toxic to plants and does not play any role in plant metabolism. Accumulation of Cr by plants can reduce growth, induces chlorosis in tender leaves, reduce pigment content, alter enzymatic function, damage root cells and causes damage to chloroplast and cell membrane Chromium (VI) on the other hand more phytotoxic than Cr (III). Therefore there is a need for biotechnological methods for effective removal of chromium ions. With this in focus, this article reviews the recent advancements in phytoremediation for the treatment of metal ion pollutants, with emphasis on the need for the phytoremediation for chromium. Key Words: Chromium, Brassica, metallochaperone, Phytoremediation, plant-metal interaction. Introduction Chromium is the seventh most abundant metal in the earth's crust (Katz and Salem 1994). There are a large number of tanneries scattered all over the country but the main areas of their concentration are Tamilnadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Chromium, a steel-grey, lustrous, hard and brittle metal, occurs in nature in bound forms that constitute 0.10.3 mg kg-1 of the earth's crust. It has several oxidation states ranging from Cr (-II) to Cr(+VI), of which the trivalent and hexavalent states are the most stable ones. A maximum acceptable concentration of 0.05 mg/L (50 µg / L) for chromium in drinking water has been established on the basis of health considerations. Chromium is a major pollutant that is discharged by several industries including leather tanning, steel, chrome plating, electroplating, dyeing, metallurgy, lumper, power generation, mining, industrial activities, wood treatment/preservation, steel processing, aluminum alloys, microbial growth inhibition such as cooling towers of power plants, lubricants, motor fuels and oil refineries. Chromium contamination in soil as well as in water in these areas exceeds 130,000 mg/kg, which obviously is beyond the acceptable limits. Thus there is a great need for bioremediation of chromium wastes to protect animal as well as human health and environment. Phytoremediation (Greek word “phyton”- plant; Latin word “remediare” - to remedy) is a bioremediation process, by using various metal accumulating plants to remove, transfer, stabilize, and /or destroy the contaminants of soil and ground water. Green plants and trees are used to absorb metal pollutants through root, and store in the plant parts (phytoextraction), volatize (phytovolatisation) or metabolize (phytodegradation) or combination of all. Authors:T.B. Sridharan, G. Jayaraman. Nanotechnology, Nanoparticles and nanomedicine Abstract Nanotechnology can be defined as the science and engineering involved in the design, synthesis, and characterization of nanomaterials. Nanotechnology stands to produce diverse scientific changes and advances in many areas of research including medicine. Nanomaterials are the important source for the rapid development of nanotechnology and its applications. Nanoparticle research is currently an area of intense scientific research, due to a wide variety of potential applications in biomedical, optical, and electronic fields. Nanoproducts are developed worldwide for the improvement in health care and its related research. This review is focused on the idea of nanotechnology and applications of nanoparticles in medicine. Keywords: Nanotechnology, Nanostructured materials, Quantum dots, Dendrimers. Introduction Nanotechnology is a field of applied science and technology. It is the study of objects of order of 100 nanometers or less, where one nanometer (nm) is one billionth, or 10-9 of a meter. Eg: The distance between the atoms in a molecule are in the range of 12- 15nm or the DNA double helix has a diameter of 2nm or the smallest cellular life forms, the bacteria of the genus Mycoplasma, are around 200 nm in length. So, nanotechnology caters to the study of objects that are invisible to the eye and as small in dimensions as molecules in the body. Nanotechnology is the ability to work at the atomic, molecular and supramolecular levels in order to understand, create and use material structures, devices and systems with fundamentally new properties and functions resulting from their small structures 4. It is involved in the study of structures and devices with length scales in the 1 to 100 nanometers range. Objects in this scale are termed “NANOPARTICLES” with novel properties and functions. Their small size, improved solubility and multifunctionality make them important in research. With their specific properties they interact with the complex biological functions in a new way. This rapid growing field allows researchers to design and develop nanoparticles that can target, diagnose and treat diseases. Within the realm of drug discovery and development, nanotechnology has its main focus to improve diagnostic methods, develop improved drug formulations and drug delivery systems to enhance disease therapy. The research community is increasingly focusing its attention on the novel properties of nano-sized materials to develop new applications to improve human health. Thus when nanotechnology was applied to human systems for studying its working and treating diseases, it is termed as Nanomedicine, which is defined as “The interdisciplinary science involved in diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and control of biological systems by use of nanotechnology”. Author: C. Lavanya. Exploiting the less explored “Microbial Endophytes” Introduction The need for new and useful compounds to provide assistance and relief in all aspects of human condition is ever growing. Today, antibiotics are an indispensable component of human chemotherapy and a world without them is hard to imagine. Unfortunately, many bacterial pathogens that were once treatable and represented very little threat to human health are becoming resistant to clinically relevant antibiotics. So, there is a general call for the need of new chemotherapeutics, agrochemicals possessing low toxicity and have minor environmental impacts. This search is driven by the development of resistance in infectious agents (species of Staphylococcus, Mycobacterium) to existing compounds and by the alarming presence of naturally resistant organisms. The ingress to the human population of new diseases such as AIDS and SARS requires the discovery and development of new drugs to combat them. Natural products have been the traditional path finder compounds, offering an untold diversity of chemical structures. Even with untold centuries of human experience behind us and a movement in to a modern era of chemistry and automation, natural product based compounds have an immense impact on modern medicine since about 40% of prescription drugs are based on them. It was not until Pasteur discovered that fermentation is caused by living cells that people seriously began to investigate microbes as a source of bioactive compounds. Then scientific serendipity and the power of observation provided the impetus to Fleming to usher in the antibiotic era via the discovery of penicillin from the fungus Penicillium notatum. Since then people have been engaged in the discovery and application of microbial metabolites with the activity against both plant and human pathogens. Furthermore, the discovery of plethora of microbes for applications that span a broad spectrum of utility in medicine, agriculture and industry is now practical because of the novel and sophisticated screening processes. These processes use individual organisms or enzymes. It may also be true that, unfortunately, a reduction in interest in natural products for use in drug development has happened as a result of people growing weary of dealing compounds, including plants of the temperate zones and microbes from a plethora of soil samples gathered in different parts of the world. One prevailing idea in the bioprospecting of antibiotics is the hypothesis that “everything is everywhere”. This assumption implies that essentially all microbial species can be found in similar unique habitats around the world. Authors: R. Balagurunathan, M. Radhakrishnan. The role of biotechnology in food: traditional & modern aspects Introduction 'Biotechnology' is the science which deals with the utilization of cells or organisms producing specific compounds/metabolites that are beneficial to man & desirable living organisms. From the practical standpoint, biotechnology involves the use of scientific techniques designed to achieve this objective of developing organisms and traits therein. While biotechnology covers an entire plethora of avenues under the broad head of biology such as Genetics, Molecular biology, Protein chemistry, Physiology- covering plants, animals & micro-organisms, it also shares boundaries with several other disciplines such as physics, mathematics, computer sciences and the engineering sciences. Biotechnology permeates & governs every sphere of our day-to-day existence whether it be the production of food, fertilizers, medicine, fuels, detergents, fiber to mention a few. This essay aims at a review of the applications of biotechnology in the sphere of food production. Food is integral for the sustenance of all living organisms. Foods worldwide have involved organisms be it as plants, animals or microorganisms-either as the source of food itself or as participants in the process of food manufacture. The development of the process called fermentation is a clear illustration of the latter. Fermentation is one of these so-called 'traditional' applications of biotechnology. Evidence of fermented milk products forming a part of the human diet dates back to the 3rd millennium B.C. Simply expressed, fermentation involves the breakdown of complex sugars to yield simpler molecules such as alcohol or acids. While Louis Pasteur studied alcoholic fermentation and H.A de Bary studied the impact of fungal invasion of plants, it was Metchnikoff who investigated milk fermentation, highlighting the role of beneficial bacteria (presently termed as 'probiotics') in food production. Metchnikoff's theory stated that lactobacilli in the digestive tract would prevent putrefaction and disease thereby contributing to human health longevity. This hypothesis was published in his book entitled 'The Prolongation of Life'(1906). Fermented foods such as sauerkraut in Germany or our own favourite idli, dosa and similar dishes back home in India are the result of the micro-organisms being used for producing biomolecules (in the form of foodstuffs) useful to man . Let us look at some of these foods from different countries of the world wherein (often unknown to the layman-often involved in producing/processing the food) biotechnology has played a major role:- 'Innovative' or 'unconventional methods of biotechnology have enabled several novel developments on the food & food crops' scenario. The development of recombinant DNA technology techniques involving gene isolation, cloning and amplification followed by expression has opened up an entirely new world of developments in food production (7-8). Among these developments include the overexpression of genes coding for enzymes that synthesize specific proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates & various secondary metabolites- thus enhancing the overall nutritive content of certain staple food crops. Also included is the enhancement of other desireable characters including yield, resistance to pests & pathogens, herbicides and so on. Expression of novel genes within an organism is also another important breakthrough that has occurred as a result of rDNA technology. The first FDA-approved application of biotechnology for production of food animals was to modify a microorganism to make a hormone needed for milk production in dairy cows. This genetically modified organism (GMO) was a bacterium that generated large quantities of the hormone enabling injection into dairy cows. An estimated one-third of U.S. milk is produced using the GMO-produced hormone, which increases milk production by 10 to 25 % Another GMO is used to produce about 75 % of U.S. cheese by providing a necessary enzyme formerly harvested from the stomach lining of cows. Author: Mrinalini Menon Integrated Bio Waste Management (IBWM): An Effective Approach to contol Biotechnological Waste in India Introduction Biotechnology is a broadly inclusive term to describe technologies that manipulate living organisms or cell to create a desired end product, by product or effect. Biotechnology in recent year has created unprecedented opportunities, not only for the manipulation of biological system for the benefit of mankind but also understanding the fundamental life process consequently, it has become the world's fastest growing and the most rapidly changing technology. The modern biotechnological industries divide into four major sections a) Biomedical- Pharmaceuticals b) Agriculture foods c) Genetically enhanced agriculture products d) Environmental Biotechnology Bio Waste Waste generation encompasses activities in which materials are identified as no longer being of value and are either thrown away or gathered together for disposal. For example, the wrapping of chocolate is usually considered to be of little value to the owner, once the chocolate is consumed and thrown away especially out doors. Also same biotechnological laboratories may generate waste cell culture, useless gel, apis tubes, bacterial/fungal/viral colonies and tissue culture that require disposal as bio-hazardous waste. In general, bio wastes are classified into different ways such as Medical wastes The following five types of wastes are identified and defined as infection or physically dangerous medical waste a)  Blood and Blood Products      Discarded bulk human blood and blood products in free draining, liquid state, and body fluids      contaminated with visible blood b)  Pathological waste      Human anatomical parts, organs, tissue and body fluids removed and discarded during      surgery or autopsy or other      medical procedure and specimen of body fluids c)  Culture and stock of infectious agents and associated biological      All discarded culture and stock of infectious agents and biological by products effluents d)  Contaminated animal carcasses      Body parts and bedding e) Sharps Discarded medical articles that may cause puncture or cuts, including but not limited      to all used and discarded      hypodermic needles and syringes, pasteur pipettes, broken      medical glassware, scalpel blades, disposable razors,       and      suture needles   Medical      laboratories performing biotech research or medicine may generate waste that must be      disposed of a medical or infectious “Red Bag” waste f)  Bioremediation related waste   Some bio-remedial technique generate by products that are     easier to treat or manage      than contamination being remediate, but which must be     nevertheless     be treated on site or disposal of as hazardous  waste Author:Sudhir Sharma,Deepa Garg, Manju Chauhan.