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It's time to highlight the Top 10 Developments in Biotechnology that took place in the month just passed-May 2013! Last time, I had enlisted the top developments in the month of April 2013, those who missed reading the same may find the article at the link mentioned below:
Amazing Biotechnological Advancements in April 2013


Here's a list of the Scientific Advancements in the field of Biotechnology that emerged in the month of May 2013:

1. Research Reignites the Hope for Drug Against KRAS Cancer G-Protein
KRAS is the protein coded by human gene kras (Kirsten rat sarcoma oncogene). For long, scientists had relentlessly tried to develop some drug against this cancer related mutated form of G-protein, but to no success. Recently, a team of scientists from Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Ruhr-University Bochum and Faculty of Chemistry, TU Dortmund (all from Germany) came up with a breakthrough finding about the identification and characterization of a small-molecule inhibitor that interferes with the localization of KRAS to the plasma-membrane of the cells. Their finding has really reignited the cancer research in this particular molecular signalling pathway, which may radically change the prospects of controlling the spread of cancer by inhibiting the KRAS protein.
The findings were published in The Nature (30 May 2013).
Following is an informative video on Cancer & Ras Protein Relation:

2. Cloning Paper in the journal "CELL" under doubts and scrutiny!
A highly cited recently published research paper by the scientific team of Dr. Masahito Tachibana from Division of Reproductive & Developmental Sciences, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University (US) in the coveted "CELL" journal, came under the hammer of criticism when some anonymous readers reported Duplicated figures and graphs in the research paper. CELL faced heightened criticism once Dr. Masahito accepted the committed errors, and promised the correction of the mistakes, for the extra fast review (Cell accepted it just three days after receiving it and published it online 12 days later!).
The research paper is titled "Human Embryonic Stem Cells Derived by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer" accepted in the CELL on May 23 and published on June 6, 2013! Here's a link to the paper: Click here to get re-directed to the paper

3. Robotic Insect Eyes Developed
On May 20, 2013, PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) reported the publication of a unique research by Dr. Dario Floreano and team from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland), Aix-Marseille Université (Germany), Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering (Germany) and Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Biology, University of Tübingen (Germany), on the topic " Miniature curved artificial compound eyes". The project was started in the year 2011 by the name Curvace and has now been realized. Most animals and all insects have compound eyes in contrast to vertebrate single-lens eyes. So, this challenging research (involving the accurate alignment of photoreceptive and optical components on a curved surface) adds a new dimension to not only experimentally testing the insect vision theories but also to develop instruments with panoramic motion detection useful for navigation of terrestrial and aerospace vehicles.
Following is the video on the in-depth details of the same:

4. Anatomy of Sleep Decoded
On May 22, 2013, The Nature published an Open Access article that highlighted the decoding of the entire Anatomy of Sleep. Considering the Open Access to the article, I've posted the image of the key details summarized in the article, below: (Article may be accessed at Access To Free Article )
[Image: 497S2a-f1.2.jpg]

5. Role of sRNA in Biofilms unfolded
A team led by Gisela Storz at the US National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and Poul Valentin-Hansen at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense have reported that small RNAs produced by E.coli are involved in the activation of synthesis of a compound, crucial for formation of Biofilms. The sRNA bind to target protein which further activates the synthesis of the required compound. This role of sRNA in formation of Biofilms can help a lot in deciphering the control of Biofilm production, as well as protein activations in direct presence of sRNAs.

6. Researchers use Flow Cytometry to isolate Fossil Pollens
Richard Jones and his team at the University of Exeter, UK have unconventionally reported the use of Flow Cytometry (a common cell sorting Biomedical technique) to isolate and sort out fossil pollens from the contaminants in the samples collected. The use of this technique was a smart move as pollens are naturally fluorescent, and considering their miniature size, their isolation has always been difficult, thereby restricting the carbon-dating of fossil pollens. But, with flow cytometry, the team isolated 2.75 million fossil grains in just 4 hours!! And, the amount was large enough to easily carry-out the carbon dating.

7. Honey bee genes get powered by pollen
Scientists from University of Illinois at Urbana, have unfolded a fact that would help the professional beekeepers to avoid the mass death of honeybees being faced by them in captivity. The research found that p-coumaric acid, a compound found in pollen was vital for the diet of honeybees as it powers detoxification genes as well as activation of genes for antimicrobial peptides. The research will go a long way in contributing to the survival of the billion dollar global economy of western honeybee (Apis mellifera) cultivation.

8. New Hormone for Diabetes Discovered
Douglas Melton and team at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts have identified a new hormone called betatrophin which has its role in proliferation for β cells (the cells that deteriorate in some forms of diabetes). Though the mechanism of its action is yet to be unearthed, the team has shown that betatrophin is produced by Human Liver too.

9. Transgenic Salmon May Get Approved
Genetically engineered salmon fish that grows twice as fast as the natural variety, may soon find it's place in the dinner tables of the US citizens. As per FDA, "Genetically engineered to grow twice as fast as their unaltered brethren, the fish pose no significant environmental threat to the United States when grown in landlocked tanks".
[Image: 1.12903_Measuring-transgenic-vs-non-tran...Bounty.jpg]

10. Genome of the Pathogen Responsible for Irish-Famine Decoded
Phytophthora infestans the historical plant pathogen that caused potato late blight responsible for the infamous devastation of the Irish potato crop in the 1840s was isolated from from nineteenth-century dried leaves and it's DNA has been sequenced by the team of Kentaro Yoshida at the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, UK. It's the first time that the genome of a historical plant pathogen has been decoded.


So, these were the most exciting 10 recent developments in the field of Biotechnology that caught the attention of the scientific world in May 2013. I hope these researches activated your nerves too!