University of Delaware professor wins top bio-innovation prize

Aditja Kunjapur PHOTO: AAAS.org

Biomolecular engineer Aditya Kunjapur, assistant professor at the University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, recently won the 2024 BioInnovation Institute & Science Prize for Innovation,

Kunjapur and his colleagues have found a way to create bacteria that build and incorporate a key amino acid into their own proteins, making it easier to fight infections.

For this work toward building a better platform for possible ifuture bacterial vaccines, Kunjapur is the winner of the 2024 BioInnovation Institute & SciencePrize for Innovation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science announced April 5, in a news item on aaas.org.

“The prize seeks to reward scientists who deliver research at the intersection of the life sciences and entrepreneurship,” it noted.

“Dr. Kunjapur’s outstanding research demonstrates the potential to engineer live bacterial cells to produce and incorporate nitrated amino acids into antigenic proteins, thus shining a spotlight on these proteins for the human immune system,” Michael Funk, senior editor at Science is quoted saying in the new release. “This work provides a platform for antigen engineering that is adaptable, specific, and amenable to safety controls.”

Vaccines against bacterial infections would likely decrease the need for antibiotic medicines, which in turn could stem the development of antibiotic resistance in some key drugs, AAAS noted.

Kunjapur estimates that bacterial vaccines will have an estimated global market size of $39.6 billion by 2030.

In his winning essay published April 5 in Science, Kunjapur writes — “our primary hypothesis is that engineering cells to access a broader chemical repertoire of building blocks can improve live bacterial vaccine efficacy.”

According to the news report, Kunjapur saw potential in a building block from earlier research in which a bacterial protein was modified with a non-standard amino acid called para-nitro-L-phenylalanine (nitro-Phe). The combination “triggered sustained production of antibodies in mice, suggesting that the altered amino acid was making it easier for the immune system to access or recognize the bacterial protein,” the news report noted.

Kunjapur and colleagues programmed E. coli bacterial cells to produce their own nitro-Phe and incorporate it into target proteins. The altered proteins hold the potential of becoming the basis for a live bacterial vaccine, the researchers suggest.

“In principle, the nitro-Phe modified protein produced by the engineered bacteria within a patient would lead to a targeted, sustained, and protective immune response towards bacterial pathogens,” even versions of the protein that haven’t been nitrated, Kunjapur is quoted saying.

Kunjapur also indicated that his team’s bioengineering strategy could work with other bacteria as well, not just E coli.

“We could also continue to use E. coli as a platform vector that makes recombinant proteins that belong to other bacteria,” he said. “So you can pick your chassis or your protein delivery vehicle, but the proteins you choose to nitrate should determine what immune cells respond to.”

Kunjapur hopes to work toward a vaccine for staph infections. The Covid pandemic came in the way of procuring funding for expanding his work, so Kunjapur used his own funds for the patent application.

“At the time I had cautious optimism in investing in new potential vaccine modalities during the height of a pandemic, but a lot of it was also a bet on the people behind the idea and our collaborators,” he said.

Kunjapur co-founded Nitro Biosciences, Inc. with his postdoc, Neil Butler, to pursue the nitro-Phe technology. He said starting the company has made him think more about who is going to use the technology, and what kind of criteria and metrics they need to know so that it can be used successfully.

The BioInnovation Institute & Science Prize for Innovation, the editors of Science “seek to recognize bold researchers who are asking fundamental questions at the intersection of the life sciences and entrepreneurship. We seek scientists who can show that they have reached across field boundaries with an enthusiasm that combines outstanding basic science with an eye toward application in the marketplace,” Science.org says on its website.

Located in Copenhagen, Denmark, the BioInnovation Institute foundation (BII) is an international commercial foundation with a nonprofit objective supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. “BII operates an incubator to accelerate world-class life science innovation that drives the development of new solutions by early life science start-ups for the benefit of people and society,” the Science.org website said. University of Delaware professor wins top bio-innovation prize

Read More........→April 23, 2024

Incredible 60% of Europe’s Electricity Was Powered by Clean Energy in the First Two Months of 2024

Irish wind turbines – David de la Iglesia Villar, marked CC License.

According to an energy think tank, Europe’s generation of 516.5 terawatt hours of renewable electricity in January and February satisfied 60% of overall power demand. The generation is a year-over-year gain of 12% from the same period in 2023, and was driven by strong year-on-year growth in hydro and wind, and a rebound in nuclear. Coinciding with this was a 12% year-over-year fall in the use of fossil fuels, with a 15% drop in energy from coal-fired power plants, the think tank Ember, reports. Contrary to the assumption that this is the work of solar farms and wind turbines, the two fastest growing sources across Europe, the strong performance was led by nuclear, which grew 4% y-o-y, and hydropower which at 17.2% of total continental power demand was the highest percentage share of hydroelectricity ever generated in Europe. Hydroelectricity use grew 23% y-o-y to 152 terawatt hours, led by Norway, France, Switzerland, and Portugal. This was six times the amount of Europe’s total solar power yield, which topped out at 24 TWh. Wind power generated an impressive 137.5 TWh of electricity during the first two months of 2024, up 14%. Several countries, like Ireland and Portugal, are recording single days or multi-day stretches in which a two-thirds majority or greater of their populations are using renewable energy entirely.Additionally, European countries are coming up with clever as well as ambitious ideas for how to integrate more green energy sources into their communties; epitomized by Liverpool’s steadily advancing plan to build the world’s largest tidal power project across the Mersey river delta.I ncredible 60% of Europe’s Electricity Was Powered by Clean Energy in the First Two Months of 2024: 

Read More........→April 16, 2024

North America to witness rare astronomical phenomenon – total solar eclipse

North America will witness a rare astronomical phenomenon – a total solar eclipse today. Beginning over the Pacific Ocean, this celestial event will traverse Mexico, United States and Canada. As per Indian Standard Time (IST), the total solar eclipse will begin at 9:12 pm tonight and will end at 2:22 am early tomorrow morning. However, it will not be visible to skywatchers in India. A solar eclipse is an astronomical phenomenon where the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and blocks the Sun’s light either entirely or partially. When the moon completely covers the sun, it casts a shadow on Earth, forming what is called a “path of totality.” The total darkening of the sky, also known as totality, will be visible across a 185-kilometre stretch between Mexico, the US, and Canada. North America to witness rare astronomical phenomenon – total solar eclipse

Read More........→April 08, 2024

How Singapore Became an Unexpected Stronghold for a Critically Endangered Bird

Straw-headed bulbul – credit Michael MK Khor CC 2.0. Flickr

From the sprawling urban city-state of Singapore comes the unlikely story of a critically endangered songbird and a dedicated group of environmentalists helping it thrive as the population collapses overseas.

The straw-headed bulbul is a victim of its beautiful song, which has seen it extirpated from the wilds of Thailand, Myanmar, and Java as poachers capture it for the illegal songbird trade.

But as early as 1990, conservationists, birdwatchers, and government workers in Singapore have taken action on this species’ behalf.

“Whenever I hear its resonant, bubbly song, the forest seems to erupt with life,” conservationist Ho Hua Chew told Smithsonian Magazine.

Because of men like Ho, the peripheral wetlands of Singapore, the offshore island of Pulau Ubin, and the large green spaces in the city state’s interior together play host to 600 straw-headed bulbuls.

Nature Society Singapore, of which Ho was a member, was the first to push for nature protections on Pulau Ubin, the site of an old granite quarry, where nevertheless a concentrated population of these birds could be found.

This resulted in a Nature Area designation for the island in 1993, achieved through advocacy and outreach among millions of Singaporeans.

Smithsonian lists this as an early victory in the history of environmentalism on the cramped peninsular city-state.

After populations had fallen 50% over three generations, the bird was listed as “Endangered” on Singapore’s own Red Data Book, which tracks populations of every plant and animal in the country, the straw-headed bulbul was added to the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act of 2006, a move which reversed the trend, even while populations were collapsing around Southeast Asia.

Today, there is a Straw-Headed Bulbul Working Group, co-led by the National Parks Board and the Nature Society Singapore, which ensures this beautiful warbling bird remains in tip-top condition.

If it were not for the incredible momentum that the work to conserve this bird has had over the years, its future would be alarmingly uncertain. Today, Ho believes that as the Working Group ensures the genetic diversity among the birds is in good shape, and the populations are increasing, the Singaporean straw-headed bulbuls may one day be the only population to draw from to restore populations elsewhere. How Singapore Became an Unexpected Stronghold for a Critically Endangered Bird:

Read More........→April 05, 2024

Witness the Glory of the 2024 European Tree of the Year – Growing in Poland for 200 Years

credit – Marcin Kopij

In this year’s edition of the European Tree of the Year contest, the leafy crown was bestowed upon a common beech in the botanical gardens of the University of Wroclaw.

Thought to be 200 years old, The Heart of the Garden is the third Polish tree in a row to win, following up on the Oak Fabrykant with its outrageous 60-foot-long digit in 2023, and the 400-year-old Oak Dunin outside the Białowieża Primeval Forest, in 2022.

“Its majestic appearance impresses us with its unusually shaped and thick trunk, widely spread branches, and purple-colored leaves that shine beautifully in the sun,” the contest organizers wrote.

Known in the UK as a “copper beech” all beech trees seem to have the genetic potential to be purple, though exactly what causes it to happen is unknown. The naturally occurring mutation appears spontaneously, without human interference, and is most commonly seen in either saplings or old trees.

The Heart of the Garden is certainly old, and what a wonderful confluence of character that it should have been grown as the centerpiece in the arboretum, and be 200 years old, and have a copper beech mutation.

The Fagus genus took silver as well, with The Weeping Beech of Bayeux, in France. Popular for its immense weeping canopy and massive twisted branches probably related to whatever genetic mutation is responsible for Verzy’s faux trees, it’s a perfect romantic spot for celebrations and weddings.

Spreading over 120 feet, or 40 meters in width today, the city had to keep on perfecting an incredible supporting structure for the last 100 years.

Held every year, the European Tree of the Year contest is a delightful opportunity for tree photographers to showcase their skills, for nature lovers to connect with the continent’s wild heritage, and for residents to celebrate the old or interesting trees in their area.

Ongoing since 2011, it grew from a similar contest held in Czechia, and as a result, East-Central Europe boasts the largest number of finalists.(CORRECTION: An earlier version described the 200 year old tree as 2,000 years old.) Witness the Glory of the 2024 European Tree of the Year – Growing in Poland for 200 Years

Read More........→April 01, 2024