Search results for "bioprospecting"
showing 6 items of 16 documents
"Imperial Networks, Colonial Bioprospecting and Burroughs Wellcome & Co.: The Case of Strophanthus Kombe from Malawi (1859-1915)"
2012
Recent research has begun to highlight the complex connections between colonialism, medical and scientific knowledge-production, and commercial interests. This article analyses colonial ‘bioprospecting’ through a case study of Strophanthus kombe. Used locally as an arrow poison, Strophanthus was ‘discovered’ in Malawi during David Livingstone’s Zambesi expedition. After investigation and experimentation it was subsequently used to produce a cardiac drug. The Malawian case study complements previous work on Strophanthus from West Africa. It uncovers the early Scottish-Central African networks that linked the Shire valley, (the source of Malawian kombe seeds) with medical research in Edinburg…
Bioprospecting the solar panel microbiome: High-throughput screening for antioxidant bacteria in a caenorhabditis elegansModel
2018
Microbial communities that are exposed to sunlight typically share a series of adaptations to deal with the radiation they are exposed to, including efficient DNA repair systems, pigment production and protection against oxidative stress, which makes these environments good candidates for the search of novel antioxidant microorganisms. In this research project, we isolated potential antioxidant pigmented bacteria from a dry and highly-irradiated extreme environment: solar panels. High-throughput in vivo assays using Caenorhabditis elegans as an experimental model demonstrated the high antioxidant and ultraviolet-protection properties of these bacterial isolates that proved to be rich in car…
A round trip to the desert: In situ nanopore sequencing informs targeted bioprospecting
2021
Bioprospecting expeditions are often performed in remote locations, in order to access previously unexplored samples. Nevertheless, the actual potential of those samples is only assessed once scientists are back in the laboratory, where a time-consuming screening must take place. This work evaluates the suitability of using Nanopore sequencing during a journey to the Tabernas Desert (Spain) for forecasting the potential of specific samples in terms of bacterial diversity and prevalence of radiation- and desiccation-resistant taxa, which were the target of the bioprospecting activities. Samples collected during the first day were analyzed through 16S rRNA gene sequencing using a mobile labor…
Out of the Abyss: Genome and Metagenome Mining Reveals Unexpected Environmental Distribution of Abyssomicins.
2020
AbstractNatural products have traditionally been discovered through the screening of culturable microbial isolates from all sort of environments. The sequencing revolution allowed the identification of dozens of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) within single bacterial genomes, either from cultured or uncultured strains. However, we are still far from fully exploiting the microbial reservoir, as most of the species are non-model organisms with complex regulatory systems and yet recalcitrant to be engineered. Today, genomic and metagenomic data produced by laboratories worldwide covering the most different natural and artificial environments on Earth, are an invaluable source of raw informat…
Potential application of yeasts from Ecuadorian chichas in controlled beer and chicha production
2021
The potential of yeasts isolated from traditional chichas as starter cultures, either for controlled production of the native beverage or for industrial beer production, has been investigated. Three S. cerevisiae strains and one T. delbrueckii strain isolated from four different Ecuadorian chichas were compared to ale and lager beer strains with respect to fermentation performance, sugar utilisation, phenolic off-flavour production, flocculation and growth at low temperature. Fermentations were performed in 15 °P all-malt wort and in a model chicha substrate at 12 °C and 20 °C. Tall-tube fermentations (1.5 L) were also performed with both substrates to assess yeast performance and beer qual…
Biopiracy in India: Seed diversity and the scramble for knowledge.
2018
Abstract Background: Biopiracy has usually been discussed mostly in the context of the life sciences, sometimes in dialogue with legal debates or political implications. This paper provides a humanities perspective on contemporary discussions of biopiracy and biopatenting. Hypothesis It proceeds from the hypothesis that contemporary debates and practices of biopiracy can be understood as harking back to colonial legacies, which systematically disregard “native” knowledge or seek to appropriate it for their own purposes. Results Drawing on the work of Vandana Shiva, the present article seeks to redefine the notion of ownership of knowledge from a cultural studies perspective. Exploring the 2…