(Italiano) “Come fare la focaccia” spiegato da un biotecnologo
Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano.
Fun Experiments: acetic acid and sodium bicarbonate vs Saccharomyces cerevisiae
We have all heard about carbon dioxide at least one time (it is abbreviated as CO2), in the most cases associated with the “greenhouse effect”. Carbon dioxide can be produced by industrial chemical reactions, like combustion of hydrocarbons, but it is also the waste product of aerobic respiration, a complex series of biological reactions used...
Olympiad 2012: an unexpected protagonist
The London 2012 Olympics had an unexpected protagonist: erythropoietin (EPO). During the surprise anti-doping controls, the runner Alex Schwarzer tested positive for EPO. What is EPO? Why is it a doping substance? Erythropoietin is a human glycoprotein hormone, it is produced by the kidneys and a small amount by the liver. Its function is to...
Tuesday 12th June: the public research about GMO is sent to the stake.
When Monti’s government was installed in December 2011, many people hoped that could be the end of all the ideological battles about economical, scientific and political topics, but unfortunately it wasn’t so. We still can find the daily battle about the GMO and these contrasts cause a real damage to the funds of the State...
Fun Experiments: amylase, an enzyme of saliva
Dear Readers, today we launch a new section of “ biotecnologie per tutti” called “Fun-Biotech”. It will be dedicated to scientific experiments and you can find instructions and videos to repeat them at home or at school. Amylase, an enzyme of saliva Starch is a natural polymer used to store chemical energy, it is present...
Vaccines against malaria: the first results
Malaria affects thousands of victims each year, precisely 800000 die, among which the most are African children under 5 years old. Most of the infected people are located in Africa, South America and Asia and only very seldom in the USA and Europe where some big drainage have been done work that has eliminated the...
News and … the International Year of Chemistry
Dear readers, as you can see, the website Biotechnologies for all has been improved and updated after 3 years since it was born. The monthly news is more dynamic and it allows you to be more interactive. In order to launch the new layout of the website, we would like to publish an article, which...
Work in the field of biotechnology in 2011
Every year Assobiotech, which is the organization of all the Italian biotechnological firms, writes a report called “Bioinitaly” about the conditions of biotech firms in our country. The report of this year seems to show wrong statistics and data also because of the economical crisis and the difficulties which characterize the Universities, research foundations and...
French fries …. like a “drug”
French fries, hamburger with cheese, mayonnaise….. This is irresistible food. When you start to eat it, it’s impossible to stop until you finish. The voracity that characterized people when they eat this kind of fatty food, it’s not only a habit. The reason of this voracity has been discovered. The scientists of the Italian Institute...
E.coli, friend or enemy?
In the last months an unknown bacteria called Escherichia coli (E.coli) has become a pop-star of mass media because of several deaths in Germany after eating E.coli contaminated foods. But what is E.coli? E.coli is an innocuous bacteria, it normally lives in the mammalian intestine and it is the principal component of the intestinal flora....
Production of recombinant proteins
The word recombinant proteins can be a little bit resounding and can scare some of our readers, but it is very simple to explain. It is probably one of the most successful and useful application of biotechnologies. First of all a recombinant protein is a PROTEIN, like all the proteins we can find in the...
Production of vaccines: a new begin
Non molto tempo fa, lo sviluppo e la produzione dei vaccini era qualcosa di ristagnante nello scenario dello sviluppo e ricerca farmaceutico e nei programmi di produzione. Ora , invece , lo sviluppo dei vaccini è diventano un argomento di prima linea molto a cuore alle aziende farmaceutiche. Questo settore , infatti ha subito una...
Enzymes and “alien” microorganisms
It has been recently discovered the laboratory production of a microorganism, which is able to live without phosphor, an essential element for all the living microorganisms. The phosphor has been substituted by arsenic...
Bioethanol: production and future
In the last years the petroleum reserves have decreased and consequently the cost of a barrel of oil has increased opening the way for alternative fuels. At least one time everybody has heard about biofuels but only a few people know how they are produced and the scientific improvements obtained. Bioethanol is the most famous...
