Biotechnology Papers by R. A. Crater

  Forthcoming Restoration of Epigenetically Induced Damage to Retinal Ganglion Cells Retinal ganglion cell degeneration is one the baseis for a number of ocular neuropathies and diseases, including glaucoma (Corral-Domenge, 2022; Khatib & Martin, 2017; Munemasa & Kitaoka, 2013). As of 2019, 2.2 billion people are blind or have visual problems (World Health Organization, 2019), according to SEE International (2022), 76 million people will suffer from glaucoma, and it is predicted that there will be a 74% increase in glaucoma the next 20 years. A number of causes for retinal ganglion cell degeneration have been proposed that also include immune dysfunction, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and mitochondrial pathology (Munemasa & Kitaoka, 2013). There are currently no approved cures for retinal ganglion cell degradation in glaucoma cases, the standard treatment being lowering of intraocular pressure to assist in preventing further damage (Khatib & Martin, 2017; Munemas...

  The Effects of AGE (Advanced Glycation End-Product) Protein Cross-Linking in Aging Disease      Recent advances and discoveries in numerous biological, medical, and technical fields call into question whether the aging process should be considered an absolute ending decree on life and lifespan or be classified as a disease which causes progressive deterioration of biological matter and processes. Maximum human lifespan has never been scientifically established, only statistically assumed. Given that other lifeforms experience great longevity, it is only logical and reasonable to expect that there may be a much higher limit to how long Homo sapiens can live, despite the number crunching proliferated by actuarial and economical scientists.  A multitude of examples exist of lifeforms that either live continuously or for very lengthy time spans - not counting periods of dormancy or externally imposed premature death, for instance: Turritopsis doohmii , the immorta...

Synthetic Fluorescent Supercharged DRNN Scaffold VX Binding Protein A September 1, 2022 news article by Kitta Macpherson published on the Physics.org website announced a new application of synthetic protein design that will have dramatic life saving impact in the near future and spawn numerous additional custom made solutions. A team of scientists, a number of whom were from Rutgers University, used a protein core scaffold originating from the CheA phosphotransferase protein domain occurring in Thermotoga maritima (Macpherson, 2022; McCann et al., 2022). From the scaffold, McCann et al. (2022), created an artificial VX nerve agent detection protein that can be used in conjunction with additional supporting equipment to give immediate alerts when minute traces of VX nerve agent are present in the environment. The protein is designed to eliminate problems previous detection systems encountered with false triggering due to pesticides and other chemicals closely resembling VX nerve agent...

Human SIRT1 Alternate Splicing The human sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) gene is a member of the sirtuin family of genes known for deacetylating multiple histones and other proteins (Zhang, et al. 2021). It is a gene that conserves deeply rooted functionality, likely from primordial times (Elibol, & Kilic, 2018 ;SInclair, 2019). As of this date SIRT1 is identified as having 36 functional areas, affects at least 41 different pathways, interacts with at minimum 404 different proteins, and is involved in at minimum 131 varying molecular processes (National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), 2022). Variants of the gene are found throughout the body in multiple tissues at varying levels, depending on tissue type and age of the individual (Zhang, et al. 2021), and are active in at least 23 cellular components including the nucleus, cytoplasm, and mitochondrian (NCBI, 2022).  The human SIRT1 gene is located on chromosome 10 (10q21.3), occupies base pairs 67,884,656 - 67,918,390, has 1...

Recent Advances in Discovery and Classification of RNA Viruses The science of virus classification has been on a contentious ride since its beginnings. One of the issues that compounds the problem is whether viruses are living entities. There continues to be an ongoing debate regarding this issue, especially as rapid advances in the virome frontier are made (Forterre, 2016; Koonin & Dolja, 2018; Nasir & Caetano-Anolles, 2015). There remains ongoing debate regarding what was actually the first primordial indication of forthcoming life, primitive RNA based cells, RNA/RT viruses, or even separate RNA-like information-holding structures that were eventually assisted in reproducing by primitive enzymes (Greene & Reid, 2013; Wolf et al., 2018).      Disagreement also exists regarding the viability of one of the most time-weathered virus classification systems (Koonin & Dolja, 2018; Forterre, 2016; Nasir & Caetano-Anolles, 2015; Wolf et al. 2018), the Baltimo...

Is Human Parthenogenesis Possible?      The intent of this post is to investigate what parthenogenesis is in relationship to the microbiological aspects in mammals including whether viable human offspring could potentially be produced via parthenogenesis, given the current state of technology. This post is NOT about whether human parthenogenetic birth should occur, nor is it intended to address distortion of the definition of parthenogenesis, including whether technological manipulation, artificial means, or some method is disqualified from being classified as parthenogenesis. Lastly, the term "virgin" or terms associated with virgin such as "immaculate" have no concrete definitions and are surrounded by mystique, emotion, cultural bias, and frequently non-scientifically based belief (Gillis-Buck, 2016), therefore, although layman-speak often mixes up and allows for the substitution of the terms parthenogenesis and virgin, I do not believe it is proper to include th...

Werner Syndrome and the WRN Gene Werner Syndrome (WS) is essentially early onset aging and was first described formally in Otto Werner's doctoral dissertation (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 1985). There are similar maladies that produce aging effects, perhaps one of the more famous being Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome (progeria) that affects children beginning around age two (Progeria, 2002). WS is a autosomal, recessive, inherited disease, meaning typically parents are carriers and it takes a mutated  WRN gene from both parents for a child to be affected (Raghavendra et al., 2014). Typically symptoms begin to show when children reach puberty. At that time growth slows significantly or stops and reproductive systems fail to fully develop. Graying hair often arrives in the mid-twenties and progressive aging symptoms begin to occur in the thirties and forties. Additional symptoms may include but are not limited to arteriosclerosis, cataracts, skin atrophy, graying and...

Caenorhabditis elegans Caenorhabditis elegans is a geographically widespread nematode possibly having origins as far back as the Precambrian era. It is easy to grow and maintain on agar plate with an appropriate bacterial food source such as Escherichia coli. This roundworm has a short lifespan of about 3 days and is modestly to very prolific, laying approximately 300 to 1000 eggs depending on which gender provides fertilization, hermaphrodite or male, respectively. It has been used as a model for molecular biology since 1965 when Sydney Brenner proposed its use in studying a simple nervous system. It has since been used to study eukaryotic systems such as but not limited to: genetics, anatomy, cell linage, germ-line development, sexual development, muscular system, nervous system, and lifespan (Wood 1988). Kenyon et al. (1993) used this model eukaryote to publish the ground-breaking finding that C. elegans hermaphrodites affected by a mutation in the daf-2 gene were experiencing...

Human SIRT1 and Its Affect on Homologous Recombination The SIRT1 gene encodes the protein Sirtuin 1. It is a member of the sirtuin family that has seven nicotinamide adenosine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent deacetylase members, SIRT1 – SIRT7. SIRT1 is a homolog of Sir2 gene in yeast, which is proposed by Sinclair & LaPlante (2019) to be conserved from the time of primordial lifeforms. Although Sir2 has been studied for over 35 years, and studies of mammalian SIRT1 have progressed since then, supported data on the affects of human SIRT1 have only recently begun to accumulate. SIRT1 has been found to regulate many biological systems at the molecular level including: metabolism, cancer regulation, adipose tissue creation, aging, cellular senescence, heart aging/stress, neurodegeneration, inflammation, and human cellular development and homologous recombination (Rahman & Islam, 2011; Uhl et al., 2010). The study on SIRT1 that I chose to investigate is titled “Role of SIRT1 in hom...