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The field of biotechnology is constantly advancing. From finding ways to slow down theprocess of food spoilage, advancements in genetic engineering, to adapting organisms toclean up contaminated environments, new applications and biotechnological inventions arecontinuously being developed to help improve our world. Here are five breakthrough

biotechnological innovations currently underway.

Oil-Eating Bacteria to Clean up Oil Spills

(Image:ource!The oil"spill has been one of the biggest issues the environmental, health, agricultural andfinancial sectors have been tackling, and scientists in #urope have se$uenced the genome foran oil"eating bacterium, which could lead to faster, more efficient ways to clean up oil spills.

That certain bacteria have the ability to metaboli%e oil isn&t a new discovery of course. 'ackin )*), bacteria were used e+perimentally in attempts to clean up the million gallons ofcrude oil spilled by the #++on Valdezafter it ran aground off the coast of laska. Though itmade little to no difference back then, now that researchers have a complete blueprint for theoil"hungry bacteria:Alcanivorax borkumensis, they&ll have the ability to optimi%e theconditions for these bugs, enabling them to soak up the hundreds of millions of liters of oilthat enter our waters each year. -ource

Tumor-Fighting Immune Cells to Attack Cancer

http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/02/oil-eating-microbes-could-be-effective-cleanup-for-bp-spill/http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17230&ch=biotechhttp://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17230&ch=biotechhttp://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/02/oil-eating-microbes-could-be-effective-cleanup-for-bp-spill/

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(Image: ource!/esearchers at 012&s 3onsson 1omprehensive 1ancer 1enter have created a large, well"armed troop of tumor"seeking immune system cells to locate and attack dangerousmelanomas. 4r. ntoni /ibas, the senior author of the study says: 56e&re trying togenetically engineer the immune system to become a cancer killer and then image how theimmune system operates at the same time.7

In the study, melanomas grown in mice used an inactive HI8"like virus to serve as a vehicleto arm the lymphocytes with T cell receptors, which caused the lymphocytes to becomekillers of cancerous cells. reporter gene, which glows 5hot7 during 9#T scanning, was alsoinserted into the cells which helps researchers track the genetically engineered lymphocytesafter they get inected into the blood stream, make their way to the lungs and lymph nodes,and then home in on the tumors wherever they may be located within the body. The teamcreated and inected about one million genetically engineered lymphocytes into a mouse butsay that in humans, the number of tumor"seeking cells needed to fight the cancer isappro+imately one billion. The researchers say, if all goes well, human studies of the processcould begin in appro+imately one year. -ource

Engineered Tobacco Plants as Biofuel

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-12/engineered-stem-cells-hunt-kill-hivhttp://www.physorg.com/news198170671.htmlhttp://www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-12/engineered-stem-cells-hunt-kill-hivhttp://www.physorg.com/news198170671.html

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(Image: ource!Finally putting tobacco plants to good use, researchers from the 'iotechnology Foundation2aboratories at Thomas 3efferson 0niversity have identified a way to increase the oil intobacco plant leaves, with the aim of using it as biofuel. This is a promising prospect, one,

because it offers an alternative to e+ploiting plants that are used in food production, and two,because tobacco plants generate biofuel more efficiently than other agricultural crops.

The challenge researchers faced was that this precious oil is mostly found in tobacco seeds,and tobacco plants only produce about ;

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(Image: ource!9ersonali%ed healthcare is increasingly being applied to develop more effective treatments fordisease and prevent a wider variety of conditions. ?enome se$uencing is one the most criticaltools for personali%ed medicine, as it provides the individual genetic information necessaryfor the effective diagnosis and targeted treatment of particular diseases. 2ast month, a newcollaborative agreement between/oche,a leader in biotechnology and research"focusedhealthcare, and I'@, one of the world&s largest technology companies, has them oiningforces to develop a nanopore"based se$uencer that will directly read and decode human 4A$uickly, efficiently and affordably.

imilar to vps hostingoffering affordable shared hosting, their goal is to reduce the cost ofse$uencing an individual&s genome to between B

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Stem cell culturing %ithout the use of animal substances

(Image: ource!/esearchers at weden&s Earolinska Institutet, one of #urope&s largest medical universities,have managed to produce human stem cells without the use of other cells or substances fromanimals, in a completely chemically"defined environment. #mbryonic stem cells have, up tothis point, been cultured with the help of proteins from animals, ruling out the possibility ofusing them for treatment on humans. Aow, they are cultured on a matri+ of a single human

protein: laminin"C, a part of our connective tissue that acts as a matri+ that our cells can

attach to. The possibilities are tremendous thanks to this scientific breakthrough that will givescientists the ability to develop different types of cells, which can be tested for the treatmentof various human diseases.

http://newsroom.stemcells.wisc.edu/gallery/Stem_Cell_school03_3342.htmlhttp://newsroom.stemcells.wisc.edu/gallery/Stem_Cell_school03_3342.html