© Vol. 2 No. 1 - Aribas

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Vol. 2 No. 1
Quest | January - 2014 | Vol. 2 No. 1 1
2 Quest | January - 2014 | Vol. 2 No. 1
Quest
Editors
Editorial
Dr. Arunabh Mishra
Dr. Kirti Pawar
Dr. Hemul Patel India is at the verge of a new transition, the

common man replaced those who seemed to
Associate Editors
be unbeatable and “untouchable” for more
Akash Manvar
than a decade. It looks like this is the era of
Shalini Dubey
revolution. People are expecting a colossal
Shivani Bhardwaj
change and a fight against the monsters of cor-

Technical Support ruption. There are hopes that the hitched
Mr. Sohil Patel common man will be soon set free to live a

better life. The can of worms in his hands will

disappear. These hopes kindled into the major-

ity about a year ago when the lokpal scenario

came into limelight. The best part is, people

are getting more secular and are thinking

about development, irrespective of the cast

and religion. The country now is turning into
Editorial Office
one united nation. But the question is, are
Quest, ARIBAS,
New Vallabh Vidyanagar, these expectations worth? Or is it just a mo-
Vitthal Udyognagar - 388121,
Dist- Anand, Gujarat, India. mentary furry? Well, we’ll get the answers in
Phone: [phone], 231894
Fax: [phone] the coming time. All we can do is wait, watch,
Email: [email protected]
support and hope for the best.
Website: www.aribas.edu.in

Published By
Director ARIBAS,
New Vallabh Vidyanagar,
Vitthal Udyognagar - 388121,
Disclaimer: The ‘Quest’ Magazine is compiled and published by ARIBAS
Dist- Anand, Gujarat, India.
faculty and students. Utmost care is taken not to discriminate on the basis
Phone: [phone], 231894
Fax: [phone] of cast, creed, color. The articles published are authors personal views
Email: [email protected] and neither ARIBAS nor any editorial members bears the responsibility. No
Website: www.aribas.edu.in article/Photograph/logo/design in part or whole, should be republished
without prior permission.
Quest | January - 2014 | Vol. 2 No. 1 3
Index
News & Views: -
Jurassic park is possible and Biotechnologist can do it 5

The Six Big Biotech Stories of 2013 5

BA (6-Benzyladenine) V/S BAP (6-Benzylaminopurine)? 8
Taral Patel

Review Articles: -

Ionic fluid: A designer solvent 11
Dr. Ritu Dixit
15
Extremophiles – A Biotechnological Perspective
Dr. B. Bajpai

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4 Quest | January - 2014 | Vol. 2 No. 1
Jurassic park is possible and Biotech- took fresh donor eggs from the distantly re-
nologist can do it lated great barred frog, Mixophyes fasciola-
tus, inactivated the egg nuclei and replaced
A science project to bring back an extinct spe-
them with dead nuclei from the extinct frog.
cies of frog famous for giving birth out of its
Some of the eggs began spontaneously divid-
mouth has been named one of the best in-
ing and growing to early embryo stage. None
ventions of 2013. The Lazarus project, run by
of the embryos survived beyond a few days
the University of Newcastle, Australia, re-
but genetic tests confirmed the dividing cells
vived the genomes of an extinct Australian
contained genetic material from the extinct
frog using sophisticated cloning technology to
frog.
implant a "dead" cell nucleus into a fresh egg

from another frog species.
At the time, Professor Mike Archer, who led
It was named as one of Time Magazine's 25
the Lazarus Project team said: "We are
Best Inventions of the Year because it man-
watching Lazarus arise from the dead, step by
aged to resurrect the gastric-brooding frog,
step.
albeit for a short period of time. The Rheo-
"We've reactivated dead cells into living ones
batrachus silus, a species of frog which be-
and revived the extinct frog's genome in the
came extinct in 1983, was unique in that it
process. Now we have fresh cryo-preserved
swallowed its eggs and gave birth orally. Sci-
cells of the extinct frog to use in future clon-
entists in the team managed to extract cell
ing experiments," Professor Archer added.
nuclei from tissues recovered in the 1970s,
"We're increasingly confident that the hur-
which had been stored for 40 years in a con-
dles ahead are technological and not biologi-
ventional deep freezer. Their "de-extinction"
cal and that we will succeed. Importantly,
project aimed to bring the frog back to life
we've demonstrated already the great prom-
and results were published in March this
year. ise this technology has as a conservation tool
In repeated experiments over five years, the when hundreds of the world's amphibian
researchers used a laboratory technique species are in catastrophic decline."
known as somatic cell nuclear transfer. They
The Six Big Biotech Stories of 2013 industry:
What were the most noteworthy happenings The First Cloned Human Embryo
in biotech and biomedicine for 2013? It's al- One of the major milestones in biomedical re-
ways difficult to pick the most important de- search this past year has to have been human
velopments since often their full impact isn't cloning. Researchers at Oregon Health and
known or understand for years. With the ca- Science cloned the first human embryo ever.
veat, though, here are the critical biotech/ It's not really surprising the humans can also
biomedical trends and events in 2013. In addi- be cloned. The basic approach for cloning hu-
tion to their individual importance, each also mans is not particularly different from cloning
have significant broader repercussions for bio- chimps, dogs, or even mice, all of which, and
medical research, healthcare, or the biotech more, have been done. The group did over-
Quest | January - 2014 | Vol. 2 No. 1 5
come some notable technical challenges. Ambry has countersued Myriad also with
However, the technical achievement isn't the Gene-by-Gene, and so has InVitae. Well, it
compelling element. It’s simply the fact that didn't take long for the whole process to start
human cloning is a milestone for biomedicine. again.
This cloning sets the groundwork for advances Drawing a Bead on Alzheimer's, Parkinson's,
in stem cell and reproductive medicine. and ALS
Gene Patents Are a Thing of the Past—Sort Of In October this year, researchers in the Uni-
Of course, the biotech industry was paying versity of Leicester in the UK published a
close attention to the Supreme Court's review study where they were able to prevent the
of Myriad's gene patents. In May, the Court development of prion disease—a neuro-
ruled that human genes can't be patented, or degenerative disorder similar to Mad Cow dis-
did they? ease—in mice using a single chemical com-
Well, yes, the Court did actually rule that, pound. What's so special about that, there are
since patents can't cover natural phenomena, lots of drugs tested in mice that don't work on
genes themselves are not patentable. Howev- humans, and prion disease is very rare in peo-
er, it said that processes to isolate genes, and ple? Well, it's not the drug so much as the un-
DNA constructions made in the lab that in- derlying model for the disease that the drug
clude gene sequences are patentable. Unfor- provides evidence for.
tunately, though, the Court was ruling on pro- Research is showing the prion disease, Alzhei-
cess patented with 20 year old technology. mer's, Pakinson's and related neurodegenera-
The processes used to isolate the genes and, tive diseases all seem to be caused by
to some extent, the DNA constructions used a similar process--a chain reaction of misfold-
in the patents, aren't current state-of-the-art. ed proteins that form clumps in the brain's
The Myriad work predated the sequencing of nerve cells. The research group at Leicester in
the human genome by more than six year. October targeted a protein that appeared to
Now, 10 years after all the DNA in humans, regulate this pathway and found that they
and many other animals, has been sequenced could stop the process. In other words, they
and cataloged, and technology has advanced seem to have discovered something about the
to the point that large segments of DNA can basic process of how this process occurs. Even
be wholly made synthetically in the lab with- though this drug may not pan out, there's
out ever going near an animal, the Court's rul- a much clearer target now.
ing leaves open many patentability questions Anti-Aging Treatments Aren't Just a Cosmetic
about the way genes and genetic elements Fix Anymore
are handled in modern biotech laboratories. On the business front, biotechnology was
Also, the loss of some key claims on many of booming for most of 2013. However, I think
their patents hasn't tempered Myriad's ag- the most interesting business story in biomed-
gressive patent stance. icine may have been Google's founding
Since the Court ruling in May, Myriad has filed of Calico. It's the not the fact that Google initi-
suit against Ambry, Gene-by- ated a new venture that's so interesting. It's
Gene, GeneDx, Quest, and InVitae to stop that they formed the venture to develop ther-
their marketing of the BRCA cancer gene tests. apeutic solutions for the process of aging. The
6 Quest | January - 2014 | Vol. 2 No. 1
event marks a transition in aging research. perimental anti-aging drug may be moving in-
This intriguing area of science is mature to early trials as soon as next year.
enough to move out of the research labs into How's Your World Feeling Today?
the commercial sector. With regard to important biomedical things
While the Google story was the flashed all we didn't even realize we didn't know, we dis-
over the media, I know that it is not the only covered that the wellbeing of each of is close-
anti-aging venture coming to the market. A ly intertwined with the circle of microbial life
few others are flying under the radar. Alt- that inhabits our bodies. In the last few years
hough I am sure it will still be many years be- research has shown that we owe much more
fore we can pop some pills and feel like we're of our personal health to our microbiome—
30 again, the research in this field seems to the icky critters living all over and in us—than
clearly be at a point where researchers and we ever realized.
investors believe they have some real-world It seems our body's little inhabitants influence
practical strategies to address the complica- our weight, may be important in the develop-
tions of aging. ment of diabetes have been implicated
That view seems pretty consistent with recent in heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis. The
developments in the science too. Work from increasing realization of importance of this
leading researchers on aging, such as Linda personal ecosystem on some many aspects of
Partridge and Judy Campesi, and David Sin- our health has prompted a real change in the
clair. In other words, we may be on the verge way medicine views the swarm of bugs that
of real change in the way medicine looks at call each of us home.
and treats age-related illnesses. In fact, an ex-

BA (6-Benzyladenine) V/S BAP (6- ogy (ARIBAS), S P University, about why there
Benzylaminopurine) are two names for the same (as I have per-
sonally found in various literature) cytokinin,
Cytokinins are N6-substituted adenine deriva-
BA (6-benzyladenine) and BAP (6-
tives and cytokinins biosynthesis is through
benzylaminopurine), the response I received
the biochemical modification of adenine. It is
was 3 things that differentiate this two com-
a class of plant hormones involved in plant
ponent are (as he is not agreed that this both
growth and development (D’Agostino and
are same, yes he said that they are same but
Kieber 1999). The plant hormones cytokinins
may differs at nuclear level),
(CKs) comprise a class of growth regulators
Multiplication of shoot is high with BA
involved in the stress response, senescence,
photosynthesis, nutrient assimilation and mo-
BAP not suitable with all plant species
bilization, as well as modulation of a plant tis-
Minor difference in molecular weight be-
sue’s ability to act as a sink or source of me-
tween both (5-10 gm/mol).
tabolites.
When I go through Plant Hormone-action and
When I recently asked Professor Kalpesh Ish-
application (reference book), the response
nava, Assistant Professor in Plant Biotechnol-
suggested that BAP is IUPAC name for BA.
Quest | January - 2014 | Vol. 2 No. 1 7
There are other chemicals that can be named growth media such as Murashinge and Skoog
differently but are the same (glucose and dex- Medium , Gamborg’s Medium and Chu’s N6
trose come to mind). Although by understan- Medium. It is difficult to identify the cytokinin
ding that they are the same cytokinin, the use nomenclature because of relatively compli-
appears to be culturally determined, or en- cated systematic names, which force plant
forced by specific journals. While from PCTO- physiologists to use semi-systematic as well
C’s some says that they always personally pre- as trivial names.
fer to use BA, based on plant biochemists' ad- 6-Benzylamino purine was first synthesized
vice (Malito et al. 2004), but, for example, if and tested in the laboratories of plant physiol-
another uses BAP in their text, would it be ogist Folke K. Skoog. BA when applied to pri-
correct to refer to it as BA, either because of mary leaves of intact plants delayed the se-
personal choice, or because the choice is im- nescence of both the leaves and the entire
posed (by edi-tors or journals)?" These dis- shoot.
crepancies within the world of plant science
Comparison of Benzyl Adenine Metabolism
publishing can cause confusion, particularly
in Two Petunia hybrida Lines Differing in
among plant tissue culture scientists, and
Shoot Organogenesis- The uptake and me-
thus I decided to inves-tigate further.
tabolism of the cytokinin benzyl adenine (BA)
For this professor Kalpesh Ishnava, Assis-
was compared in two lines of Petunia hybrida
tant Professor in Plant Biotechnology
Vilm, differing in their shoot organogenic re-
(ARIBAS), has demonstrated BA and BAP on
sponse. Leaf transfer experiments using shoot
Coccinia grandis (Lvy gourd) and he observe
induction medium containing 4.4 micromolar
that by using BAP they get low induction and
BA showed that leaf explants from petunia
by using BA they get high induction. They also
line St40 required a shoot induction period of
demonstrate BAP and BP both simultaneously
6 to 10 days for commitment to shoot organo-
then callus induction takes place and activity
genesis; whereas leaf explants from petunia
is also very high. Again they use BAP with ki-
TLV1 required 12 to 28 days. The short induc-
netin than callus production takes place.
tion period of petunia St40 and the higher or-
While normally, 6-BA induces shoot elonga-
ganogenic response was positively associated
tion.
with a threefold higher absorption of BA from
From my search in various analysis, 6-
the medium.
Benzylaminopurine, benzyl adenine or BAP is
Table 1 Definition of benzyladenine as per
a first generation synthetic cytokinin that elic-
Wood (2012)
its plant growth and development responses,
setting blossoms and stimulating fruit rich- Benzyladenine
ness by stimulating cell division. BAP (benzyl IUPAC N-benzyladenine or N-benzyl-7 H-
purin-6-amine
adenine) is an inhibitor of respiratory kinase
CAS N-(phenylmethyI)-1 H-purin-6-amine
in plants and increases post-harvest life of
green vegetables. BAP is synthetic cytokinin Formula C12H11N5
which together with auxins elicits plant Molecular Weight 230gm/mole
growth and development responses. BAP is a
Melting point 230-233 °C
widely used cytokinin supplement to plant
Appearance White to off white powder
8 Quest | January - 2014 | Vol. 2 No. 1
Structure
So most likely, scientists would select
the cheaper option in their catalogue, BAP
(about 30% cheaper than BA). While by analy-
sis of various countries I get to know that
some uses BA and some BAP. A country that
uses BA more than BAP are like India, Germa-
ny, France, Italy, Australia , Poland, Brazil,
Benzyladenine (there is no entry for benzyla-
Belgium, Argentina, Finland, Pakistan, Tunisia
minopurine (Mol. Wt.225.25gm/mole))
etc. While other using BAP more than BA are
like USA, Japan, China, Canada, Spain, Mexico,
[Note – practically melting point of BAP shows
UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, Israel, South Af-
around 160, this is due to various reasons and
rica, Norway, New Zealand, Russia, Portugal,
they are like 1. Moisture increases, melting
Nigeria, Hungary, Egypt, Kenya, Colombia, Ser-
point decreases 2. As minor purity of product is
bia, Croatia, Jamaica etc.
decrease, its melting point decreases 3. As C

(carbon) no. increases, melting point may de-
There is a strong country-by-country use of
creases 4. May due to chemist variations.]
either term due to its different names (also

may be by various companies name). I could
Table 2. Physiochemical Specification:
not answer the question which one is better,
TEST SPECIFICATION RESULTS although I think both are nearly same cytokin-
Solubility Miscible with water Passes in.
pH (Neat) For information only 11.14
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Physical Appearance
I wish to thank Dr. Kalpesh Ishnava (Assistant
Color Colorless Pale yellow
Professor in Plant Biotechnology, Ashok & Rita
Texture Clear liquid Clear liquid
Soluble Propylene Glycol & Water Passes Patel Institute of Integrated Study & Research
Sterility by USP<71> Sterile Passes In Biotechnology And Allied Sciences
Purity of Raw Material Minimum 98.0% 98.7% (ARIBAS), S P University), Mr. Shailesh Patel
(M.J.EXPORTS (Manufacture of Organic Ma-
Table 3. Biological Testing: nures and Bio-Product)), Dr. Sushil.Kajal
(lecturer in botany, Ashok & Rita Patel Institute
TEST SPECIFICATION PLANT CELL LINE RESULTS
of Integrated Study & Research In Biotechnol-
ogy And Allied Sciences (ARIBAS), S P Univer-
Supports and/or facilitates plant Tobacco callus, Passes sity) for input, feed-back and valuable discussion.
growth and/or shoot prolifera-
tion in two or more plant tissue Dianthus, Contributed By Taral Patel IG-IBT 10th Sem
cultured line with no morpholog- Achimenes,
ical aberrations to plant
Hosta,
African Violet
Quest | January - 2014 | Vol. 2 No. 1 9
IONIC LIQUID: A DESIGNER SOLVENT
Ritu Dixit
Ashok & Rita Patel Institute of Integrated Study & Research In Biotechnology And Allied Sciences (ARIBAS),
New Vallabh Vidyanagar- 388 121, Anand, Gujarat, INDIA
Abstract: Ionic liquids, are known as a green solvent and recently getting tremendous im-
portance in the field of organic synthesis, electrochemistry and in separation technologies
along with a number of other areas. In last decades, a wide range of chemical reactions were
reported with great potential using ionic liquids.
Introduction: looking to the need of clean and healthy envi-
Till date, most of chemical reactions have been ronment, present article includes a brief in-
carried out in organic or aqueous solvents. troduction and importance of ionic liquids.
Organic synthesis of any material on large General properties of ionic liquids:
scale required lots of effort in terms of energy, Interest in ionic liquids has been increased,
chemical compounds, catalyst, solvents, sepa- because ionic liquids have several advantages
ration, purification and crystallization etc., over conventional organic solvents, which
which releases numerous amounts of hazard- make them environmentally compatible. They
ous chemicals or pollutants. Green chemistry have ability to dissolve many different organic,
is an alternative field for innovative research inorganic and organometallic materials. They
in the field of chemistry, where reactions are are highly polar in nature and are liquid at room
carried out using green solvent. Many re- temperature. It consists of loosely co-
searchers have reported ionic liquids as good coordinating bulky ions. They do not
solvent for organic transformation1, 2. The low pressures. They
first ionic liquid was described in 1914, for in- are thermally stable, approximately up to 3000
stance [EtNH ]─[NO ], having melting point
3 3
120C.
Ionic liquids are made solely of cations and have high thermal conductivity and large elec-
anions, and the properties of ionic liquids trochemical properties. They have low melting
can be altered with the variation in ionic points and are ease to recycle. They are im-
component. This means their properties can miscible with many organic solvents. They are
be adjusted according to the requirement of a non-aqueous polar alternatives for phase
particular process. Hence, ionic liquids are re- transfer processes. Their solvent properties
ferred as Designer solvents. They have many can be tuned for a specific application by var-
fascinating properties, which make them of ying the anion/cation combination3-11. Solvent
fundamental interest to all chemists, since properties of ionic liquids depends on H-bond
both the thermodynamics and kinetics of reac- donor /acceptor ability of salt while physical
tions carried out in ionic liquids are different to properties of ionic liquids affected by charge
those in conventional molecular solvents, than distribution on the anions, H-bonding, polarity
the chemistry is different and unpredictable at etc. Some basic properties of ionic liquids are
our current state of knowledge. Therefore, mentioned below:
*Corresponding Author: [email protected]
10 Quest | January - 2014 | Vol. 2 No. 1