Biovitalismo

Cari amici, come molti di voi sapranno, si passa da IBIOCAT, al biovitalismo. Questo blog resterà presente, ma subirà modifiche sia nei contenuti che nei prossimi aggiornamenti !
Grazie,
Edoardo

SONNET - “TO SCIENCE” by Edgar Allan Poe

Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!

Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.

Why preyest thou thus upon the poet's heart,

Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?

How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise,

Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering

To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,

Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?

Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car?

And driven the Hamadryad from the wood

To seek a shelter in some happier star?

Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,

The Elfin from the green grass, and from me

The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?

Edgar Allan Poe (1829)

THE IBIOCAT’S BOOK CORNER- “BIOCATALYSIS RESEARCH PROGRESS”

Editors: Francesco H. Romano; Andrea Russo
Publisher: Nova Science Pub Inc (30 November 2008)
Imprint: Nova Science Pub Inc
Format: Hardback, 365pp
ISBN-13: 9781604566192
Edition: 1


Book Description:

Biocatalysis encompasses the use of enzymes or whole cell systems for effecting the conversion of readily available, inexpensive starting materials to high value products. Enzymes frequently display exquisite selectivity, particularly chemo-, enantio- and regioselectivity, making them attractive catalysts for a wide range of chemical transformations. Enzymes also typically operate under mild conditions of pH and temperature leading to the formation of products of high purity. As a result of these advantages, enzymes and whole cells are finding wider application in areas such as the production of intermediates for pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, agrichemicals, novel materials, diagnostics, biofuels and performance chemicals. This new book presents leading-edge research in the field.

Table of Contents:

Preface

Nanobiocatalytic Systems: Thin Films of Enzymes
(Laura Pastorino, Department of Communication, Computer and System Sciences, University of Genova, Svetlana Erokhina, Department of Physics, University of Parma, Italy)

^Bioprocesses for the Synthesis of Nucleosides and Nucleotides

(Marco Terreni, Daniela Ubiali, Teodora Bavaro, Davide A. Cecchini, Immacolata Serra, Massimo Pregnolato, Italian Biocatalysis Center, PBL Dipartimento di Chimica Farmaceutica, Università degli Studi, Pavia, Italy)

Biocatalysis in Environmental Technology

(Freire, D.M.G., Gutarra, M.L.E., Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Quimica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Ferreira-Leitão, V.S., Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, Coelho, M.A.Z., Departamento de Engenharia Bioquímica, Escola de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil)

Application of Lipases to Substances with Pharmacological Importance (Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids)

(Marie Zarevùcka, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Zdenĕk Wimmer, Laboratory of Chemistry, Institute of Experimental Botany, Czech Republic)

The Evolution of Directed Evolution

(Birthe Borup, Codexis Laboratories, Singapore)

Biocatalytic Resolution of DL-Pantolactone by Cross-Linked Cells and its Industrial Application

(Zhi-Hao Sun, Ye Ni, Pu Zheng, The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education; Laboratory of Biocatalysis, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Xin-Fu Guo, Jun Wang, Zhejiang Hangzhou Xinfu Pharmaceutical, China)

Biocatalytic Potential of Haloalkaliphilic Bacteria

(Satya P. Singh, Megha, K. Purohit, Jignasha T. Thumar, Sandeep Pandey, Chirantan M. Raval and Hetal G. Bhimani, Department of Biosciences; Saurashtra University, India)

Salt-Tolerant Alkaliphilic Actinomycetes and their Biocatalytic Potential

(Satya P. Singh, Jignasha T. Thumar, Department of Biosciences; Saurashtra University, India)

Accelerating Whole-Cell Biocatalysis by Cellular Membrane Engineering

(Ye Ni, Laboratory of Biocatalysis, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, P.R. China, Rachel R. Chen, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia)

Recent Advances in Enzymatic Synthesis of Water-Soluble Conducting Polymers (Estibalitz Ochoteco, Tomasz Sikora, David Mecerreyes, Jose A. Pomposo, Hans Grande, New Materials Department, CIDETEC-Centre for Electrochemical Technologies, Parque Tecnológico de San Sebastián, San Sebastian, Spain)

Marine Enzymes for Biocatalysis - Production, Isolation and Applications

(K. Muffler, Univ. of Kaiserslautern, Dept. of Mechanical and Process Engineering, Gottlieb-Daimler-Strabe, Kaiserslautern, J. Mukherjee, Environmental Science Programme and Dept. of Life Science & Biotechnology, Jadavpur Univ., Kolkata, India, R. Ulber, Univ. of Kaiserslautern, Dept. of Mechanical and Process Engineering, Gottlieb-Daimler-Strabe, Kaiserslautern)

Immobilized Microbial Cells - Applications and Mass Transfer Phenomena

(Venko Beschkov, Institute of Chemical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria)

Application of Whole-Cell Biocatalysis in Chemoenzymatic, Asymmetric Synthesis of Medically Important Compounds

(Ewa Zymańczyk-Duda, Pawel Kafarski, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw, Poland)


For more information please visit:

https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23_53&products_id=7252

JACOB BRONOWSKI, A QUOTE FROM "SCIENCE AND HUMAN VALUES"

Paul Klee - Landscape with Yellow Birds, 1923


"I set out to show that there exists single creative activity,which is displayed alike in the arts and in the sciences.It is wrong to think of science as a mechanical record of facts, and it is wrong to think of the arts as remote and private fancies. What makes each human, what makes them universal, is the stamp of the creative mind."


Jacob Bronowski, Science and Human Values (1956) - New York: Julian Messner, Inc. (Ch.2 - The Habit of Truth)

About Jacob Bronowski:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Bronowski

LEV NIKOLAEVIČ TOLSTOJ ON ART AND SCIENCE

Umberto Boccioni- Visioni simultaneee (Nedersachsisches Landesmuseum Hannover)


“…Astronomical, physical, chemical, and biological science, as also technical and medical science, will be studied only in so far as they can help to free mankind form religious, juridical, or social deceptions, or can serve to promote the well-being of all men and not of any single class.
Only then will science cease to be what is now- on the one hand a system of sophistries needed for the maintenance of the existing worn-out order of society, and on the other hand a shapeless mass of miscellaneous knowledge for the most part good for little or nothing – and become a shapely and organic whole having a definite and reasonable purpose comprehensible to all men, namely, that of bringing to the consciousness of men the truths that flow from the religious perception of our times.
And only then will art, which is always dependent on science, be what it might and should be, an organ co-equally important with science for the life and progress of mankind.
Art is not a pleasure, a solace, an amusement; art is a great matter. Art is an organ of human life transmitting man’s reasonable perception into feeling. In our age the common religious perception of men is the consciousness of the brotherhood of man - we know that the well-being of man lies in union with his fellow-men. True science should indicate the various methods of applying this consciousness of life. Art should transform this perception into feeling.
The task of art is enormous. Through the influence of real art, aided by science, guided by religion, that peaceful co-operation of man which is now maintained by external means, - by our law-courts, police, charitable institutions, factory inspection, and so forth, - should be obtained by man’s free and joyous activity.
Art should cause violence to be set aside.
And it is only art that can accomplish this”.


From: Leo Tolstoy, What Is Art And Essays on Art, READ BOOKS, 2006 (Originally published in 1930) ISBN 1846644674, 9781846644672- pp. 286-287.

GREEN QUOTE FOR TODAY- MAY 10, 2009

"How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection. An artist is emotional, they think, and uses only his intuition; he sees all at once and has no need of reason. A scientist is cold, they think, and uses only his reason; he argues carefully step by step, and needs no imagination. That is all wrong. The true artist is quite rational as well as imaginative and knows what he is doing; if he does not, his art suffers. The true scientist is quite imaginative as well as rational, and sometimes leaps to solutions where reason can follow only slowly; if he does not, his science suffers".

-Isaac Asimov (1920–1992), Russian-born U.S. author. The Roving Mind, ch. 25, Prometheus (1983).

(Fractal image by Philippe de Courcy, no copyrights)

THE IBIOCAT’S BOOK CORNER-“PRACTICAL BIOTRANSFORMATIONS- A BEGINNER'S GUIDE"

Title: Practical Biotransformations - A Beginner′s Guide
Author: Gideon Grogan
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Year: 2009
Series: Postgraduate Chemistry Series
Format: Paperback, 344pp
ISBN-13: 9781405171250
ISBN-10: 1405171251

Book description
Biotransformations are reactions catalysed by either enzymes or microbes which are of potential use to preparative synthetic chemistry. Biotransformation science can include microbiological and biochemical techniques with which the organic chemist is unfamiliar, and can result in significant research and economic benefits.
The book is aimed at organic chemistry postgraduates and researchers in both academia and industry who are aware of the existence of biotransformation methodology, and of its potential value, but do not know how to begin to implement the relevant experimental techniques in the laboratory. It is written in an accessible and user–friendly way that should facilitate the introduction of biocatalysis in to some new labs.

For more information please visit the Publisher's Website: Wiley-Blackwell

GREEN QUOTE FOR TODAY- May 1st, 2009

“Volendo seriamente ricercare la verità delle cose, non si deve scegliere una scienza particolare, infatti esse sono tutte connesse tra loro e dipendenti l'una dall'altra. Si deve piuttosto pensare soltanto ad aumentare il lume naturale della ragione, non per risolvere questa o quella difficoltà di scuola, ma perché in ogni circostanza della vita l'intelletto indichi alla volontà ciò che si debba scegliere; e ben presto ci si meraviglierà di aver fatto progressi di gran lunga maggiori di coloro che si interessano alle cose particolari e di aver ottenuto non soltanto le stesse cose da altri desiderate, ma anche più profonde di quanto essi stessi possano attendersi”.

René Descartes (Cartesio), Discorso sul metodo

LIFE MUSIC: THE SONIFICATION OF PROTEINS

(From left to right: 3D molecular structure of enzymes Alcohol-Dehydrogenase, Trioso-Phosphate Isomerase, Lysozyme C )

A few years ago, artist John Dunn and biologist Mary Anne Clark collaborated on the sonification of protein data to produce the audio CD "Life Music." “When we began the protein music project, we wanted to convey both something about primary aminoacid sequence and something about the folding patterns of proteins. Our goal was to create an audio CD album that would stand on its own as art music, and at the same time offer empirical proof of the esthetic patterning of nature’s deep structure”.

In the following article, authors describe the process by which this collaboration merges scientific knowledge and artistic expression to produce soundscapes from these basic building blocks of life, that may be encountered as esthetic experiences, as scientific inquiry, or both. The rationale for both artistic use of the science and scientific use of the art is described from the separate viewpoints of artist and scientist.

Life Music: The Sonification of Proteins by John Dunn and Mary Anne Clark
http://lea.mit.edu/isast/articles/lifemusic.html


Protein Music Samples (Pieces from the Life Music CD).

In each piece below, pitch is determined by aminoacid identity. The structural features of the protein are emphasized by choosing instrumentation according to protein folding pattern, with different instruments representing regions of alpha-helix, beta-strands and turns. In some pieces, different instruments may identify functional domains of the protein.

Enjoy!

1. Alcohol Dehydrogenase Listen! http://whozoo.org/mac/Music/adh.ra
2. Triose Phosphate Isomerase Listen! http://whozoo.org/mac/Music/tpi2x.ra

Learn more about protein music by reading Protein Primer: A Musical Introduction to Protein Structure and visiting the Website http://whozoo.org/mac/Music/index.htm

THE IBIOCAT’S BOOK CORNER: “ENZYME BIOCATALYSIS: PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS”

Enzyme Biocatalysis
Principles and Applications
Edited by: Andrés Illanes
Publisher: SPNL (8 July 2008 - Dordrecht, Netherlands)
Imprint: Springer
Format: Hardback, 408 pp

Audience
Researchers and students in biochemistry, biotechnology, genetic engineering; an excellent book for those working in the field of enzyme technology
Professional and scholarly

Book Description
The book is intended to provide a sound basis for enzyme reactor design based on kinetic principles, and give an updated vision of the potentials and limitations of enzyme biocatalysis, especially with respect to recent applications in processes of organic synthesis. The book is structured in the form of a textbook that goes from basic principles of enzyme structure and function to reactor design for homogeneous systems with soluble enzymes, and heterogeneous systems with insolubilized enzymes. It contains an introductory chapter that gives an updated overview of enzyme technology, a chapter on enzyme production focused on large-scale operations, two chapters devoted to homogeneous and heterogeneous enzyme kinetics and a chapter on enzyme reactor design and operation based on enzyme kinetics principles, mass transfer limitations and enzyme inactivation. The book is complemented with case studies of biocatalytic processes of industrial relevance or potential, written by experts in those fields. Applications of proteases, acylases, lipases, aldolases and dehydrogenases in reactions of organic synthesis, and peroxidases in the degradation of recalcitrant organic compounds, are used as selected examples to illustrate the realities and potentials of enzymes as process catalysts.

Table of Contents
Introduction (Andrés Illanes)2. Enzyme Production (Andrés Illanes) 3. Homogeneous Enzyme Kinetics (Andres Illanes, Claudia Altamirano, Lorena Wilson) 4. Heterogeneous Enzyme Kinetics (Andres Illanes, Roberto Fernández-Lafuente, José Manuel Guisán, Lorena Wilson) 5. Enzyme Reactors (Andrés Illanes, Claudia Altamirano) 6. Study Cases of Enzymatic Processes6.1. Proteases as catalysts for peptide synthesis (Sonia Barberis, Fanny Guzmán, Josep López-Santín) 6.2. Synthesis of ß-lactam antibiotics with penicillin acylases (Andrés Illanes, Lorena Wilson) 6.3. Chimioselective esterification of wood sterols with lipases (Gregorio Alvaro, Andrés Illanes) 6.4. Oxidoreductases as powerful biocatalysts for green chemistry José Manuel Guisán, Roberto Fernández-Lafuente, Lorena Wilson, César Mateo) 6.5. Use of aldolases for asymmetric synthesis (Josep López-Santín, Gregorio Alvaro, Pere Clapés) 6.6. Application of enzymatic reactors for the degradation of highly and poorly soluble recalcitrant compounds (Juan M. Lema et al.)

For more information please visit:
http://www.books-express.co.uk/book/9781402083600/Enzyme-Biocatalysis.html