Bacteria that line up to make a ‘live wire’

Bacteria that line up to make a ‘live wire’

Ingenuous nature: The conducting nanowire cable is not made of metal, alloy or other usual material, but of living biological cells.

The bacteria form a long conducting nanowire cable to transport electrons and capture the oxygen at the surface for metabolic use

Necessity is the mother of natural selection. When conditions become threatening, maverick or mutant members of a group which can cope with the threat survive and multiply. The latest example is the discovery of a special type of bacteria in the ocean, which join together to form a long conducting nanowire cable to transport electrons and capture the oxygen at the surface for metabolic use. This wire is not made of metal, alloy or other usual material, but of living biological cells. The report by Dr. Christian Pfeiffer and others in the 8 November 2012 issue of Nature is a live example of the Panchatantra tale which teaches the value of cooperation between individuals to win over a problem.

All organisms gain energy for living through metabolism. The vital step in the process is the burning or oxidation of the food molecules. Chemists define oxidation as the loss of electrons and reduction as the gain of electrons. We burn our food by the breathing of oxygen in the air. When we oxidize our food and gain energy, the oxygen molecule is reduced by accepting or gaining electrons to make water, while the food molecule is oxidized by losing electrons; this is not much different from burning petrol for energy.

What if no oxygen?

What about organisms that live in places where there is no oxygen? They too metabolize their food through oxidation. But, rather than oxygen, they utilize whatever electron-acceptor molecules are available in the environment. One such group lives in marine sediments, below the surface, and it use the sulphates in the sediment as the electron-acceptors for ‘burning’ and gaining energy, an example of making do with available resources. In the process, however, the sulphate gains electrons and is reduced all the way to hydrogen sulphide (HS), a poisonous material. How then is this sulphide removed?

The problem

Look at the problem. If HS can be oxidized to sulphur, the situation turns safer. But in the process electrons are liberated and should be accepted by a partner. If only oxygen at the surface can be reached and the electrons transferred to it, we will have HS becoming S and the O reduced to H O. How does one transfer the electrons centimetres away? It is no longer a process within the cell where reactions happen within nanometres, and the oxidant and reductant molecules are in contact. What is needed is an efficient method — an electrical cable or wire for transporting the electrons from the sulphide to the oxygen above.

It is here that biology springs an unexpected surprise. In the sedimental layer beneath the marine surface lives a class of anaerobic bacteria called Desulfobulbaceae, which Pfeffer and colleagues find to densely populate the sediments. And these live not as individuals but in groups strung together as long, multicellular filaments or rods, some as long as 1.5 centimetres. And these filaments reach out from the sulphide-rich sedimental layer to the aerobic top layer a few centimetres above, which has dissolved oxygen (from the air). These filaments thus connect the anoxic layers to the oxic layer. And what do they do? They capture the electrons generated when the HS is oxidized to S at the bottom, and transport them all the way to the oxygen at the top, which accepts them and generates water or HO. In other words, the Desulfobulbaceae bacteria line up to make a live wire.

The researchers conducted a series of experiments to show how the filaments form and work. They layered the sedimental layer below in the lab and covered is with the overlying oxic sea water and studied the process. As the sulphide oxidation happened in the deeper anoxic layers, distinct change in the pH was noticed, confirming the process. And when they gently disturbed the layer, they found the 12-15 run long fibrous filaments entangled. Genetic analysis of the filaments showed their identity asDesulfobulbaceae. It appears that at least 40 million cells come together to assemble filaments of lengths as much as 1.5 cm, showing that the bacteria could span the length of the entire anoxic layer.

Liquid-filled layer

Electron microscopy showed that the cells were connected lengthwise, and each cell had a liquid-filled layer in the periplasmic space between the outer and inner cytoplasmic membranes. These liquid compartments formed ridges connecting the each cell to its neighbour, suggesting electron transport occurring through this fluid tubular structure covered with a continuous outer membrane along the filament acting as the insulator — the ancient precursor, if you will, of the electric cable of today. Hair-like appendages, called pili, of some bacteria are known to be electron transporters, but the whole cell acting so, and joining with others to make a conducting wire is novel, and reported for the first time.

Plenty of room

The physicist Richard Feynman famously remarked that there is plenty of room at the bottom. Bacterial filaments acting as electric nanowires is but one example. Some cyanobacteria calledAnabena, which are able to ‘fix’ nitrogen, also form such continuous periplasmic filaments. And when a fluorescent protein was engineered into some its cells, the fluorescence was found to move along the filament from one cell to the other. Here is an example of material transfer, while withDesulfobulbaceae, it is electrons that are transported. Surely there is far more room at the bottom, and nanotechnologists can learn a lesson or two from such bacteria.

Compound that flushes out latent HIV created

This December 1985 image provided by Tottori University, Tokyo shows a magnified view of the AIDS virus taken by researchers of the university's medical department.

Researchers have created a collection of “bryologs” — derived from a tiny marine organism, that been shown to activate latent HIV reservoirs with equal or greater potency than the original substance. A collection of “bryologs” activate hidden reservoirs of the virus that currently make the disease nearly impossible to eradicate.

Thanks to antiretrovirals, an AIDS diagnosis hasn’t been a death sentence for nearly two decades. But highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, is also not a cure.

Patients must adhere to a demandingly regular drug regimen that carries plenty of side effects. And while the therapy may be difficult to undergo in the United States, it is nearly impossible to scale to the AIDS crisis in the developing world.

The problem with HAART is that it doesn’t address HIV’s so-called proviral reservoirs — dormant forms of the virus that lurk within T-cells and other cell types. Even after all of the body’s active HIV has been eliminated, a missed dose of antiretroviral drugs can allow the hibernating virus to emerge and ravage its host all over again.

"It’s really a two-target problem,” Professor Paul Wender from Stanford said.

"And no one has successfully targeted the latent virus,” he said.

But Wender’s lab is getting closer, exciting many HIV patients hoping for a cure. The lab’s work may give doctors a practical way to flush out the dormant virus.

The first attempts to reactivate latent HIV were inspired by observations of Samoan healers. When ethnobotanists examined the bark of Samoa’s mamala tree, traditionally used by healers to treat hepatitis, they found a compound known as prostratin.

Prostratin binds to and activates protein kinase C, an enzyme that forms part of the signalling pathway that reactivates latent viruses. The discovery sparked interest in the enzyme as a potential therapeutic target, especially as it was discovered that prostratin isn’t the only biomolecule to bind to the kinase.

The bryozoan Bugula neritina — a mossy, colonial marine organism — produces a protein kinase C—activating compound that is many times more potent than prostratin. The molecule, named bryostatin 1, was deemed to hold promise as a treatment, not only for HIV but for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease as well.

The National Cancer Institute initiated a Phase II clinical trial for the compound in 2009 for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But the substance had a number of side effects and proved prohibitively difficult to produce.

"It took 14 tons of bryozoans to make 18 grams of bryostatin,” Wender said. "They’ve stopped accrual in trials because, even if the trials worked, the compound cannot be currently supplied,” he said.

Patient enrolment was suspended until more accessible compounds came out of the Wender Group’s lab.

Wender, who published the first practical synthesis of prostratin and its analogs in 2008, had set out to make a simpler, more effective synthetic analog of bryostatin.

"We can copy the molecule or we can learn how it works and use that knowledge to create something that has never existed in nature and might be superior to it,” he said.

The seven resulting compounds, called bryologs, share two fundamental features with the original bryostatin: the recognition domain, which directly contacts protein kinase C, and the spacer domain, which allows the bryolog-protein kinase C complex to be inserted into the cell membrane.

The researchers tested the new compounds’ ability to reactivate viral reservoirs in J-Lat cell lines, which contain latent HIV and begin to fluoresce when they express the virus.

In the J-Lat line, bryologs induced virus in as many or more cells than bryostatin at a variety of concentrations, and ranged from 25 to 1,000 times more potent than prostratin. The compounds showed no toxic effects.

Bryolog testing remains in the early stages — the researchers are currently conducting in vivo studies in animal models. But practical bryostatin substitutes may be the first step toward true HIV—eradication therapy.

The study has been published in the journal Nature Chemistry.

The healthy side of bananas: The underrated fruit

According to Japanese Scientific Research, full ripe banana with dark patches on yellow skin produces a substance called TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) which has the ability to combat abnormal cells. The more darker patches it has the higher will be its immunity enhancement quality; Hence, the riper the banana the better the anti-cancer quality.
Yellow skin banana with dark spots on it is 8x more effective in enhancing the property of white blood cells than green skin version.

We knew bananas were good for you but this we didn’t know.

The fully ripe banana produces a substance called TNF, which has the ability to combat abnormal cells.

As the banana ripens, it develops dark spots or patches on the skin. The more dark patches it has, the higher will be its’ immunity enhancement quality.

Hence, the Japanese love bananas for a good reason…

According to a Japanese scientific research, banana contains TNF, which has anti-cancer properties.

The degree of anti-cancer effect corresponds to the degree of ripeness of the fruit, i.e. the riper the banana, the better the anti-cancer quality…

In an animal experiment carried out by a professor in Tokyo U comparing the various health benefits of different fruits, using banana, grape, apple, water melon, pineapple, pear and persimmon, it was found that banana gave the best results. It increased the number of white blood cells, enhanced the immunity of the body and produced anti-cancer substance TNF.

The recommendation is to eat 1 to 2 bananas a day to increase your body immunity to diseases like cold, flu and others.

According to the Japanese professor, yellow skin bananas with dark spots on it are 8 times more effective in enhancing the property of white blood cells than the green skin version. 

Molecule in immune system 'may help fight skin cancer'

   

Researchers, including one of Indian origin, have found that high expression of a cell-signalling molecule, known as interleukin-9, in immune cells inhibits melanoma growth.

After observing mice without genes responsible for development of an immune cell called T helper cell 17 (TH17), the researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) found that these mice had significant resistance to melanoma tumour growth, suggesting that blockade of the TH17 cell pathway favoured tumour inhibition. The researchers also noticed that the mice expressed high amounts of interleukin-9.

"These were unexpected results, which led us to examine a possible contribution of interleukin-9 to cancer growth suppression.” Rahul Purwar said.

The researchers next treated melanoma-bearing mice with T helper cell 9 (TH9), an immune cell that produces interleukin-9. They saw that these mice also had a profound resistance to melanoma growth. This is the first reported finding showing an anti-tumour effect of TH9 cells.

Moreover, the researchers were able to detect TH9 cells in both normal human blood and skin, specifically in skin-resident memory T cells and memory T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In contrast, TH9 cells were either absent or present at very low levels in human melanoma. This new finding paves the way for future studies that will assess the role of interleukin-9 and TH9 cells in human cancer therapy.

Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer. It is curable if recognized and treated early. The study has been published online in Nature Medicine.

A NEW CLUE TO CURE DIABETIES!!

Finding holds potential for drug targeting to treat diabetes

Schematic represenation of pancreatic islets from Wdr 13 gene intact mouse (left) and Wdr 13 gene knockout mouse (right)

Scientists from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have found that knocking out a gene in mice led to higher insulin production and better glucose tolerance. The finding holds the potential for drug targeting to treat diabetes.

The team, led by Satish Kumar, serendipitously found that knocking out the WDR13 gene, resulted in hyper insulin secretion and improved glucose clearance. The team genetically engineered a mouse by knocking out the gene, which is conserved in all organisms from fishes to humans and encodes a protein. It is a member of the WD-repeat proteins that have a wide range of cellular functions.

The increase in insulin production was caused by enhanced beta cell proliferation and higher islet mass in pancreas. This gene was knocked out for the first time, said Vijay Pratap Singh, lead author of the study, which was published online in science journal PLoS ONE recently.

The test animals went on to develop mild obesity as they aged. Interestingly, however, they continued to have better glucose clearance in spite of mild obesity. It was not yet known if the obesity was due to higher insulin levels or some different function of the gene.

Dr. Kumar told The Hindu that by inhibiting the functions of this protein, insulin production could be enhanced.

“Indirectly, we discovered a drug target because now we know that if we interfere with this protein, there is more insulin,” he said.

However, he noted that there was a flipside to the finding. While there was no problem with the ‘knockout' mice up to one year, subsequently, their cell proliferation increased — such phenomenon lead to tumours. The researchers were not aware of the WDR13's function of regulating cell division.

The real challenge would be to develop a drug, which would interfere in a limited way with the functioning of the gene, so as to avoid rapid cell proliferation.

Dr. Kumar said their research initially was not related to diabetes. “We were doing basic biology. This is side implication with an interesting lead.”

Describing the finding as a “good and useful observation,” CCMB director Ch. Mohan Rao said: “We are trying to decipher the cause for increase in fatty cells and the pancreatic cells.” There was scope for drug development if the two could be separated.

Garlic Power 

Make it your principal supplement. Photo: Special Arrangement.

Garlic's medicinal properties are well known; so go ahead and add it to your diet.

For centuries garlic has been used as a medicinal and culinary substance in India, China, Greece and other countries. It has been used as a salve for everything from headaches to colds to infections and healing wounds. To some, however, the strong flavour of garlic is not very appealing; in fact repelling. Therefore, although garlic is a widely available spice, it is not very popular in some households.

Garlic does not make significant nutritional contribution to the diet because the quantities added to recipes are small. But even these nano amounts make a big difference to one's health.

The biological benefits and the distinct odour of garlic are attributed to the many sulphur containing compounds; one of which is Alliin. This compound is converted to Allicin when garlic is crushed. Allicin is, perhaps, the principal bioactive compound present even in processed garlic.

Limited evidence supports an association between garlic consumption and a reduced risk of colon, prostate, oesophageal, larynx, oral, ovary and other cancers. This is due to diallylsulde, a potent bioactive component. Besides, the plant can also accumulate selenium, a trace element known to possess anti-cancer properties, from the soil.

Curtailing cardiac diseases

One inexpensive way of curtailing cardiovascular diseases is to use generous amounts of garlic in cooking. Garlic consumption inhibits the progression of cardiovascular diseases. It can bring about small reductions in blood pressure. Some studies have shown it to modestly lower cholesterol levels, which is also a protection against cardiac diseases. Animal experiments have associated garlic ingestion with reduction in triglyceride and LDL cholesterol, both of which contribute to atherosclerosis and heart diseases. Garlic, like aspirin, can reduce the tendency of blood to coagulate and form clots. Many human studies on garlic have shown it has the ability to dissolve blood clots. Pharmaceutical supplements are often used by patients with cardiac and vascular diseases.

Garlic can reduce homocysteine levels in blood. This toxic compound damages the cells that line the blood vessels, induces blood clots, loss of cognition and causes death of nerve cells. People with dementia and Alzheimer's disease have elevated blood homocysteine levels. Damage to nerve cells in Alzheimer's disease is also due to elevated oxidative stress induced by free radicals. By scavenging free radicals, garlic offers protection from neuronal death, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Garlic is also called ‘Russian penicillin'. Fresh — but not stored or cooked garlic — is an antimicrobial agent against a variety of micro-organisms, including H. Pylori, implicated in gastric cancers. Topical application of garlic is effective in treating ringworm. Many studies have shown that garlic has antifungal and antiviral effects.

Adverse effects

Are there any adverse effects associated with taking garlic? In some, it can cause mild stomach discomfort, especially when taken on an empty stomach. Add garlic to meals or sprinkle it on pasta, soups or even sambhar and chutneys. Swallow a clove of crushed garlic with water. The common side effect is “Garlicky Breath”.

Since garlic is also a blood thinner, people who take aspirin should be careful when including garlic regularly in their diets. Also discontinue garlic at least a week before any surgery.

How much? One clove of medium-sized garlic daily provides health boosting effects. Numerous over-the-counter supplements are available as are enteric-coated tablets. Those who don't like the strong flavour can try deodorised capsules. It is indeed the cornerstone of good health.

Did you know?

Garlic can inhibit changes in the DNA and scavenge free radicals; both are implicated in cancers. It can also limit the transition of a normal cell into a cancerous cell, inhibit the growth of cancer cells, and even destroy the cancer cells.

Garlic can reduce plaque formation in blood vessels and help lower blood sugar levels.

Because of its antioxidant properties, regular intake of garlic can reduce the incidence of many age-related disorders such as cataracts, arthritis, and rejuvenate skin and promote blood circulation.

Garlic also promotes liver health and protects the liver from many environmental toxins and drugs such as the commonly used analgesic agent, paracetamol (Crocin, Tylenol).

Did those bacteria really dine on lethal arsenic?

Felisa Wolfe-Simon processing mud from Mono Lake to inoculate media to grow microbes on arsenic. File photo

A scientist uses ‘open science' to find an answer

It was research that appeared set to turn the biological world on its head. A paper published online by the journal Science in December 2010 described a strain of bacteria that not only thrived in high levels of arsenic but appeared to incorporate it in its biomolecules, including DNA, displacing phosphorus that all other known forms of life utilise.

The U.S. space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which had funded the research, loudly trumpeted the discovery. "The definition of life has just expanded," exulted a senior agency official in a press release.

But the paper by Felisa Wolfe-Simon and others failed to convince their peers in the scientific community. Instead, what followed was an outcry from scientists about flaws in the research. There was good reason, they said, to doubt that the bacterium was using arsenic in its DNA.

Science, according to its Editor-in-Chief, Bruce Alberts, received “a wide range of correspondence that raised specific concerns” about the paper's research methods and interpretation of results. In May 2011, the journal took the unusual step of publishing online eight technical comments that raised a number of issues.

But the question remained – shouldn't someone else try to replicate the experiment using methods that avoided the pitfalls of the earlier work? It was not an alluring prospect, considering that the most likely outcome would be to merely corroborate the flaws that had already been pointed out.

Rosemary Redfield, a microbiologist at University of British Columbia in Canada, decided to take on the task. In a post on her blog ‘RRResearch', which received a good deal of attention, she had criticised the Science paper as “lots of flim-flam, but very little reliable information.”

“I've been saying that researchers shouldn't invest the time and resources needed to test Wolfe-Simon et al's claims because of the vanishingly small probability that they are correct,” she remarked in a blog post in May last year.  “But I'm having second thoughts because the most important claims can, I think, be very easily tested.”

Having got the bacterial strain from the original group of researchers, Dr. Redfield set about planning and carrying out experiments in a remarkably different fashion. The experiments she wanted to do, the problems that cropped up and the results she got were all written up on her blog. “One of the thing that had always been unusual about my blog was that I was writing openly about the experiments that I was doing before they were published,” she said on a recent episode of the podcast ‘This Week in Microbiology'. It was important that the process of science be made much more open. It was also a useful way to clarify her thinking.

By January this year, Dr. Redfield and her collaborators at Princeton University in the U.S. had finished the lab work and prepared a paper. The paper was submitted to Science. But she also did something that is common enough in physics but rare in biology. The full manuscript was posted on arXiv.org, the preprint server that is freely accessible.

“The advantage of arXiv is that the physicists all use it,” she remarked on the podcast. So Science would have had to deal with physicists posting papers there before or after they submitted them for publication. Indeed, the editor atScience handling their paper said that the journal had no problem with the manuscript being put on arXiv.

Science later responded with a provisional acceptance and comments from three reviewers. The manuscript was revised in the light of those comments and sent back to the journal.

But Dr. Redfield has also posted the full reviewers' comments on a web site and the revised manuscript was made available on arXiv.

Asked on the podcast whether the reviewers' comments could be released publicly, she responded, “I don't see why not.” There was nothing to indicate that those comments were to be kept in confidence. As for their finding, the manuscript declares that there was no sign that the bacterium was able to grow by using arsenic or that the element had been incorporated in its DNA. “On April 13, we submitted the revised version [of the manuscript to Science], and we're waiting with fingers crossed for final acceptance,” said Dr. Redfield on her blog.

Cause of male baldness found

Prostaglandin D2, and its derivative inhibit hair growth

Scientists have finally identified the culprits that are responsible for causing baldness in men. They are prostaglandin D2, also known as PGD2 and its derivative (15-dPGJ2). Incidentally, PGD2 and its derivative were found to show the same effect in mice as well.

The results are published today (March 22) in Science Translational Medicine.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that the PGD2 inhibits hair growth. In fact, its level “increases immediately preceding the regression phase,” they write. Its level in the scalp of balding men increases nearly three times compared to those who are not bald. “The absolute level of PGD2 was 16.3 ng/g tissue in balding scalp and 1.5 ng/g tissue in haired scalp,” the paper notes.

The scientists tested their hypothesis using explanted human hair follicles in culture for a week. They used different amounts of both PGD2 and its derivative to check their effects.

At low levels (5 micromolar) of the medium, PGD2 and its derivative “significantly inhibited hair growth.” The hair became shorter when 10 micromolar of PGD2 was used. But at the same concentration, the derivative “completely inhibited all hair growth.”

Different prostaglandins have been known to regulate and increase hair growth. In fact one such prostaglandin has been approved by the FDA to enhance hair growth in human eyelashes. And another is supposed to protect mice from radiation-induced hair loss.

But this study has shown that both in mouse and human skin a balance between the two prostaglandins — PGE2 and PGD2 — is required. There may be other causes for baldness, they note.

The study provides the first ray of hope to people who show early signs of balding. The authors suggest that the level of PGE2 should be increased while inhibiting PGD2 signalling. “Our findings also suggest that supplemental PGE2 could be therapeutic,” they write. They also note that increasing its level in the bald scalp can go as far as overcoming the inhibitory effect of PGD2. The act of inhibiting PGD2 level “may prevent miniaturization and provide benefit to those in the process of balding.”

But they have almost dashed the hopes of people who are already bald. “It is unclear whether men who are already bald will regrow hair,” they write.

This article is corrected for a factual error. Prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) was wrongly mentioned as a protein.

Universal cancer vaccine developed

Scientists claim to have developed a universal cancer vaccine that can train patients’ own bodies to seek out and destroy tumour cells.

A team from Tel Aviv University and drug company Vaxil Biotheraputics say the therapy targets a molecule found in 90 per cent of all cancers, and could soon pave the way for a universal injection that allows patients’ immune systems to fight off common cancers including breast and prostate cancer.

Preliminary results from early clinical trials have shown that the vaccine can trigger an immune response in patients and reduce levels of disease, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Now, the scientists hope to conduct larger trials in patients to prove it can be effective against a range of different cancers.

In fact, they believe it could be used to combat small tumours if they are detected early enough or to prevent the return of the disease in patients, who have undergone other forms of treatment such as surgery.

Cancer cells usually evade patient’s immune systems because they are not recognised as being a threat. While the immune system usually attacks foreign cells such as bacteria, tumours are formed of patient’s own cells that malfunctioned.

The scientists have, however, found that a molecule called MUC1, found in high amounts on the surface of cancer cells, can be used to help immune system detect tumours.

The vaccine uses a small section of the molecule to prime the immune system so that it can identify and destroy cancer cells, say the scientists.

Bt Brinjal poses a risk to health, environment: Greenpeace report

Spread of the Bt gene could make the brinjal a problematic weed'

An independent enquiry has revealed that the cultivation of genetically engineered (GE, also called genetically modified, or GM) Bt brinjal poses risks to the environment and possibly to human health. The occurrence of wild, weedy and also cultivated relatives presents a likelihood that the GE Bt gene will spread to these relatives but, so far, this has largely been overlooked in the risk assessments for GE Bt brinjal, it says.

Genetically engineered Bt brinjal and the implications for plant biodiversity – revisited, an independent study commissioned by Greenpeace International, finds that brinjal relatives do occur in the regions where cultivation of GE Btbrinjal is proposed, and that GE Bt brinjal may mate with these relatives to spread the GE Bt gene. Spread of the GE Bt gene would have considerable ecological implications, as well as implications for future crop contamination and farmers' rights.

Importantly, the spread of the GE Bt gene could result in the brinjal becoming an aggressive and problematic weed, the Greenpeace report suggests, while impressing upon the governments the need to employ the precautionary principle and not permit any authorisation of the outdoor cultivation of GE Btbrinjal, including field trials

The cultivation of GE Bt brinjal is proposed in some countries across Asia, including India, where there is currently a moratorium on commercialisation, and the Philippines, where field trials are going on. “There are many concerns with GE brinjal, which has been engineered to be resistant to certain insect pests using Bt genes from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. These concerns include food safety and possible effects on organisms other than the pest insect (non-target organisms), such as beneficial insects and butterflies.”

One of the least known aspects of the GE Bt brinjal is its ability to cross with wild relatives or cultivated varieties. This is because there are no recent reviews in the scientific literature concerning species related to brinjal, and where they grow across Asia. This information is vital when addressing concerns regarding cultivation of GE Bt brinjal, because insect-resistance gives a selective advantage to the plant, increasing its ability to survive and reproduce. If the GE Bt brinjal cross-pollinates wild, weedy or cultivated relatives, the result is a hybrid offspring, which may grow more aggressively and thus become a problem weed, the report says.

What are the chemicals we eat every day?

Even the most experienced cook can not fully appreciate the quality of the product in the eyes. In some cases, odor and color play only a function of the beautiful packaging, behind which hides a set of dubious ingredients. The researchers tested a few products to find out where and under what kind of potential danger may be lurking.

Butane

Universal Gas is suitable not only for the lighters. The food industry considers butane as artificial antioxidant. Chemical element is added to chicken nuggets to keep fresh. The dish, which in appearance looks like just cooked, it can be podzapravleno butane.

Most often found in ready-made processed foods with long shelf life, such as frozen foods, crackers, chips and fast food.

Estrogen

Elevated levels of estrogen indicates a questionable origin of the product. Most often, a hormone given to cows milk and meat. Estrogen causes rapid development and growth, which increases milk production and the amount of meat products. And while the question "Is it bad" experts answer is negative, to use such products as food physicians strongly recommend.

Powder Spinach

The composition of some green pastry, or at least a hint of it is only indirectly related to the vegetable crops. As a component simulating green, dehydrated, and is used here does not have the nutritional value of spinach. The use of such products as useful as it is dust.

Propylene glycol or antifreeze

The substance is traditionally used in the automotive and cosmetic industries. The reagent does not freeze panes, and also provides water-holding and soothing effect. Because the adverse symptoms were not recorded, the substance was used as a food additive to create these same properties in food.

Potentially hazardous food: confectionery, alcoholic and non-alcoholic carbonated beverages, energy, frozen fruits and poultry.

Vanillin

Since natural vanilla is expensive, and the world needs is a few thousand tons per year, was invented a method for synthesizing the substance of the more accessible parts. Most vanillin is produced from lignin - a byproduct of pulp and paper industry.

Used as a flavor in yogurt, baked goods, beverages and confectionery.

The substance of the glands of the beaver

Aromatic substance extracted from the glands of the beaver. Initially, a mixture designed for medical purposes. Over time, it began to be used in the perfume industry as a natural perfume fixative and odor. In terms of the substance of the food industry can play a raspberry flavoring. It is believed that these days the jet is added only in expensive spirits in practice, beaver gland found in the jelly, ice cream, candy and flavored drinks.

The fact of what constitutes a product, usually written on the package, but for the modern buyer is nothing more than a formality. Going for food, should not be limited to entertaining reading matter on the shelf-life, especially if the product is wrapped in colorful packaging, or sold at a low price is tempting.