Engineering Bioluminescent Proteins: Expanding their Analytical Potential

The Expanding Toolbox of In Vivo Bioluminescent Imaging

In vivo bioluminescent imaging (BLI) permits the visualization of engineered bioluminescence from living cells and tissues to provide a unique perspective toward the understanding of biological processes as they occur within the framework of an authentic in vivo environment. The toolbox of in vivo BLI includes an inventory of luciferase compounds capable of generating bioluminescent light signa...

Proteins Length and their Phenotypic Potential

Mendelian Disease Genes represent a collection of single points of failure for the various systems they constitute. Such genes have been shown, on average, to encode longer proteins than 'non-disease' proteins. Existing models suggest that this results from the increased likeli-hood of longer genes undergoing mutations. Here, we show that in saturated mutagenesis experiments performed on model ...

Nucleic acid-based fluorescent probes and their analytical potential

It is well known that nucleic acids play an essential role in living organisms because they store and transmit genetic information and use that information to direct the synthesis of proteins. However, less is known about the ability of nucleic acids to bind specific ligands and the application of oligonucleotides as molecular probes or biosensors. Oligonucleotide probes are single-stranded nuc...

Beyond technicalities: Expanding engineering thinking

Engineering appears to be at a turning point. It is evolving from an occupation that provides employers and clients with competent technical advice to a profession that serves the community in a socially responsible manner. Traditional engineering education caters to the former ideal, whereas increasingly both engineers themselves and their professional societies aspire to the latter. Employers...

Genetic Engineering of Dendritic Cells to Enhance Their Tolerogenic Potential