WebLog Journal of Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering

Pakistan, like other emerging nations, sees farmers weighing the pros and cons before adopting BT cotton. Given its benefits to Pakistani farmers, we anticipate similar advantages for small-scale cotton producers in many other developing countries. Another lesson from Pakistan underscores the importance of domestic biotechnology research. The concurrent development of BT cotton by government researchers and its introduction by foreign firms created a strong lobby in support of this…

Synthetic biology is transforming the field of crop improvement by allowing the precise control of genetic circuits, metabolic pathways, and regulatory networks. Unlike the conventional transgenic approaches, which involve the alteration of single genes, synthetic biology involves the incorporation of multi-gene constructs, synthetic promoters, and programmable regulatory networks to control the physiological processes in crops. For instance, the engineering of photosynthetic genes such as…

Medicinal plants constitute a major renewable source of bioactive secondary metabolites that underpin traditional and modern pharmaceutical industries, yet their supply from wild and field-cultivated sources is increasingly constrained by slow growth rates, seasonal and geographic variability, over harvesting, and inconsistent phytochemical yield. Biostimulants - including seaweed extracts, humic substances, protein hydrolysates, and Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) - and Plant…

The dual concept of perception enables rapid differentiation and directed response to stimuli from the surroundings. In a selective environment, this is a process that sustains life. Provided that the threat posed by an object is recognised in a timely manner, the precise identification of the object is of secondary importance. Moreover, the dual concept of perception also enables the imagination of mirrored opposites independent of their concrete existence. This results in a considerable…

Background: Tuberculosis diagnosis remains a practical challenge in high-burden settings, where available tests have well-known limitations around sensitivity, cost, and turnaround time. Whole blood gene expression profiling offers a non-sputum-based alternative approach, but most published machine learning models in this space rely on complex pipelines or proprietary datasets. This study asked a simpler question: using publicly available microarray data and standard…

Background: Perforated Peptic Ulcer (PPU) complicated with diffuse peritonitis despite all advances of diagnosis and surgical care. The timely and precise identification of prognosis is one of the most key issues to optimize peri-operative management. In this study, the Modified Boey's Score (MBS) and the Mannheim Peritonitis Index (MPI) were compared and assessed for their predictive capabilities in patients with PPU after surgery.

Methods: A…

The properties of water and the emergence of life are interconnected phenomena. According to the hydrozoic theory of conscious perception, primordial forms of memory and awareness emerged during the early stages of biophysical evolution. The theory is based on the idea that membranes composed of phospholipid bilayer membranes and adhesive water molecules exhibit liquid crystalline properties, combining directional dependence with the mobility of the fluid mosaic model. These magnetic fields…

Hydrogels represent a class of highly versatile, three-dimensional polymer networks renowned for their exceptional water absorption capacity, biocompatibility, and tunable physicochemical properties. This review comprehensively examines the diverse landscape of hydrogels, delineating the fundamental characteristics and applications of synthetic, natural, and advanced hybrid systems. It highlights the superior mechanical strength of synthetic hydrogels and the enhanced biocompatibility of…