Progress in Biotechnology - Böcker

The bioseparation engineering of today includes downstream process engineering such as waste water, material and gas treatment. Taking this tendency into account, bioseparation engineers gathered in Japan as a special research group under the main theme of "Recovery and Recycle of Resources to Protect the Global Environment".

The scope of this book is based on the conference, and deals not only with recent advances in bioseparation engineering in a narrow sence, but also the environmental engineering which includes waste water treatment and bioremediation. The contributors of this book cover many disciplines such as chemical engineering, analytical chemistry, biochemistry, and microbiology.

Bioseparation Engineering will stimulate young engineers and scientists who will develop bioseparation engineering further in the 21st century, and contribute to a world-wide attention to the global environment

In this book, the progress during the last ten years is reviewed and future plans outlined to realize and establish the concept of design in the biological sciences.

Design is a leading concept as well as the principal motivation for the creation of artificial systems. A successful design generally requires that the structures and functions of the elements that constitute the system as well as the principles that determine how the elements cooperate together to create function be fully understood. These requirements have not been satisfied within the fields of biotechnology and medicine. Compared to the recent emergence of artificial systems, living organisms acquired their present day structures and functions through evolution over three to four billion years. Despite the fact that the design of living organisms is recorded in the DNA sequence, our understanding of the structures and functions of the elements that constitute living organisms is very limited.

To fulfill the requirements, the following approaches were initiated under a ten-year project entitled "Biodesign Research". Firstly, we tried to isolate and characterize the functional elements that constitute the organelles of various organisms. Secondly, we tried to reconstitute systems that reproduce biological functions in vitro from individual elements in order to understand how the elements cooperate together to yield a function. Thirdly, we attempted to resolve biological structures at various resolutions ranging from the atomic to the cellular level to further our knowledge about the fundamental principles that various functions at the molecular level and to design artificial systems.

At present, plants and agricultural sciences are playing a leading role in providing solutions to problems created by an ever growing world population. Through plant biotechnology scientists are seeking ways to improve crop functions that rapidly promote food production. Agricultural science is being used to experiment with producing plants tolerant to environmental stresses such as drought, salinity and coldness.

Of the plant species, woody plants are producing the most abundant biomass resources, playing important roles in the suppression of carbon dioxide increase and supplying huge energy and resources to human beings in the biosphere. These Proceedings discuss the recent results of fundamental and applied research for global resource and energy, biomass production and environmental problems from the aspect of woody science.

Topics include:- Formation of the vascular bundle- Biosynthesis of cellulose- Lignin biosynthesis and transgenic woody plants- Cell and tissue culture, and transformation in gymnosperms- Micropropagation of woody plants

This volume analyzes the dynamics and interactive processes among the players (individuals, institutions, and organizations/firms) that have constituted and legitimized the development of the biotechnology industries. The unit of analysis is small entrepreneurial firms developing biotechnological products and processes. What types of strategies are small entrepreneurs pursuing in order to create markets for their new products and processes, and how have specific strategies emerged? The primary interest is the network process through which the technological field and the development of institutions and routines evolve and co-evolve.

The theoretical contribution of the book is its focus on the development of the concept of networks. From being regarded as a relative static concept the book transforms the concept into a dynamic concept of networking. The dynamic view on the creation and development of new technologies through network formations is linked to the concept of strategy that is used throughout the book. Hence the strategies are developed along with the creation of technological knowledge, and it is hoped that the diffusion of this specific knowledge will bring new actors into the technological arena or community.

This book will be useful to the academic community, those studying the formation of networks, strategic management, organizational behavior, and management of technology, as well as business observers with a specific interest in the evolution of the biotechnology industry.

This book covers both basic and applied sciences in a rather specified area of pulp and paper manufacture. The basic science of lignocellulose enzymology and plant genetics is covered also in many other contexts, whereas the application of biotechnology in process and product development is thoroughly reviewed. All the latest advances as well as new ideas of the research field are covered. This book will serve as an updated and compact information package of biotechnical aspects and the most recent advances of the pulp and paper industry sector.

This publication contains full papers of both oral and poster presentations of the symposium "Immobilized Cells: Basics and Applications" that was held in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, 26-29 November 1995. This volume covers recent developments in the field of immobilization e.g.: new support materials, characterization of support materials, kinetic characterizations, dynamic modelling, bioreactor types, scale up and applications are also given. Applications in the field of medicine, fermentation technology, food technology and environmental technology are described. Guidelines for research with immobilized cells. Based on the scientific sessions a strategy of research and methods for characterization of immobilized cells, especially in view of applications are given.

The goal was to relate basic research to applications and to extract guidelines for characterization of immobilized cells in view of process design and application from the contributions. The manuscripts presented in these proceedings give an extensive and recent overview of the research and applications of immobilized-cell technology.

The Carbohydrate Bioengineering Meeting held in Elsinore, Denmark, April 23-26, 1995, gathered 230 scientists, mostly from Europe, with interest in carbohydrate analysis and structure; carbohydrates in medicine and glycopathology; structure, function, application, and protein engineering of carbohydrate active enzymes; oligo- and polysaccharides of industrial interest; and production of carbohydrate containing new materials.

The first chapters address glycoconjugates as modulatory and recognition molecules, structure determination using NMR and mass spectrometry, and microdialysis-chip enzyme-based sensors. Active site mutations coupled with crystal structures and synthetic substrate analogue interactions as well as new three-dimensional structures and binding domains for biotechnological applications are included in the chapters. Carbohydrate active enzymes turned out to be a predominant topic.

The rapid development in glycobiology and glycotechnology has resulted in an enormous increase in our knowledge on the structure conversion, and application of carbohydrates in industry and medicine.