Surrogate broodstock to enhance biotechnology research and applications in aquaculture

The burgeoning area of plant genetics may hold the key to overcoming some of the most pressing environmental challenges. For example, crops can be genetically improved to make them better able to adapt to climate change, while genetic engineering of crops could help to address food security challenges. As such, a comprehensive understanding of plant genetics may enable humankind to make headway in addressing climate change and resulting challenges. Research in this area is therefore paramount. Research work undertaken in the Plant Transgenic Design Initiative (PTraD) in the Gene Research Center (GRC) within Tsukuba Plant Innovation Research Center (T-PIRC), located at the University of Tsukuba in Japan, is focused on plant sciences and biotechnologies. The PTraD is the centre of excellence in plant biotechnology research in Japan, shedding light on plant genetics and how this can be harnessed to solve environmental challenges such as climate change.

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Magneto-Optical Characteristics of Streptavidin-Coated Fe3O4@Au Core-Shell Nanoparticles for Potential Applications on Biomedical Assays

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-52773-7 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Chin-Wei Lin ◽

Jian-Ming Chen ◽

You-Jun Lin ◽

Ling-Wei Chao ◽

Sin-Yi Wei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Nanoparticles ◽

Faraday Effect ◽

Au Nanoparticles ◽

Optical Characteristics ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Core Shell ◽

Shell Nanoparticles ◽

Time Resolved ◽

Biotechnology Research ◽

Core Shell Nanoparticles

Abstract Recently, gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles have drawn the interest of researchers due to their unique magneto-plasmonic characteristics. Previous research has found that the magneto-optical Faraday effect of gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles can be effectively enhanced because of the surface plasmon resonance of the gold shell. Furthermore, gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles are ideal for biomedical applications because of their high stability and biocompatibility. In this work, we synthesized Fe3O4@Au core-shell nanoparticles and coated streptavidin (STA) on the surface. Streptavidin is a protein which can selectively bind to biotin with a strong affinity. STA is widely used in biotechnology research including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), time-resolved immunofluorescence (TRFIA), biosensors, and targeted pharmaceuticals. The Faraday magneto-optical characteristics of the biofunctionalized Fe3O4@Au nanoparticles were measured and studied. We showed that the streptavidin-coated Fe3O4@Au nanoparticles still possessed the enhanced magneto-optical Faraday effect. As a result, the possibility of using biofunctionalized Fe3O4@Au nanoparticles for magneto-optical biomedical assays should be explored.

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