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TEST

Tuesday 15 October 2013

G.M. Tobacco Plants Are Viable for Producing Biofuels....

Ruth Sanz-Barrio, an agriculture engineer of the NUP/UPNA-Public University of Navarre, in her Ph.D. thesis has demonstrated for the very first time, the possible use of specific tobacco proteins (known as thioredoxins) as biotechnological agents in plants. Particularly, she has managed to raise the amount of starch produced in the tobacco leaves by 700% and fermentable sugars by 500%. these genetically modified plants could be a good substitute to food crops for producing biofuels, and could also provide an outlet for the tobacco-producing areas in their country that see their future in jeopardy because of the discontinuing of European grants for this crop.

Thioredoxin is a class of small redox proteins known to be present in all organisms. It plays a role in many important biological processes, including redox signaling. In the course of her research Ruth Sanz exhibited the capability of the thioredoxins f and m in tobacco as biotechnological tools not only to increase the starch content in the plant but also to raise the production of proteins like human albumin.
Human albumin is the most commonly used intravenous protein across the globe for therapeutic needs. It is used to stabilize the volume of blood and to prevent the risk of infarction, and its application in operating theatres is almost a daily occurrence. It is also used in burns, surgical operations, haemorrhages, or when the patient is undernourished or dehydrated, and in the case of chronic infections and renal or hepatic diseases.