December 2007
Trends in industrial and environmental biotechnology research in Tanzania
This paper reviews the trends in industrial and environmental biotechnology research in Tanzania for the past 20 years. Researches on production of bio-energy, enzymes and organic acids are reviewed. Furthermore, researches related to wastewater treatment systems including water stabilization ponds and constructed wetlands are covered. Brief highlights are made on researches related to bioprospecting and molecular...
December 2007
Inflammation: the foundation of diseases and disorders. A review of phytomedicines of South African origin used to treat pain and inflammatory conditions.
Great interest in herbal medicine as a potential source of phytopharmaceuticals has created the need to review common factors responsible for major diseases and body disorders. This review shows one such common factor in inflammation and the role herbal medicine can play. Traditional medicinal herbal remedies in the southern African region have long been used to treat various pain- or inflammation-related symptoms....
December 2007
The challenges of overcoming antibiotic resistance: Plant extracts as potential sources of antimicrobial and resistance modifying agents
The problem of antibiotic resistance, which has limited the use of cheap and old antibiotics, has necessitated the need for a continued search for new antimicrobial compounds. Understanding the mechanisms of resistance is important in the development of strategies to solving the problem. Active efflux of drugs, alteration of target sites and enzymatic degradations are the strategies by which pathogenic bacteria acquire...
December 2007
Scientific and industrial status of tissue engineering
Tissue engineering is a newly emerging field targeting many unresolved health problems. So far, the achievements of this technology in the production of different tissue engineered substitutes were promising. This review is intended to describe, briefly and in a simple language, what tissue engineering is, what the achievements of this technology are, what the market volume for its products is, what knowledge is needed...
December 2007
Status of clean gene (selection marker-free) technology
The ever-increasing world population has created two major problems: more mouths to feed and less land to farm. While classical breeding has enormously helped in providing more food, a lot still needs to be done. Transformation biotechnology can also help especially where classical breeding lacks solution (e.g. limited availability of stable and durable genetic source of resistance). However, plant transformation...
December 2007
Biosorption: An eco-friendly alternative for heavy metal removal
Heavy metals occur in immobilized form in sediments and as ores in nature. However due to various human activities like ore mining and industrial processes the natural biogeochemical cycles are disrupted causing increased deposition of heavy metals in terrestrial and aquatic environment. Release of these pollutants without proper treatment poses a significant threat to both environment and public health, as they are non...
December 2007
Wastewater treatment plants as a source of microbial pathogens in receiving watersheds
Wastewater treatment facilities have become sin quo non in ensuring the discharges of high quality wastewater effluents into receiving water bodies and consequence, a healthier environment. Due to massive worldwide increases in human population, water has been predicted to become one of the scarcest resources in the 21st century, and despite large advances in water and wastewater treatments, waterborne...
December 2007
Sida acuta Burm. f.: a medicinal plant with numerous potencies
Sida acuta is shrub belonging to Malvaceae family. The plant is widely distributed in the subtropical regions where it is found in bushes, in farms and around habitations. Surveys conducted in indigenous places revealed that the plant had many traditional usages that varied from one region to another. The most cited illnesses are fever, headache and infections diseases. Indeed, many laboratory screening...
December 2007
The fabrication of potentiometric membrane sensors and their applications
Ionophore-incorporated PVC-membrane sensors are well-established analytical tools routinely used for the selective and direct measurement of a wide variety of different ions in complex biological and environmental samples. The key ingredient of such plasticized PVC-members is the involved ionophore, defining the selectivity of the electrodes complex formation with the cation of interest. In the past few years, the...
December 2007
Antidiarrhoeal activity of different plants used in traditional medicine
Diarrhoea is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in children under age of 5 years. In view of this problem, the World Health Organization has a Diarrhoea Disease Control Program, which includes studies of traditional medical practices together with the evaluation of health education and prevention approaches. In this paper a review of the last 7 years about the studies of extracts of plants used to combat...
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