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dorcasrempel · 5 years ago

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SMART researchers uncover new anti-phage defense mechanisms

Researchers from Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, have discovered a new anti-phage defense mechanism found in some bacteria, which use previously unknown features to protect their DNA. The groundbreaking discovery enables scientists to overcome existing challenges in bacterial resistance to antibiotics. The growing antimicrobial resistance is a major concern for the global health community, and phage therapy is an important pillar in combating bacterial infections.

Bacteriophages, an effective alternative to fight bacteria that are resistant to commonly used antibiotics, work by injecting their own DNA into the bacteria, where it can replicate to the point that it destroys the bacteria. In a paper published in Nature Microbiology, the research team describes a new defense system found in many bacteria that work in unique ways to protect themselves against bacteriophages.

Led by Professor Lianrong Wang at Wuhan University, the paper was jointly written by a group of scientists at SMART’s Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Tsinghua University. SMART’s AMR IRG is a translational research and entrepreneurship program that aims to solve the growing threat of resistance to antimicrobial drugs.

“We previously discovered a new type of defense mechanism that bacteria use against phages, where sulfur is inserted into the DNA backbone as a phosphorothioate modification on each strand of the DNA,” says Professor Peter C. Dedon, co-author of the paper and lead principal investigator at SMART AMR. “If the attacking phage DNA didn’t have the modifications, host enzymes would chop the DNA into pieces to destroy it. This restriction-modification mechanism is like a bacterial immune system to protect against invaders.”

“What the team discovered now is an entirely new and different mechanism in which phosphorothioates are located on only one strand of DNA at very high frequency. The host defense enzymes then nick one strand of the invader DNA to stop the virus from making copies of itself. Like a surgeon’s knife compared to a meat cleaver.”

The newly identified SspABCD-SspE PT system is unique from the previously known PT modification system, which uses multiple proteins and enzymes to attack phage DNA by chopping it into pieces. The discovery will help researchers understand how to tackle the ever-growing arsenal of bacterial defenses against phages and can have huge implications for phage therapy.

“We keep pushing to discover DNA modification systems in phages as well as in bacteria. There are likely to be many more waiting to be found. We’re finding some bizarre new ones that can be exploited to engineer phages to thwart bacterial defenses in common pathogens,” adds Dedon, who is also a professor at MIT who helped create the Institute’s Department of Biological Engineering.

AMR IRG is a translational research and entrepreneurship program that tackles the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. By leveraging talent and convergent technologies across Singapore and MIT, they aim to tackle AMR head-on by developing multiple innovative and disruptive approaches to identify, respond to, and treat drug-resistant microbial infections. Through strong scientific and clinical collaborations, their goal is to provide transformative, holistic solutions for Singapore and the world.

SMART, which serves as an intellectual and innovation hub for research interactions between MIT and Singapore, was established by MIT in partnership with the National Research Foundation of Singapore (NRF) in 2007. SMART is the first entity in the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) developed by NRF. It currently comprises an Innovation Center and five interdisciplinary research groups: Antimicrobial Resistance, Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine, Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision, Future Urban Mobility, and Low Energy Electronic Systems. SMART research is funded by the National Research Foundation Singapore under the CREATE program.

SMART researchers uncover new anti-phage defense mechanisms syndicated from https://osmowaterfilters.blogspot.com/

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yourwebpilotpro-blog · 6 years ago

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Blockchain based securities appeared in China

One of the largest private commercial banks in China - Zheshang Bank - completed the issue of securities worth $ 58 million, using its own blockchain platform Lianrong.

Zheshang Bank was founded in 2004 and is one of the 12 listed commercial banks of China, which implement various projects in the blockchain industry. According to public documents, on August 13, the bank submitted its prospectus to the Shanghai Clearing House, announcing the issue of securities worth 400 million yuan ($ 58 million), which are supported by a portfolio of receivables from various corporations. As reported in the report of the China Securities Journal, the bank completed the issue of securities on August 17 and became one of the first institutions in the country to transfer securities that are supported by a group of assets through a blockchain. The Lianrong platform was developed by the bank to provide registered companies with the opportunity to transfer their receivables to potential investors and for further settlements on related accounts. Acquiring a firm's receivables, the investor, in fact, makes an initial payment at a discount and expects at a later stage to receive the full amount from the party that is responsible for making the initial payment. Now there is a lot of talk around tokenization of assets. Many of banks start with bond issues on the blockchain. For example, in the middle of the month, the World Bank and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia announced this intention. To date, several major global financial institutions, such as JP Morgan, Agricultural Bank of China and the BBVA, have already tested blockchain systems for issuing bonds and loans. In autumn 2016, the French bank BNP also announced that it is studying technology for the distribution of mini-bonds. Read the full article

#bank #blockchain #china #issue #security

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mooncatchermeme-blog · 6 years ago

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Zheshang Bank has completed an issuance of securities worth $66 million using its proprietary blockchain platform

Based on public documents, the bank filed a prospectus with the Shanghai Clearing House on Aug. 13 saying it would back the securities with a portfolio of account receivables from various corporations.

According to a report from China Securities Journal on Monday, the bank subsequently completed the issuance on Aug. 17, becoming one of the first institutions in the country to have made such an issuance over a blockchain network.

The blockchain platform, called Lianrong, was designed in-house by the bank to allow registered companies to broadcast account receivable assets to potential investors and to further let them settle invoice transactions as securities peer-to-peer.

By purchasing a firm’s account receivables, an investor essentially pays for the firm’s pending invoice at a discount and expects to later collect the full amount from the party liable for making the original payment.

Founded in 2004, Zheshang Bank is one of 12 publicly traded commercial banks in China that have launched various blockchain initiatives over the past 12–18 months.

Zheshang Bank is not the only financial institution turning to blockchain to specifically offer asset-backed securities.

JD Finance, a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, also announced a plan in June to launch a similar product via a distributed network in partnership with another commercial bank.

Don’t miss: Canadian government-funded research program Industrial Research Assistance Program is now hosting its own blockchain explorer

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legit-scam-review · 6 years ago

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China Zheshang Bank Issues Securities Worth $66 Million on Blockchain

Zheshang Bank, one of the largest privately held commercial banks in China, has completed the issuance of $66 million securities to investors by using its proprietary blockchain platform.

Based on public documents, the bank filed its prospectus to the Shanghai Clearing House on Aug. 13 with a plan to issue securities worth 400 million yuan, or $66 million, that are backed by a portfolio of account receivables from various corporations.

According to a report from China Securities Journal on Monday, the bank subsequently completed the issuance on Aug. 17 and became one of the first institutions in the country to have facilitated transactions for securities backed by a group of assets via blockchain.

The platform, called Lianrong, was designed in-house by the bank with the purpose of allowing registered companies to broadcast their account receivable assets to potential investors and to further let them settle transactions of these invoices as a securities in a peer-to-peer fashion.

By purchasing a firm’s account receivables, an investor essentially prepays the firm’s pending invoice at a discount and expects to collect a full amount at a later stage from the party that is liable for making the original payment.

Founded in 2004, Zheshang Bank is one of the 12 publicly-traded commercial banks in China that have launched various moves into the blockchain industry.

Yet it is not the only financial institution that is turning to blockchain in specifically offering asset-backed securities.

JD Finance, a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, also announced a plan in June to partner with another publicly-traded commercial bank to launch a similar product via a distributed network.

Zheshang Bank image via Wikipedia

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