The substitution of the synthetic bases of fossil origin used in the lubricant by environment-respecting compounds has become a central question. In such respect, it has been recently shown that one of the many of unusual fatty acids that are known to occur in nature, namely the branched-chain fatty acids, BcFAs, could advantageously replace these synthetic bases. Contrasting to other vegetable oils used as lubricant bases, BcFA-containg oil has both excellent oxidative resistance and thermal stability, thereby making them potent substitutes for high-temperature applications such as motor lubricants. Coupled with the improvements in plant transformation, the increasing needs for cost-effective bioproduction of unusual fatty acids has made oilseeds ideal production systems. The project REFLAX (for Rational Engineering of FLAX) aims at the integration of metabolic, physiological, molecular biological, genetical, structural biological, proteomics and bioinformatics studies to provide a basis for the rational engineering of oilseeds – rapeseed but more specifically flax – towards the production of BcFAs. REFLAX is a feasibility program consisting is an innovative strategy for modulating the spectrum of fatty acids by enlarging the spectrum of de novo precursors.
Within this project we will test the applicability of crypto currencies as a facilitator of political movements. The currency will be used to motivate people to (1) select members of parliament based on fitness of personal opinions on major political issues and (2) monitor the correlation between verbally expressed statements and actually passed acts. The currency will be also tested as an alternative means to finance political activities and assess the trust towards political organizations. The currency will be designed to offer advantages over other currently most popular currencies and remain competitive also after the experiment.
The objective of this project is to use Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) in Bioinformatics. The primary application will be the Smith Waterman algorithm. Later we will assess the benefits of applying FPGA for other bioinformatics tasks. As part of the project a large cluster of over 500 simple (Spartan6) FPGAs will be build.
The main goal of this project is to develop an innovative fusion protein (immunotoxin) for liver cancer treatment, with focus to Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Liver cancer, primarily HCC, is the fourth leading cause of death from cancer. Proposed immunotoxins will be directed to the highly selective antigens on the tumor cells. The project assumes usage of designed fusion proteins comprised of highly selective cancer antibody fragments attached to cytotoxic domains. We plan to create immunotoxins containing cytotoxic moieties derived from catalytic domains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A and diphteria toxin. One of the innovative aspects of the project is the change in immunotoxins subcellular route within human cells. This modification will be a key factor regulating an immunotoxin activity dependently on cell proliferation rate, thus making toxin even more selective anti-cancer drug. The project is conducted in collaboration with the Warsaw University (CeNT) and the Institute of Medical Biology of PAS. As a result, innovative immunotoxins will be patented and commercialized in the further.