A new way to make a virus-fighting protein could save lives during the next pandemic 

The quick and portable production process, described in a newly accepted paper in the journal New Biotechnology, could be easily deployed at the source of a future virus outbreak

A multidisciplinary research team has produced a promising virus-fighting protein using a quick, portable process that could be easily deployed at the source of a future virus outbreak. The team includes researchers from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Stanford University, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Center for Advanced Translational Science. The research has been accepted for publication in the journal New Biotechnology.

Griffithsin is a protein originally isolated from red algae. More than a decade ago, researchers in the Molecular Targets Program of the NCI discovered it could protect cells from the HIV virus and it is now in Phase 1 clinical trials in humans. Griffithsin sticks to the surface glycoproteins of certain viruses, making it difficult for the virus to enter host cells. (Glycoproteins are proteins with sugar molecules on them.)

“It’s like taking clay and sticking it to the prongs of an electrical plug to prevent it from entering a socket,” says Govind Rao, a professor of chemical and biochemical engineering at UMBC who is one of the lead researchers on the project. The protein disables a wide range of viruses, including the virus that causes COVID-19.

Medicines that are made with biological molecules like griffithsin are called biologics. They are normally manufactured in huge batches using living cells such as E.coli bacteria. (The cells are given DNA-encoded instructions for how to make the medicine.) However, that method has drawbacks, including the need to keep the cells alive. 

Rao and his colleagues developed a method to manufacture griffithsin that does not require living cells. Instead, the researchers take the protein-manufacturing “guts” out of the cells. Into this soup of cellular components, they then add the DNA instructions for making griffithsin, along with the needed molecular building blocks. 

“The cellular machinery still works, even without a living cell to support it,” says Rao. “The method is simple and effective.”

Using cell-free manufacturing methods, the researchers produced significant quantities of griffithsin in less than 24 hours. They purified the protein to strict standards and demonstrated in lab experiments that it could disable both HIV and SARS-CoV-2 virusesas effectively as the same griffithsin protein made by living cells.

The researchers envision that the method could be quickly deployed to make antiviral medicine at the origin of disease outbreaks. The method could be easily adapted to work with a portable, suitcase-sized biologics manufacturing device, dubbed Bio-MOD, that Rao and a team of mostly UMBC researchers recently developed. They described the device in a 2018 paper in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

The new griffithsin protein manufacturing process together with the portable Bio-MOD device could be a powerful weapon to quickly combat new viruses before they spread.

read full article: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/985854

ENCH 333: CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SEMINAR:PHARMA CAREERS AND DRUG DEVELOPMENT

MONDAYS 5:00 PM-6:30 PM

“I realized the secret to success is finishing! And not just finishing, but finishing strong!” – Dr. Eric Thomas

"I learnt that the only way to get a thing done is to start to do it, then keep on doing it, and finally you'll finish it, even if in the beginning you think you can't do it at all." — Langston Hughes, The Big Sea

“I'm racing against me. As long as I come across the finish, I'll be okay.” Ruben Studdard

We are in the home stretch, the back nine, the last miles, or whatever clichéd metaphor you’d like to use for approaching the end of the semester.  As we do, I want to encourage you to finish strong.  I know that sounds trite, but that doesn’t make it less genuine.  Asking more of you right now, when you may already be pushing as hard as you can or stretched too thin, is unfair.  It is challenging to push through when you’re already running on fumes.  I could say catch a second wind, or find another gear, but you and I both know it isn’t that easy.  It, in fact, can be quite grueling. What I want you to know is that hard doesn’t mean impossible.  This is the way. It was never promised to be easy.

“Remember this in the darkest moments, when the work doesn’t seem worth it, and change seems just out of reach: out of our willingness to push through comes a tremendous power . . . use it.” – Stacey Abrams

“Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.” –  Don Miguel Ruiz

“Don't settle for average. Bring your best to the moment. Then, whether it fails or succeeds, at least you know you gave all you had. We need to live the best that's in us.”  – Angela Bassett

“Have a vision of excellence, a dream of success, and work like hell.” – Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook

There’s an African proverb that says that smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. The same holds true for you. You may be mastering your seas and cruising right along. If so, keep it up AND help someone else for whom it isn’t going as well.  You may feel like the rough waters have tossed you around a bit, but you’re making progress.  If so, batten down the hatches and keep pushing.  Get help if you need it, help others if you can.  You may be about to capsize, already be in the lifeboat, or worse yet treading water and holding on for dear life.  If so, you’re still in the fight.  Seek out help not now, but right now.  Waiting for a rescue is a risky strategy in a storm.  But this isn’t Titanic, there is room for you.  If someone is telling you or showing you that there isn’t, float on and find help elsewhere.  If you can take steps to get the help you need, take them.   If you can’t or don’t know how, there are people all around who can help you figure that out.  Blow the whistle to let them know you’re there and you need some assistance.  Or respond if they’ve already reached out to you.

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”– Winston S. Churchill

"Dreams don’t have to just be dreams. You can make it a reality; if you just keep pushing and keep trying, then eventually you'll reach your goal. And if that takes a few years, then that's great, but if it takes 10 or 20, then that's part of the process." — Naomi Osaka

"The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary." – Vidal Sassoon

The next question for you to ask and answer is what does a successful semester look like for you at this point?  You may have planned on the Dean’s list or even a 4.0, all A’s everywhere. Maybe that’s still in reach, maybe not.  Maybe that wasn’t even the plan. Maybe you had a class, or two, or a few, where the goal was just to get through and get done with it.  Bet. That works too. Maybe there’s no plan.  Maybe you’ve got so much going on that you’re just trying to put one foot in front of the other until it’s over. Or maybe your goals and plans aren’t even about school.  Maybe they’re about the other things that matter in your life.  Since you’re a student, that is less than ideal, but still workable.  What matters most isn’t what was, but what is.  Today is the perfect day to revisit (or come up with) goals for the rest of the semester and a plan to get there. 

·      What are your goals for the rest of the semester?

·      Have your grades so far put you in a position to reach your goals? 

·      What opportunities are left for you to get to where you want to be? 

·      Are you going to have to prioritize some things to get to a satisficing solution?

I didn’t say optimal, or best, I said satisficing.  That is a real word, I didn’t make it up.  It is a portmanteau of satisfy and suffice created by Herbert Simon that I learned in grad school.  I always think of getting a ball to the top of a hill.  Instead of pushing and pushing to get a ball to the peak of the hill and then straining to keep it balanced there, get to a plateau that is good enough and leave it there.  Be careful though with how high you decide “good enough” is.  It is easy to set that plateau too low.  Once you set your goals, make your plan.  Then, with your plan in hand, get busy getting.

“Success, to me, is just doing things that I'm really proud of.” – Dua Lipa

“Infuse your life with action. Don't wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen... yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.“ – Bradley Whitford

"Wake up determined, go to bed satisfied." — Dwayne Johnson

“You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your own legend, or not.“ – Isabel Allende

What am I asking you to do?

1.     Be realistic.  If you want to get an A in a class, but the best you’ve been able to do is a C-, that is a tall order.  All it means though is that what you have been doing isn’t working.  Find a different approach, more of the same likely won’t get you there.

2.     Be specific.  “I’m going to study more” is not a plan, it’s a slogan. Words are wind, plan for action.

3.     Know what’s coming up.  One of the worst things that can happen is failing a test or missing an assignment because you didn’t know when it was or when it was due.  Go through all your syllabi and make sure that you mark when everything that you have to turn in or take is.  Mark it on a calendar that you look at EVERY DAY.

4.     Don’t know where to start? Start HERE. The Academic Success Center here at UMBC, they have a whole page of resources to help you succeed.

5.     Celebrate your accomplishments. When you hit a goal no matter how small, make the time to celebrate. You’ve earned it. Then get back to work.

6.     Dedicate focused time to your work and put forth maximum effort during that focused time.

7.     Take care of YOU.  As you move, take care of your whole self in real and tangible ways.  If you need help, get help.  If you need help finding the help, just say something, there are lots of people here for you.

8.     Take care of your business.  You are here to get your degree.  Life requires balance for sure but keep the main thing the main thing.  You have persevered through all that you have been through.  Keep that same energy and get this done.  The world will be there when you get there.  Humankind needs to see the brilliance you have to offer.

Now go be GREAT!

Any views or opinions expressed in this missive are solely the author’s and do not represent that of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County or any programs, departments, or partners affiliated with UMBC. While I make every effort to ensure that the information I am sharing is accurate, I welcome any comments, suggestions, or correction of errors.