thomasbrutnell

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A Primer on Therapeutic Options for Tinnitus

The perception of ringing or other sounds in one or both ears that does not correspond to an external noise is referred to as tinnitus. It occurs in 15 to 20 percent of the population, although older people experience it most.

Common causes of tinnitus include age-related hearing loss, ear injuries, or circulatory issues. Treating any underlying health conditions or using therapies to decrease or mask the sound can help reduce tinnitus in many cases. Possible therapeutic options for tinnitus include biofeedback, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), hypnotherapy, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Tinnitus Activities Treatment (TAT), Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT), and Progressive Tinnitus Management (PTM).

Biofeedback can help those who suffer from tinnitus by reducing stress and anxiousness. The therapy allows individuals to control involuntary body functions like heart rate, muscle tension, and body temperature by employing relaxation techniques that alter the body’s response to these triggers.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psychological intervention that can help those with tinnitus feel better by mitigating their emotional response to the symptoms they are experiencing. Research shows that emotional impact than its actual sound defines tinnitus severity.

CBT helps patients relax and divert their focus from their condition by guiding them in replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. Multiple studies have shown that CBT can provide lasting benefits for tinnitus patients by reducing the severity of the issue, improving mood, and decreasing stress over the long term. Some professionals combine CBT with biofeedback to enhance the quality of life for people with tinnitus more effectively.

In addition, hypnotherapy can benefit tinnitus patients by increasing feelings of relaxation and lowering anxiety. This therapy may influence neural connections in the brain to help reduce the stress associated with tinnitus symptoms.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a therapy that can help those with tinnitus manage their condition more effectively. MBSR teaches people with tinnitus to have a positive awareness and mindfulness of their condition. This therapy can help patients accept their condition without judging themselves negatively and cope with it more effectively.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a mindful-based strategy that can help people with tinnitus wholly embrace their experience with the condition and accept their feelings. This therapy can help people with tinnitus feel more in control of their experience with the issue.

Tinnitus Activities Treatment (TAT) helps patients manage their condition more effectively. TAT involves learning about different areas of life that tinnitus can impact, including sleep, focus, auditory processing and communication, and feelings and thoughts. During therapy, professionals employ low-level sounds to help mask the sound of tinnitus in those experiencing it.

Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) counseling with sound masking to help patients adapt to tinnitus. The counseling portion works to remove the emotional attachment to tinnitus and encourages patients to perceive it as a neutral sound. Professionals use continuous broadband sound at a low level to aid in the habituation process.

Finally, the US Veterans Administration’s National Center for Rehabilitative Audio Research created the Progressive Tinnitus Management (PTM). The therapy takes a step-by-step approach to managing tinnitus. It emphasizes teaching patients, provides therapy aimed at behavioral intervention, and, when necessary, employs sound treatment.

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Plant Genomics and Food Security

Genomics is a field of biology focusing on understanding an organism’s genome. A genome is the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) containing the full complement of genes in each cell of the plant. Genomics identifies and characterizes an organism’s genome, including functional elements and genes. When we compare genomes within a species we often refer to set of genetic variation as the pangenome.

Aspects such as extreme weather (drought, flooding, and temperature) negatively impact global food security. Extreme rainfall, for example, affects crop production, plant nutritional quality, and farming practices. Plant genomics gives valuable information that can help address challenges associated with global food security by identifying regions of the genome that contribute to increased drought or flood tolerance and excessive heat.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that as of 2024, about 868 million people worldwide face moderate to severe food insecurity, with a third of these, around 342 million, being severely food insecure. Studies also indicate that about 600 million people will experience chronic undernourishment by 2030.

Technologies in plant genomics, such as genome editing, allow scientists to change genomes precisely, improving plant varieties, especially those mostly consumed in low- and middle-income countries. Genome editing technologies enable plant breeders to create variation at specific regions of the genome or even at a single region within a gene, something that was unachievable in previous crop genome modification attempts.

Applying such technologies and other plant genomics applications to address food security has several benefits to the end consumer and farmers. These include enhanced plant nutritional content and reduced food waste since crops have a longer shelf life than non-genome-edited types.

Farmers enjoy disease, pest, and weed-resistant plant varieties, and they can access affordable seeds due to low-cost seed production. Genome editing also allows scientists to produce plant varieties that can improve climate resilience and enhance cropping systems’ biodiversity. Indeed, so profound are genome editing’s potential benefits and opportunities that researchers Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a genome editing method called CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats).

In the past, one of the ways that governments and relevant authorities used to address hunger and food security challenges resulting from population issues was by encouraging agricultural activities and enhancing crop production in marginal areas. There have been remarkable advancements in agricultural innovation and production over the last century, playing a significant role in the Green Revolution’s overall success. The Green Revolution refers to technology initiatives that helped increase crop yields in developed countries between the early 20th century and the late 1980s.

During the Green Revolution, researchers focused on improving traditional crops’ genetic traits. Such traits included enhanced grain quality, short growth duration, diverse environments’ adaptability, high yield potential, and disease, drought, flood, and pest resistance. Due to the revolution’s initiatives, despite the cultivated land increasing by only 30 percent, cereal crop production tripled. Consequently, food prices and poverty were reduced.

In various countries, scientists are using genome editing to not only improve crop yields and resistance to stresses such as pests but also to enhance crops’ nutritional content. This helps mitigate hunger by increasing crop productivity, thereby addressing nutritional deficiencies. Enabling more scientists and companies access to this technology through reduced regulatory barriers will spur broader acceptance, encourage the deployment of novel traits and lower the cost of producing new varieties in an increasing hostile growing environment.

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Sugarcane Genome Fully Mapped for the First Time

Contemporary hybrid sugarcane, the most harvested crop worldwide in terms of tonnage, fulfills 80 percent of the world's sugar production needs. This raw sugar is then converted into additional commercially valuable products including molasses, bio-based materials, and bioethanol. Until recently, sugarcane was the last major crop remaining without a reference-quality genome. Having a highly accurate, complete genome allows for whole-genome sequencing and the production of superior bioengineered variants.

Sequencing the sugarcane genome, presents some unique challenges, beginning with the ploidy of its genome. Most modern cultivars are derived from a cross between a high sugar content, octoploid S. officinarum and the ‘wild’, more disease resistant, polyploid Saccharum spontaneum. While traditional sugarcane breeding practices created a range of cultivars that flourish in diverse environments and are pathogen-resistant, sugar yield improvements have leveled off in recent years. Limiting factors included lengthy breeding cycles, lack of genetic diversity in breeding populations, and the sheer complexity of the sugarcane genome (approximately 114 chromosomes).

In March 2024, an international group of scientists announced a breakthrough by combining various techniques in mapping sugarcane's genetic code. Published in Nature, the research was undertaken under the United States Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (JGI). It included critical work performed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California and the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Alabama. International partners included several Australian, French, and Czech agencies and academic institutions, including the University of Queensland's ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture. Together, they focused on mapping R570, a sugarcane hybrid cultivar that scientists have employed for many years in researching sugarcane genetics.

Sugarcane's genome is complex due to its large size and a feature known as polyploidy, or the presence of many copies of chromosomes. The human genome has around three billion base pairs of DNA. By contrast, sugarcane contains 10 billion base pairs. Compounding the issue, many sections of the sugarcane DNA are identical, both internally and across various chromosomes. This creates obstacles when seeking to reassemble tiny DNA segments and reconstruct the genetic blueprint. Among the next-generation genetic sequencing techniques employed in piecing together this complex genetic code was PacBio HiFi, a sequencing approach that enables longer DNA section sequences to be accurately mapped.

With a complete reference genome, scientists can compare sugarcane's genes and transcription pathways with other extensively studied crops, from the biofuel feedstocks miscanthus and switchgrass to sorghum. Understanding sugarcane alongside other crops provides valuable insight into how each unique gene impacts traits of interest. A particular focus is understanding which genes are highly expressed during sugar production. Another emphasis is on identifying those genes that boost disease resistance. An example from a recent study involved singling out a location in the genome that contains all the genes that infer resistance to the commercially destructive fungal pathogen brown rust.

Having a complete genetic picture of R570 will make it much easier for researchers to identify those genes that control various traits and, in the process, improve yields. Not only will this increase the amount of sugar harvested from a limited land area, but it will also maximize other uses, such as employing bagasse, or residues remaining after sugarcane pressing, as a feedstock for bioproducts and biofuels. The genome has been made available to the public via Phytozome, the plant portal of the federally funded Joint Genome Institute.

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Importance of Proper Nutrition in Your Workout Routine

Thomas Brutnell obtained his Ph.D. in biology from Yale University. Thomas Brutnell is also the Chief Scientific Officer at McClintock, LLC. Tom Brutnell's hobbies include running, cooking, traveling, and working out.

Attaining peak physical condition demands more than simply engaging in routine workouts and training sessions. Your fitness objectives greatly rely on nutrition, rest and consistency. Thus when deciding on a time to exercise, be mindful of your schedule and don’t build in conflicts to your scheduling. If you find yourself asking the question “Do I finish this report or do I go to the gym?”, chances are the gym will lose. However, if you are a night owl and a morning run means waking up without sufficient rest, then its another losing proposition. A recent study suggests that afternoon exercise actually does a better job at reducing blood sugar levels, but if you find yourself skipping the gym in the afternoon more often than not, then maybe a morning routine is better. It usually takes about two to three weeks for your body to adjust from a switch from afternoon to morning routines, so stick to it, the first few early wakeups are the hardest!

Proper nutrition is essential to help build muscle and repair tissues damaged by exercise. However, don’t fall for the trap that you need an energy bar or a sugary energy drink to get you through your routine. Chances are you are consuming plenty of salts and sugar already in your daily eating habits, so don’t worry about taking in more. After all, the less sugar in your blood, the more likely your body will start burning fat instead of carbohydrate. Instead, eat a healthy snack after the work out such as an apple, banana or orange to give you a good dose of fiber with some vitamins and they’re cheap! Exercise without proper diet is a losing proposition.

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Importance of Genomic Medicine

Thomas “Tom” Brutnell is the Chief Scientific Officer at McClintock LLC. As Chief Scientific Officer, he oversees the R&D pipeline development and works with clients on structuring collaborations to deliver best-in-class AI breeding services and support. The chief operating officer of Gateway Biotechnology, Thomas Brutnell, oversees project management, product development, and pharmacogenomics programs.

Pharmacogenomics is a scientific discipline that studies how an individual’s genes affect their response to certain drugs. It combines pharmacology, the study of drugs, with genomics or genomic medicine, a field that tailors healthcare to an individual’s unique genetic make-up.

Genomic medicine takes into recognition the unique genetic variation of an individual. It has successfully shifted the scope of medicine from non-targeted treatments to targeted therapies. Perhaps one of the best examples is in the development of CAR-T therapies for the treatment of cancers. Here a patient’s own white blood cells are used to develop a T cell that will seek out the cancerous cells in the blood and destroy them.

Initially, healthcare professionals were unaware of the genetic and environmental factors that cause diseases, so they were baffled by the fact that drugs that worked successfully for some patients had adverse effects on other patients. Genomic medicine helps healthcare professionals determine how individuals react to specific drugs so they can conduct better diagnoses and administer safer prescriptions.

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How Gene Editing Combats Food Shortages

Thomas “Tom” Brutnell is the Chief Scientific Officer of McClintock LLC, a start up focused on driving crop improvement through AI breeding. He is also Chief Operating Officer at Gateway Biotechnology. As chief operating officer, Thomas Brutnell oversees operations and business development activities.

The World Food Programme noted that in just two years from the number of people facing or at risk for acute food shortages jumped from 135 million to about 345 million in 2023. Climate change poses a significant risk to food security as it increases the likelihood of droughts, floods and plant diseases.

However, to combat the immense pressures on the global food supply, agricultural scientists have a new tool in their toolbelt. Gene editing is a process to precisely engineer the genome and can be used to protect crops from a range of diseases.

Unlike traditional breeding practices that rely strictly on genetic variation present in a select set of breeding materials, gene editing opensup new possibilities for protecting a plant using its own DNA. The key is that the enzymes that modify the genome are guided precisely to the target regions. Plant breeders can then pick it up from there and ensure that the newly edited gene enhances the trait that is targeted. No foreign DNA generally means it is not considered a GMO, resulting in a lower cost to bring the new variety to market.

While gene editing can not single-handedly solve the problem of world hunger, crop varieties created through gene editing can be less prone to diseases and significantly improve yields while reducing the need for chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers with harmful environmental effects.

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What Are Climate-Smart Crops?

A dynamic agricultural biotechnology expert and founder of Viridis Genomics Consulting, Thomas "Tom" Brutnell consults for the academic and industrial agricultural biotechnology communities. He concurrently serves as Chief Operating Officer at Gateway Biotechnology, overseeing operations and business development activities. Thomas Brutnell's extensive research portfolio includes over 100 papers on plant genetics and genomics, some on cutting-edge topics such as gene diversification and climate-smart crops.

Climate-smart crops are crops with traits that enable resilience, extreme adaption, and improved crop yield even in diverse climatic conditions. Scientists typically modify the genetic information of these crops to produce genes that enable sustainability and productivity. For example, a climate-smart crop may possess genes for more efficient water usage, flexible photosynthesis, and waste reduction. As a result, such crops may grow and produce quality yields even in drought and areas with unpredictable weather patterns and defend themselves against insect pests without pesticides.

The two major reasons for climate-smart crop research efforts are the increasing demand for food and energy and intensifying global warming hazards and other environmental threats. Besides food sustainability, climate-smart crops can help reduce the agricultural carbon footprint and improve farm soil quality. Researchers have edited the genes of model grass species, such as Setaria viridis and Brachypodium distachyon, to understand complex gene networks in grasses as a foundation for engineering grass crop plants like maize, wheat, rice and sorghum to produce climate-smart crops.

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Gateway Biotechnology Is Testing Therapies for Hearing Problems

The recipient of a PhD in biology from Yale University, Thomas "Tom" Brutnell is an experienced agricultural biotechnology and plant genomics professional who brings over 25 years of experience to the academic and industrial agricultural biotechnology communities. He is the founder of Viridis Genomics Consulting. In addition, Thomas Brutnell also serves as vice president at Gateway Biotechnology in St. Louis, Missouri.

Gateway Biotechnology is reformulating innovative molecular therapies to treat noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus. Its innovative therapy to prevent and treat noise-induced hearing loss is currently being tested in a phase IIb clinical trial as of 2023. Noise-induced hearing loss is characterized by a drastic loss of the ability to perceive sounds due to damage to the hearing system from dangerously loud noise.

The company is also developing both a small molecule and a gene-therapy to treat tinnitus. Tinnitus is a hearing problem characterized by the continuous perception of a sound, such as a ringing or buzzing sound, even when there is no actual stimulus producing such a sound in one's environment. By honing in on specific subtypes of tinnitus, the company is developing tailored-made tinnitus therapies.

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The Importance of Genetic Engineering in Agriculture

A Chesterfield, Missouri native, Thomas “Tom” Brutnell holds a PhD in biology from Yale University and has over 25 years of experience in biotechnological fields. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Gateway Biotechnology in St. Louis. As a biotechnology expert, Thomas Brutnell does research in the areas of pharmacogenomics, synthetic biology, C4 photosynthesis, and genome engineering.

Genome engineering, or gene editing, refers to altering the DNA in аn organism's genome (a complete set of genetic instructions) by cutting, changing, or adding to its sequence to modify characteristics or to treаt genetic disorders. One precise way to engineer the genome is through the use of CRISPR/Cas9. This genome editing system utilizes a bacterial defense mechanism to precisely cut and manipulate targeted DNA sequences.

Genetic editing has found new and pressing relevance in the realm of agriculture, as it offers an enticing potential to uplift crop yield and quality, thereby enabling food security. Through genetic engineering, scientists can modify the genes of plants to make them resistant to harsh climatic conditions and diseases, allowing for more efficient and sustainable crop production.

Additionally, genetic engineering enables scientists to increase the nutritional and medicinal value of food products that contribute to good human health. This capacity to manipulate genetic material can also be invaluable in addressing pressing global concerns, such as climate change.

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Understanding Climate-Smart Agriculture

Chesterfield, Missouri native Thomas “Tom” Brutnell is a biotechnology expert with more than 25 years of experience in molecular biology and genetics. As the Chief Operating Officer of Gateway Biotechnology in St. Louis, Thomas Brutnell oversees project management, product development, and scientific research. He has also co-authored many publications on agricultural biotechnology.

Agricultural biotechnology uses various techniques to modify living organisms to improve agricultural production or develop specific products to help countries meet the increasing food demand. However, meeting the increasing food demand presents a climate problem, as the World Bank estimates that it causes 19-20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

By promoting climate-smart agriculture, entities such as the United States Department of Agriculture advocate for environmentally sound farming techniques to diminish greenhouse gas emissions. Besides curbing emissions, climate-smart agriculture seeks to heighten resilience against climate-induced perils, such as drought and erratic weather patterns, to improve nutrition security and boost income.

Climate-smart crops are improved varieties of cereal and legume crops that combat challenges typical in dry regions. These crops are designed to withstand low and erratic rainfall, stress factors like diseases, pests, drought, and extreme temperatures, and offer greater and more stable yields. They also have improved nutritional value and quality.

One study, "Climate-smart Crops with Enhanced Photosynthesis," showcases a technique in agriculture that aims to increase crop productivity while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The technique aims to achieve this by engineering pathways for flexible carbon metabolism, where plants can switch between C3 and C4 photosynthesis (the two modes of converting carbon dioxide into sugar and other organic molecules) based on environmental conditions, and by increasing the plant's ability to store carbon in the soil.

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A researcher from Chesterfield, Missouri, Thomas (Tom) Brutnell, PhD, has spent 25 years as a principal investigator studying genomes, genetics, and molecular biology. Dr Thomas Brutnell, the founder of Viridis Genomics Consulting, LLC, has interests in Chinese medicinal plants, plant tissue culture and transformation, and synthetic biology.

A January 2023 article in the business publication, BigThink, reported that the market for synthetic biology is poised for growth. The current global synthetic biology market was valued at $10.11 billion in 2021, with a possible growth of $32.73 billion in 2028. Further, this is based on a compounded annual growth rate of 27.1 percent between 2022 and 2028.

Synthetic biology involves redesigning or reconstructing biological entities to advance processes. The technology has been around since the early 1980s when it revolutionized insulin production by inserting a human gene into a bacterium. In essence, the technology engineers microbes as a part of biomanufacturing using enzymes, chemicals, and other bio-based materials.

Two companies are leading the way in using synthetic biology. Bayer partner, Gingko BioWorks, uses the technology to help other innovators manufacture plastic munching microbes and improve beauty products. Inscripta uses its CRISPR genome editing technology to produce chemical and bio-based products. This company’s genome technology has gone beyond simply reading DNA to writing it to accelerate biomanufacturing.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Plant Genome Engineering

Thomas “Tom” Brutnell studied at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, graduating with a doctorate of philosophy in biology in 1995. In August 2018, Thomas Brutnell has founded Viridis Genomics Consulting in Chesterfield, Missouri. He advises industry and academic scientists on strategies to advance plant breeding objectives, including genome editing technologies.

Plant genome engineering is a rapidly evolving field that uses various tools, such as CRISPR-Cas9, TALENs, and zinc finger nucleases, to engineer genomes. These tools alter DNA sequences to achieve distinct effects. The introduction of these changes includes removing, adding, or substituting components at specified locations in the DNA strand. This technique has many applications in the biotechnology and agricultural sciences, such as plant breeding and improving crop yields.

CRISPR-Cas9 is one of the most widely used techniques for plant genome engineering. It uses a guide RNA molecule that binds to a specific region on the DNA sequence. Upon binding, the Cas9 enzyme will cut both DNA strands at this location, producing double-stranded breaks (DSBs). Several cellular processes, such as non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homology-directed repair (HDR), can fix these double-strand breaks. In NHEJ repairs, random insertions or deletions occur, resulting in small mutations called indels. Meanwhile, the HDR mechanism allows adding specific sequences to the genome.

TALEN technology (transcription activator-like effector nucleases) is also an effective tool. Like the CRISPR-Cas9 system, it produces DSBs in targeted regions. The difference is that it utilizes enzymes known as TALEs instead of Cas proteins. Restriction enzymes are also used for gene editing applications. They precisely cut specific targets within genes or operons, making them ideal candidates for targeted gene editing or deletion purposes.

In conclusion, genome engineering has revolutionized how we look at genetic modification processes within plants, allowing scientists to effectively modify target areas without harmfully affecting other segments of its genetics. With these tools, scientists have been able to modify plants with greater precision, providing further insights for understanding the complex biological processes underlying plants' growth patterns. This has revolutionized crop yield and protective measures for crops from climate change reactions.

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How DNA Genomes Evolved from an RNA Basis

Thomas “Tom” Brutnell leads Viridis Genomics Consulting and provides a range of solutions in the biotech sphere. Thomas Brutnell also focuses on plant genomics and genetics.

As explored in a Frontline Genomics article, the evolution of genomes and species is a foundational focus of biology. This began with biochemical evolution within a planet covered in water and rich in methane-ammonia gas. Within this ancient chemosphere, oxygen levels were extremely low, and biochemical systems emerged based on self-replicating RNA polynucleotides.

These RNA molecules could perform functions such as ribonucleotide synthesis and RNA molecule copying, which are biologically relevant. Replicating slowly, these simple molecules may have developed more advanced catalytic properties through natural selection.

DNA ultimately replaced these ribozyme catalytic activities through the development of protein enzymes. This forced RNA protogenomes to abandon their previous role as enzymes and transition to providing a coding, or organizing, function to the DNA, which was more stable.

These early DNA genomes were arranged in separate molecules, each of which specified one single protein. These genes are linked together, forming the first chromosomes and improving gene distribution when cells divide.

As shown in the fossil record, 3.5 billion years ago, a significant leap occurred, with biochemical systems evolving to form cells similar to today’s bacteria. It was not until 1.4 billion years ago that the first eukaryotic cells came about. About 0.9 billion years ago, multicellular algae appeared, while the first multicellular animals arrived 640 million years ago.

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An Evolutionary Trait Protecting Plants in Hot and Dry Environments

A resident of Chesterfield, Missouri, Thomas “Tom” Brutnell, Ph.D. is a molecular plant biologist with 25 years of experience in the field. Among his professional interests, Thomas Brutnell studies C4 photosynthetic plants.

C4 photosynthetic plants have utilize a two step process to perform photosynthesis. They first fix carbon into a C4 acid, using an enzyme that is insensitive to oxygen which allows them to engage in photosynthesis in hot and dry environments when plants are forced to close their stomates and internal oxygen levels increase. They then move the C4 acid in close proximity to Rubisco, an oxygen-sensitive enzyme that is used to turn CO2 into sugars in all plants. Most plants do not have this carbon concentration mechanism and directly fix CO2 into three carbon molecules (C3 photosynthesis) losing a significant portion of their carbon to photorespiration. This three-carbon form was the first to evolve, over 3 billion years ago when global CO2 concentrations were much higher than they are today. Researchers believe that C4 plants rapidly expanded during a period of relatively low CO2 conditions on Earth. About 30 million years ago, levels of CO2 decreased significantly allowing C4 grasses to rapidly expand their range as they outperform C3 plants under hot, dry conditions in a low CO2 environment.

Plants such as corn, sugarcane, and sorghum are some of the best known C4 grasses used for food. But many other orphan crops including the millets are also C4 grasses and thus are ideal crops under hot dry conditions.

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Thomas “Tom” Brutnell is an industry leader in the field of agricultural biotechnology and the president of Viridis Genomics Consulting. His professional focus centers around genome (genetic) engineering, a discipline that began in the early 1980s when a research team led by Bob Fraley successfully utilized Agrobacterium tumefaciens to manipulate plant cells with the help of recombinant DNA. This led to the development of an array of genetically engineered crops, including corn and soybeans.

Genome engineering is different from traditional plant genetics, as it involves extracting DNA from one organism and introducing it into another, resulting in an organism which has specific desired traits. In order for this process to be successful, genes must first be located, cloned and characterized in order to determine their expression, and then transformed into a crop plant’s cells. Brutnell is well-versed in this cutting-edge technology and continues to provide innovative solutions for crop improvement.

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Plant Pathways to Obtain Nitrogen and Fuel Growth

As President of Viridis Genomics Consulting, Thomas “Tom” Brutnell maintains a robust presence in the agricultural biotech sphere. Thomas Brutnell advises a consortium that aims to boost rice productivity, both in terms of greater production per acre and fewer nitrogen and water inputs.

One fundamental process in plant growth is nitrogen fixation, which reflects the fact that plants need nitrogen for nearly every reaction and structure within their cells. Protein and enzyme production are nitrogen dependent, as is photosynthesis. A lack of nitrogen can greatly limit plant growth and thus plants have evolved diverse ways of squeezing the maximum nitrogen out of the atmosphere.

As an extreme example, the Venus flytrap extracts nitrogen from insects it captures, while pitcher plants may seek to attract roosting bats, in order to benefit from the nitrogen-rich guano they produce.

While nitrogen is limited in soils, it makes up 78 percent of the earth’s atmosphere. Unfortunately, plants cannot directly absorb nitrogen from the air. A number of bacteria species have mastered nitrogen fixation, and a chance symbiosis between these microbes and plants led to the evolution of the bean family and its 18,000 species.

The roots of many bean plants have specialized nodules, which promote bacterial growth, as the plant pumps sugars into the nodules to feed the bacteria. The nitrogen expelled by bacteria as waste from the sugar they consume is used by the bean plants to fuel growth.

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The Basics of Plant-Based Vaccines

The founder of Viridis Genomics Consulting and the chief operating officer of Gateway Biotechnology, Thomas “Tom” Brutnell is a leader in the business of applied biological science. One of Thomas Brutnell’s current areas of interest is the use of plants to produce vaccines.

Historically produced in animal cells or eggs, vaccines have proven to be indispensable in humankind’s ongoing battle against disease-causing viruses. In recent decades, scientists have successfully produced vaccine antigens by using plants.

According to the World Health Organization, there are many benefits to creating vaccines from plants. Scientists can use transient expression systems in plants like tobacco to produce large quantities of vaccine candidates in very little time and with better safety profiles than traditional vaccine production methods.

To date, only a few plant-based vaccines been assessed in clinical trials but many are in development. This reflects the lingering technical challenges that continue to hamper the widescale production and regulatory approval of these vaccines. However, a plant-expressed antigen for a COVID-19 vaccine has recently received regulatory approval in Canada and could help usher in a new wave of plant-based vaccine candidates.