In this issue: Biotechnology Journal 1/2010

Abstract Insect culture based swine flu vaccine Krammer et al., Biotechnol. J. 2009, 5, 17–23 In June 2009 the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised the pandemic level for swine‐origin H1N1 influenza A virus to phase 6. Classical egg‐derived influenza vaccines may not be produced in time and quantity needed to fight a pandemic. Alternatively, cell culture‐based production systems and viruslike particle‐based technologies have been established. Grabherr and coworkers from Vienna, Austria, present the production of virus‐like particles from swine‐origin pandemic H1N1 influenza consisting of hemagglutinin and matrix protein. These were co‐expressed in insect cells by the baculovirus expression system. Immunisation of BALB/c mice with these virus‐like particles induced high serum antibody titers against hemagglutinin that were also capable of inhibiting hemagglutination. HIV host cell RNAi screening platform Börner et al., Biotechnol. J. 2009, 5, 39–49 RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as a powerful technique for studying loss‐of‐function phenotypes by specific down‐regulation of gene expression. Recently, large‐scale high‐throughput RNAi screens have been introduced to study thousands of genes in parallel. Researchers from Heidelberg, Germany, present a robust and sensitive RNAi screening platform to investigate host gene functions exploited by viruses. Suppression and enhancement of viral replication is monitored simultaneously by fluorescence microscopy. The screening platform includes the experimental setup generating single‐cell images, followed by statistical analysis and bioinformatics to identify genes in their metabolic context. The system has been used here to investigate host factor usage by HIV, but can also be adapted to other viruses. DNA microarrays for obesity genes Kim and Park , Biotechnol. J. 2009, 5, 99–112 The World Health Organization (WHO) refers to obesity as “one of today's most obvious public‐health problems” especially because its association with a wide range of chronic diseases such diabetes, atherosclerosis, hypertension and even some types of cancer. Here Yunjung Kim and Taesun Park from Seoul, Korea, review recent studies that identify obesity‐specific gene profiles in animal models to understand the pathogenic mechanisms of obesity. Examples are the overexpression of genes related to inflammation, immune response, adhesion molecules, and lipid metabolism as a major characteristic of white adipose tissue. In contrast, while the overexpression of genes related to lipid metabolism, adipocyte differentiation, defense, and stress responses can be observed in fatty livers of obese rodents. The variety of genes identified in the studies reviewed here is a source of potential therapeutic targets to fight obesity.