Salento, non solo sole, mare e vento

Due ricercatrici dell'Università del Salento pubblicano su Nature n. 463 di febbraio una articolo interessante. Valeria Specchia e la Prof. Maria Bozzetti mettono primo e ultimo nome su una ricerca che studia il coinvolgimento del DNA mobile (trasposoni) nell'RNA silencing, mediato da piwi-RNA nelle celule germinali (spermatociti e oociti) e regolato dalla chaperonina Hsp90.
In assenza delle funzioni di Hsp90 si manifestano molte più mutazioni geniche, causate da un aumento dell'attività trasposonica, cioè più copie di trasposoni vengonocopiate e inserite nel DNA dove creano informazione errata in geni utili.
Il lavoro è stato fatto in collaborazione con l'Istituto Pasteur, l'Università di Roma "La Sapienza" e l'Università di Bari.
A proposito di traposoni e enzimi coinvolti, il complesso della trasposasi SB100X insieme a Sleeping Beauty (la bella addormentata) è stata nominata molecola dell'anno 2009, per la sua applicazione per permettere stabili trasferimenti genici nelle cellule di vertebrati. Fonte Biotechniques e l' International Society for Molecular and Cell Biology and Biotechnology Protocols and Research (ISMCBBPR)

Non è la prima volta che la Puglia si distingue per idee valide e collaborazioni proficue. I PRIN 2010 vedono 7 proposte Pugliesi tra 1000 proposte nazionali (fonte: Il Quotidiano del Salento, lettera dell'On. Baldassarri).
a Lecce ha sede l'ISUFI, l'alta scuola interdisciplinare di formazione post-laurea con docenti di ingegneria, fisica, nanomateriali e scienze.
Con mia piacevole sopresa, ho scoperto che finanziamenti europei (2006-2009) sono andati a progetti che hanno come partner l'ISUFI.
TRACEBACK, una partenariato di 20 organizzazioni europee, conivolgenti la Tecnoalimenti, il CNR (Istituto di Chimica del Riconoscimento Molecolare) la Tecnobiochip, la Parmalat e l'Università di Parma.
Ma tant'è, nessuno parla bene dei nostri centri di ricerca, circola solo disinformazione!!!
Contract n°: CT 036300
finanziamento europeo: 9.7 milioni di euro

"...twenty-eight European organisations have joined forces to create and test a new food traceability system that would provide objective and reliable information along the entire food chain.
By amalgamating emerging and existing technologies into a single framework, the TRACEBACK project aims to create the ideal system in which to establish an
information link from a product’s raw material stage to its eventual sale.
Not only does this herald improved health and safety standards for the consumer, it signals a practical and cost-effective model for industry players. The system
will assist them to meet food regulation requirements and allow them to trace their product (and gauge its quality) along the chain of production, manufacturing,
handling, transportation and distribution.
SERVICE-ORIENTED
The goal of the project is to establish an innovative traceability system through the implementation of microdevices based on microarrays and technologies
embedded in a lab-on-a-chip. In order to ensure the product is widely accepted as a routine system by the industry, the TRACEBACK team have developed goals for the project with the pragmatic needs of stakeholders (covering the gamut of the food chain, from the producer to the retailer) in mind.
As such, a key driver is the development of an information management system compatible with existing technology – that is, without the burden of changing the technology currently operating in the field. This service-oriented infrastructure model is further supplemented by the aim to keep costs to a minimum.
Since traceability expenses normally account for between 1 and 2 percent of product costs, the project proposes to make use of inexpensive internet-based technology, and intends to continually assess the cost of the project’s results as well as consider novel ways to use this system at its greatest potential. The TRACEBACK consortium is also committed to providing an extensive training programme to support food chain stakeholders during the final implementation phase.
ROAD TESTING
Along with the TRACEBACK participants themselves, small and medium-sized food enterprises will test the research results in two representative models: feed/dairy and tomato (both dominant chains of the agrofood sector). The project partners view pilot testing as a preliminary activity of exploitation; the participants will test the model and provide feedback and, once they are aware of the results, will be further recruited for their input from organisational and innovation perspectives.
The European agro-food industry is the largest manufacturing sector in Europe, transforming over 70 percent of the European Union’s agricultural raw materials and supporting some 280 000 companies.
As such, the absence of traceability procedures can have severe consequences. The TRACEBACK system will make it possible to prevent food chain crises (such as those evidenced in recent years), and allow the consumer to make more informed choices regarding the producers of the goods on their supermarket shelves.
This, in turn, can significantly hinder the flow of inferior food and encourage quality and competitiveness.