Synchronized Electromechanical Shock Wave-Induced Bacterial Transformation

Can the molecular and transgenic breeding of crops be an alternative and sustainable technology to meet food demand?

The gradual increase in the worldwide population represents various challenges, and one of the most alarming being the food demand. Historically technological advances led to the development of crops that meets the requirements and demands. Currently, molecular breeding unlocks the genetic potential of crops for their improvement, positioning it as a key technology for the development of new crops. The implementation of OMICs sciences, such spatial and single cell transcriptomics is providing a large and precise information, which can be exploited for crop improvement related to increasing yield, improving the nutritional value; designing new strategies for diseases resistance and management and for conserving biodiversity. Furthermore, the use of new technologies such CRISPR/CAS9 brought us the ability to modify the selected regions of the genome to select the superior's genotypes at a short time and the use of artificial intelligence aid in the analysis of big data generated by OMICS sciences. On the other hand, the application of molecular improvement technologies open up discussion on global regulatory measures, the socio-economic and socio-ethics, as the frameworks on its global regulation and its impact on the society create the public perception on its acceptance. In this review, the use and impact of OMICs sciences and genetic engineering in crops development, the regulatory measures, the socio-economic impact and as well as the mediatic information on genetically modified crops worldwide is discussed along with comprehensive insights on the potential of molecular plant breeding as an alternative and sustainable technology to meet global food demand.

Molecular Combustion Properties of Nanoscale Aluminum and Its Energetic Composites: A Short Review

Remarkable progress has been established in the field of nanoenergetic materials (mixture of nanoscale fuel and oxidizer) since the advent of nanotechnology. Combustion of nanoenergetic materials depends on many key factors like synthesis route, equivalence ratio, morphology of constituents, and arrangements and handling of materials. For tailoring and tuning of the combustion properties of nanoenergetics, sound knowledge of the reaction mechanism is needed; in this review article a schematic study on the reaction mechanism is presented. By employing various routes and strategies in synthesizing and nanoengineering of the fuel or/and oxidizer to realize a significant evolution from normal physical mixing of nanopowders to the formulation of core/shell nanostructures, the nanoenergetic materials achieved the best ever combustion properties in terms of combustion reactivity, ignition sensitivity, energy density, etc. Overall, in this article, a critical state-of-the-art review of the existing literatures has been conducted to feature the main developments in the molecular combustion modeling of melting, oxidation, and core-shell reaction/diffusion of nanoaluminum and the molecular modeling of combustion reactivity and ignition sensitivity of nanoenergetic materials.