Co-production of biohydrogen and biomethane utilizing halophytic biomass Atriplexcrassifolia by two-stage anaerobic fermentation process.

The excessive use of fossil has resulted in the drastic exhaustion of natural energy sources, leading to environmental challenges and energy crises. Owing to rising energy demand there is a dire need to shift towards renewable energies from lignocellulosic biomass. The present study assessed the co-production of biohydrogen (H2) and biomethane (CH4) by utilizing a less explored halophyte Atriplexcrassifolia. Various reaction parameters were evaluated for their effect on biohydrogen and biomethane production in batch experiments. One parameter at a time experimental strategy was chosen for production optimization. Hydrogen and methane yields along with their production rates were assessed at different incubation times, temperatures, pH, substrate concentrations, and inoculum sizes in acidogenesis and methanogenesis stages, respectively. In the first stage, maximum cumulative hydrogen production of 66 ± 0.02 mL, with hydrogen yield of 13.2 ± 0.03 mL/g, and hydrogen production rate (HPR) of 1.37 ± 0.05 mL/h was attained when the reaction mixture (5 g Atriplexcrassifolia and 10 mL pretreated sewage sludge) was processed at 37°C and pH 5.5 after 48 h of incubation. While in the second stage, maximum cumulative methane production, i.e., 343 ± 0.12 mL, methane yield (MY) of 8.5 ± 0.07 mL/mL, and methane production rate (MPR) of 0.8 ± 0.05 mL/h was achieved after 18 days of incubation of reaction mixture (40 mL of hydrogenic slurry with 80 mL inoculum) at 45°C and pH 8. Furthermore, a 51% and 24% rise in biohydrogen and biomethane production respectively were recorded when the gases were produced at these optimized reaction conditions. The results ensure halophyte Atriplexcrassifolia as an imperative renewable energy resource and proposed that effective optimization of the process further increased the coproduction of biohydrogen and biomethane.

An Insight into Modern Targeted Genome-Editing Technologies with a Special Focus on CRISPR/Cas9 and its Applications.

Genome-editing technology has enabled scientists to make changes in model organisms' DNA at the genomic level to get biotechnologically important products from them. Most commonly employed technologies for this purpose are transcription activator like effector nucleases (TALENs), homing-endonucleases or meganucleases, zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) associated protein 9 (Cas9). Among these tools, CRISPR/Cas9 is most preferred because it's easy to use, has a small mutation rate, has great effectiveness, low cost of development, and decreased rate of advancement. CRISPR/Cas9 has a lot of applications in plants, animals, humans, and microbes. It also has applications in many fields such as horticulture, cancer, food biotechnology, and targeted human genome treatments. CRISPR technology has shown great potential for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic to provide early and easy detection methods, possible treatment, and vaccine development. In the present review, genome-editing tools with their basic assembly and features have been discussed. Exceptional notice has been paid to CRISPR technology on basis of its structure and significant applications in humans, plants, animals, and microbes such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The review has also shed a little light on current CRISPR challenges and future perspectives.

Correction: Javed et al. The Potential Impact of Smog Spell on Humans' Health Amid COVID-19 Rages. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 11408.

There was an error in the original publication [...].

The Potential Impact of Smog Spell on Humans' Health Amid COVID-19 Rages.

Rapid and unchecked industrialization and the combustion of fossil fuels have engendered a state of fear in urban settlements. Smog is a visible form of air pollution that arises due to the over-emissions of some primary pollutants like volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hydrocarbons, SO2, NO, and NO2 which further react in the atmosphere and give rise to toxic and carcinogenic secondary smog components. Smog reduces the visibility on roads and results in road accidents and cancellation of flights. Uptake of primary and secondary pollutants of smog is responsible for several deleterious diseases of which respiratory disorders, cardiovascular dysfunction, neurological disorders, and cancer are discussed here. Children and pregnant women are more prone to the hazards of smog. The worsening menace of smog on one hand and occurrence of pandemic i.e., COVID-19 on the other may increase the mortality rate. But the implementation of lockdown during pandemics has favored the atmosphere in some ways, which will be highlighted in the article. On the whole, the focus of this article will be on the dubious relationship between smog and coronavirus.