In a world that seems to be drowning in plastic bottles, recycling this waste into useful materials would help to reduce its environmental impact. KAUST researchers have now invented a way to turn plastic bottles into porous membranes that could be used as molecular filters in the chemical industry.

Roughly 40 percent of the chemical industry’s energy used goes into separating and purifying chemicals in heat-intensive processes, such as distillation and crystallization. Using porous membranes to separate molecules from liquids could dramatically reduce that energy consumption. But most conventional membranes are not robust enough to withstand the sort of solvents used in industry, and alternative ceramic membranes tend to be very expensive.

Click here to read the full story

Image: Bruno Pulido tests the efficiency of the team's synthetic membrane.
© 2019 KAUST

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

New research to boost global date fruit production

Today on World Food Day, a team of Plant Scientists from King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) has begun a major project to improve global date palm production and protection.

Share this

This project is the first time that the date palm genome has been studied so comprehensively. Dr. Ikram Blilou, Associate Professor of Plant Science at King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) and her research team in Saudi Arabia have collected samples from date palms by the Quba mosque in Madinah, some of the most ancient date palms in the world.

"The date palm is one of the few fruit trees that, remarkably, can grow in the desert, a habitat with an arid climate where extreme temperature changes and drought conditions limit plant growth.

"Within KAUST's Center for Desert Agriculture Research we are studying date palms using advanced genome sequencing techniques and have begun to develop new breeding strategies to help palms grow faster and healthier as well as making them more resistant to pathogens and pests like the red palm weevil," says Dr. Blilou.

Click here to read the full story

Image: Dr. Ikram Blilou, Professor of Plant Science at King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) with members of her research team collect date palm samples from the historical farm Al Dabeta by the Quba mosque in Madinah, the oldest mosque in the world.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Perfect conditions for precision nanostructures

Protein-folded DNA nanostructures offer a new building material for biotechnology.

Share this

By using proteins that naturally bind and arrange DNA inside cells, a KAUST-led team has devised a plug-and-play strategy for building stable, custom-designed nanostructures.

The versatile yet straightforward method for designing hybrid DNA-protein assemblages now provides engineers with a nanoscale platform for solving problems in science. “The DNA-protein nanotechnology has potential applications in many fields, including medicine, biotechnology and analytical chemistry,” says KAUST’s Professor Satoshi Habuchi, who led the study.

Click here to read the full story

Image: This air-plasma (the violet-blue glow) facility was used to treat the sample grids used in electron microscopy.
© 2019 KAUST

Sunday, October 06, 2019

A symbiotic boost for greenhouse tomato plants

The colonization of tomato plants with a beneficial desert root fungus protects against effects of salt stress.

Share this

Use of saline water to irrigate crops would bolster food security for many arid countries; however, this has not been possible due to the detrimental effects of salt on plants. Now, researchers at KAUST, along with scientists in Egypt, have shown that saline irrigation of tomato is possible with the help of a beneficial desert root fungus. This represents a new key technology for countries lacking water resources.

“Salt in irrigation water is one of the most significant abiotic stresses in arid and semiarid farming,” says former KAUST postdoc Mohamed Abdelaziz, who worked on the project team alongside Heribert Hirt. “Improving plant salt tolerance and increasing the yield and quality of crops is vital, but we must achieve this in a sustainable, inexpensive way.”

Click here to read the full story

Image: Mohamed Abdelaziz (left) and Heribert Hirt aim to improve the salt tolerance of crop plants to enable the use of saline water for irrigation.
© 2019 KAUST

Wednesday, October 02, 2019

Two BESE startup teams won the Taqadam 2019 prize

Share this

On September 26 on the University's campus, 28 startups pitched their ideas to a panel of judges and investors to compete for over 2 million SAR in prize money at the finals of the TAQADAM Startup Accelerator Program. 

The program—which is now in its third year—was developed in partnership with KAUST and the Saudi British Bank (SABB) to equip new entrepreneurs with the skills and know-how to launch a technology startup. Since beginning in 2016, the TAQADAM Accelerator has successfully graduated 78 startups and awarded over 9 million SAR in funding.

In line with Saudi Arabia's objectives of supporting new ventures, the TAQADAM Accelerator Program focuses on preparing new entrepreneurs for the challenges ahead, offering over six months of business training and mentorship in various industries, including e-commerce, healthcare and technology, in addition to FinTech, gaming and engineering and science.

Two BESE startup teams were amongst the TAQADAM Accelerator Program winners and each received 375,000 SAR ($100,000):
* Peregrine Genomics: Providing accurate premarital genetic diagnoses in half the time and cost.
* GlucoJet: Non-invasive and pain free glucose testing for diabetes patients.

Click here to read the full story

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Giant clams trap marine plastics

Microplastics in the water column are ingested by clams and become attached to their shells.

Share this

Giant clams take up a large fraction of marine microplastics, which could help explain the mystery of the plastic that is "missing" from the Red Sea.

Researchers at the Red Sea Research Center have shown previously that the Red Sea has relatively low amounts of floating plastic debris in its surface waters, yet the reason for this has remained elusive. Now, they have assessed the role of giant clams as a potential sink for marine plastics, with some surprising results.

Twenty-four giant clams collected from the Red Sea were put into aquariums with plastic beads from 53 to 500 micrometers in size—the size range reported as missing from the Red Sea in a 2017 survey. By measuring the change in microplastic concentration after 12 days and counting the beads in the clams’ digestive system and on their shells, they assessed how much plastic the clams captured.

Click here to read the full story

Image: Silvia Arossa presents a giant clam similar to those used in the team's investigation.
© 2019 KAUST

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Quantum destabilization of a water sandwich

When a thin layer of water is squeezed between two hydrophobic surfaces, the laws of classical physics break down.

Share this

From raindrops rolling off the waxy surface of a waterlily leaf, to the efficiency of desalination membranes, interactions between water molecules and water-repellent "hydrophobic" surfaces are all around us. The interplay becomes even more intriguing when a thin water layer becomes sandwiched between two hydrophobic surfaces, KAUST researchers have shown.

In the early 1980s, researchers first noted an unexpected effect when two hydrophobic surfaces were slowly brought together in water. “At some point, the two surfaces would suddenly jump into contact—like two magnets being brought together,” says Himanshu Mishra from KAUST's Water Desalination and Reuse Center. Mishra’s lab investigates water at all length scales, from reducing water consumption in agriculture, to the properties of individual water molecules.

Researchers were unable to explain the phenomenon at the molecular level, so in 2016, Mishra organized a KAUST conference on the subject. “We brought together leaders in the field—experimentalists and theorists—leading to intense debates on the understanding of hydrophobic surface forces,” he says.

Click here to read the full story

Image: Measuring forces between hydrophobic surfaces at molecular resolution pin-points the contribution of the quantum nature of water's hydrogen atoms to the hydrophobic interaction.
2019 KAUST; Xavier Pita

Monday, September 09, 2019

The movers and shakers of wastewater treatment

The dynamics behind microbial communities in granular-based wastewater treatment systems.

Share this

The microbial communities in a new type of wastewater treatment system are shaped mostly by local factors, according to new research from Pascal Saikaly’s lab at KAUST. Understanding the microbial ecology of these systems will offer clues to help engineers improve them, a pressing need in the face of urbanization and population growth.

Researchers at the Water Desalination and Reuse Center and their international collaborators used mass balance calculations and gene sequencing to study the microbial communities in an aerobic granular sludge (AGS) system in the Netherlands. Their more efficient treatment means AGS systems, in which bacteria are mostly suspended rather than clumped, are gradually replacing conventional activated sludge systems, but “So far nobody has investigated the microbial ecology of these next-generation wastewater treatment systems,” says Muhammad Ali, the study’s lead author.

Click here to read the full story

Image: This microbial granular system converts wastewater for urban re-use, such as urban agriculture and landscaping.
2019 KAUST; Xavier Pita

Thursday, September 05, 2019

Date palms picky about bacterial partners

Cultivated date palms have co-evolved with desert bacteria for so long that their roots attract the microbes that provide the best chance for a long and healthy life.

Share this

Bacterial DNA sequencing analyses show date palms that are cultivated over a vast stretch of the Tunisian Sahara Desert consistently attract two types of growth-promoting bacteria to their roots, regardless of the location. This finding could help with improving crop cultivation in a warming climate.

Many factors influence which growth-promoting bacteria associate with plant roots, including plant species, plant community diversity, agricultural practices applied and soil type. Research conducted on natural ecosystems shows that different types of wild plants attract different growth-promoting bacteria depending on their needs. Studies on conventional agricultural ecosystems have shown plant-root-bacteria associations vary according to the type of soil and the agricultural practices applied. Another KAUST study recently found that the roots of speargrass growing in the Tunisian desert aren’t picky at all: they attract whatever growth-promoting bacteria they can find in the surrounding resource-poor sand.

Click here to read the full story

Image: KAUST scientists wanted to know the factors that determine which bacteria associated with the roots of cultivated date palm trees.
© 2019 Ramona Marasco

Latest Events VIEW MORE

02DecBESE SeminarBioscience Graduate Seminar: An iPS-Based Approach to Study the Transcriptional and Epigenetic Consequences of X-Chromosome AneuploidiesMaryam T. Al Owaysi

BESE Seminar

Bioscience Graduate Seminar: An iPS-Based Approach to Study the Transcriptional and Epigenetic Consequences of X-Chromosome Aneuploidies

Maryam T. Al Owaysi

02Dec

DATE: Monday, December 02, 2019

TIME: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM

LOCATION:Building 2 - Level 5 - Room 5220

2019-12-02T12:002019-12-02T13:00Asia/RiyadhBioscience Graduate Seminar: An iPS-Based Approach to Study the Transcriptional and Epigenetic Consequences of X-Chromosome Aneuploidies Building 2 - Level 5 - Room 5220

Abstract:
Klinefelter Syndrome (KS) is the most common aneuploidy in humans (prevalence of 1:500-1:1000 born males) characterized by one or more supernumerary X-chromosomes (47-XXY, 48-XXXY and 49-XXXXY karyotypes) resulting from the non-disjunction of sex chromosomes during gametogenesis. KS is a multisystemic disease associated with a plethora of phenotypic features including cardiac abnormalities, osteoporosis, infertility, gynecomastia, psychiatric disorders, diabetes and increased cancer risk. In female cells, the second X chromosome is physiologically repressed through a mechanism called X-chromosome inactivation (XCI), a process that equalizes X-linked gene dosage between the two sexes. However, few genes called “escape genes”, elude XCI mechanism and are actively transcribed from both chromosomes. While in female cells the expression of the escape genes from both X chromosomes is associated to a healthy phenotype, in males affected by KS the over-dosage of the escape genes is considered the molecular landscape of the phenotypic features of the disease. Among the escape genes is the “lysine specific demethylase 6A” (KDM6A or UTX), a histone demethylase involved in several developmental functions including endocrine specification into hepatocytes and -pancreatic cells. Our working hypothesis is that KDM6A over-dosage in KS patients could prime the transcriptional aberrancies underlying the onset of glucose dysregulation and eventually hyperglycemia associated with KS. While several studies unraveled the pathological landmarks of KS, the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the consequences of a supernumerary X-chromosome are still limited. In this project, we used an advanced integration-free mRNA-based reprogramming technology to generate the largest so far described cohort of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from seven KS patients’ and two healthy donors’ fibroblasts. Importantly, the healthy controls are direct relatives of one of the KS patients, thus enabling to mitigate the transcriptional variability associated to different genetic backgrounds. This cohort of iPSCs overcomes the scarcity of adequate KS experimental models and provides an unprecedented source to study the etiopathology of KS at pluripotent stage as well as during differentiation toward glucose sensitive cell types (hepatocytes and -pancreatic cells). Moreover, we plan to apply a CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing strategy to revert KDM6A over-dosage in the fibroblasts-derived iPSCs and to differentiate corrected and wild type iPSCs into hepatocytes and -pancreatic cells. The transcriptomic and epigenomic profiling of the iPSCs derived from patients and healthy donors, of the CRISPR/Cas9-generated isogenic cell lines and of the differentiated derivatives will allow us to dissect “in a dish” the contribution of KDM6A to the onset of glucose dysregulation. Our approach could potentially identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets to derive pharmacological applications.

Bio:
PhD Student (STEM CELLS & DISEASES LABORATORY)
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE)
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

LOCATION

Watch the BESE Division video

Graduate Programs

BESE offers four degree granting programs. In all programs students are offered modules consisting of lectures, seminars, and laboratory classes, and are expected to conduct independent research. BESE boasts state-of-the-art facilities and resources, including some of the most advanced equipment in the world for genomics, proteomics, imaging/characterization, nanofarication, and capability to explore global marine environments.

BIOSCIENCE

MARINE SCIENCE

PLANT SCIENCE

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

BIOENGINEERING

BIOSCIENCE

The Bioscience Program provides an introduction to living systems with courses in cell and molecular biology and biophysics. The program is comprised of two tracks of self-contained courses consisting of lectures, seminars and laboratory classes. Each course provides an in-depth review of the subject and examples of current research in the field.

Find out More

MARINE SCIENCE

The goal of the Marine Science Program is to develop an integrated understanding of the Red Sea’s ecosystem as well as marine ecosystems in general, including fundamental biology at the molecular and genomic levels, symbiosis with algae and prokaryotes (Bacteria and Archaea), associated communities of fish and corals and the physical and chemical environment that impacts and shapes them. This understanding could have an impact on global carbon cycling, endangered species and how we manage the harvesting of resources from the Oceans.

Find out More

PLANT SCIENCE

The goal of the Plant Science Program is to develop a thorough understanding of plant growth and function under challenging environmental conditions, such as those found in Saudi Arabia. The fundamental biology of plants is studied at a range of levels (e.g. genomic, proteomic, metabolomics), and the interactions of plants with their environment, both abiotic (heat, salt, and drought) and biotic (pathogens and symbionts) are investigated. Application of this knowledge will allow development of plants with enhanced tolerance to environmental stresses and help to establish sustainable agriculture systems in arid regions of the world.

Find out More

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

The Environmental Science and Engineering Program (EnSE) prepares students to work on many of the world’s most pressing challenges. There is a worldwide concern with the availability of clean water; EnSE examines methods to purify and reuse water, as well as to reduce contamination of existing reserves. The focus of the program is on examining the impact of humans on our environment through resource exploitation; including over-consumption, land degradation, and pollution of water. The results of these efforts may offer solutions to water scarcity, soil contamination.

Find out More

BIOENGINEERING

A bioengineer develops and applies engineering principles to life sciences. The field focuses on the development and application of engineering concepts, principles, and methods to biological systems. We aim to model, monitor, and treat disorders and disabilities that affect living organisms, to develop algorithms which aid understanding biological systems and to engineer living systems in order to enhance their performance. The technologies that are generated in this area might include synthetic tissues or organs, sensors that are wired to human body and prosthetics that mimic the natural function of a limb, smart algorithms and end-to-end data analytical engines, bioreactors that improve the quality of treated wastewater and bacteria engineered to produce resources. Bioengineering integrates elements of electrical and mechanical engineering, biochemistry, chemistry, computer science and materials science with biology. Thanks to this multidisciplinary nature, the field of bioengineering often creates out-of-the-box solutions addressing and solving challenges in effect augmenting the well-being of living systems.

Find out More

FACULTY COMMUNITIES

Research at the BESE Division brings students, faculty, and researchers together to push the frontiers of science through collaborative inquiry into issues of global and regional significance.

The Faculty at BESE belong to one of two communities: Bioscience and Biological Engineering or Environmental Science Engineering. Those communities cover the following Research Areas.