Shrimp and crab shell fibres called chitin nanowhiskers form the base of this new material, which would allow automotive components to meet strict environmental standards without compromising vehicle safety. This material has a much higher strength-to-weight ratio compared to conventional plastics used in most automotive components, and provides higher mechanical strength without aesthetic flaws or deformation at lower densities.

Due to the composite nature of the material, mechanical properties can easily be engineered to suit various strength, stiffness and weight requirements simply by varying the combination of chitin nanowhisker and polymer content. The material is also completely renewable and sustainable as chitin nanowhiskers are derived from the waste of the fishing industry.

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Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering analyzed insect cuticle, which includes chitin and other proteins, such as the fibroin also found in spider silk. They then devised a method to produce a material made up of layers of chitin and fibroin. The result is on par with an aluminum alloy for strength, but at half the metal’s weight.

They call the stuff “shrilk”—a combination of shrimp, as discarded shrimp shells are a good source of chitin, and silk. Its flexibility can be manipulated by adjusting the water content–just as insects do. The research is in the journal Advanced Materials.

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Both current methods of producing bioethanol, reducing carbon dioxide or the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose or lignocellulose, are onerous. In this context, the acetate-to-ethanol reduction has shown to be a promising source of economically viable bioethanol. Many works consider that obtaining ethanol from acetate would be excessively onerous due to the cost of separating acetate present in wastewaters.

There is, however, an abundant natural source of acetate that has been neglected in this discussion: chitin. Acetate is abundantly present in chitin, the second most abundant natural polymer in nature (by cellulose only). The obtention of acetate from chitin can take place in a simple way, through the alkaline or acidic hydrolysis of this polymer.

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According to the research group led by Professor Hiroyuki Yano at Kyoto University’s Research Institute for “Sustainable Humanosphere,” the key to the study is a soft and highly heat-resistant fiber called “chitin” that is found in crab and shrimp shells.

The researchers discovered that the shell could become transparent if protein is removed from it and it is coated with different types of resin, including acrylic. After succeeding in making the shell transparent, the team applied the theory in the construction of a heat-resistant sheet, which they succeeded in making by crushing the transparent shell into powder and adding resin to it. With the effect of chitin from the crab’s shell, the sheet was about 10 times more heat-resistant than resin without the component addition.

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The plant is located in Itarema, on the west coast of Ceará, and according to the superintendent of Padetec, Afrânio Craveiro, it represents a milestone in the national shrimp production.

This initiative was supported by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture (MPA), the Northeast Bank of Brazil and by Polymar Industria y Comercio Ltd.

This plant will be able to take advantage of shrimp waste, transforming it into high value added products such as biopolymers (chitin and chitosan).

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He was speaking at a one-day seminar on the issue held in the institute. He said technology was available to make full use of fisheries waste and manufacture these valuable by-products. He said it was estimated that about 8.5 million tonnes of fisheries was being generated in the country and shrimp processing was one of the largest sources of industrial fish waste, with more than one lakh tonnes. Business worth Rs. 3,00,000 crores could be generated out of the waste, but at present there were hardly 38 units or so in the country.

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The research report titled “Glucosamine: A Global Strategic Business Report” announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of the Glucosamine market, current market trends, key growth drivers, new research findings on Glucosamine, new product introductions and launches, recent corporate initiatives, and profiles of major/niche global as well as regional market participants. The report provides annual sales estimates and projections for Glucosamine for the years 2009 through 2017 for the following geographic markets – US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of World. The study also presents historic data for the period 2003 through 2008.
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Also, Uniloids Biosciences will receive support from Zonal Technology Management Business Planning and Development Unit, an agribusiness unit and the Fish Processing Division and Quality Assurance and Management Division for commercializing the technology.

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The company wants to raise about $1 million, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Immunophotonics co-founder and CEO Tomas Hode said that the drug has shown long-term immunity against cancer in tests on animals. The drug could also cost less than other vaccines under development, Hode said.

“It’s a personal vaccine where we use the patient’s own tumor cells,” he said. “We don’t need to do any extraction; everything happens inside the body.”

Off-shore facilities in Peru and the Bahamas are already testing inCVAX primarily for breast cancer treatment and melanoma treatment — both of which typically have easily accessible tumors. Hode said the results have been promising. Protectin, which is derived from a type of glucose called chitin derived from crustacean shells, appears to be nontoxic and without major side effects to patients so far.

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Chitosan is a polysaccharide — a complex carbohydrate, like starch — that is extracted from chitin, the structural component of shrimp and crab exoskeletons. Chitosan is water soluble, bioadhesive, biodegradable, and biocompatible. In its base state, chitosan is an excellent clotting (hemostatic) agent, but the form used in Celox has been “reacted” to create an enhanced and purified product. Celox, in short, is ideal for augmenting the human body’s innate ability to clot wounds.

The real magic of Celox is that it doesn’t actually form blood clots, which would be dangerous; rather, the act mixing blood into Celox activates it, turning it into an artificial, gel-like clot. This kind of clot is incredibly effective at staunching blood flow, with 100% of swine test subjects surviving a cut femoral artery. If all that wasn’t awesome enough, Celox is incredibly fast-acting — it can clot blood in 30 seconds, where normal blood takes 800 seconds — and it even works with blood that has been thinned by warfarin or harparin, or in hypothermic conditions.

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