DrChika

Chika Ejikeugwu (PhD, 2017, UNIZIK, Nigeria) is a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Stiftung in Germany. Dr. Chika Ejikeugwu is currently a Research Fellow at the Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung GmbH-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany, where he is working on "the soilRESIST project to investigate the effects of antibiotic mixtures on soil microbiomes." He founded Africa's Number 1 Microbiology website, www.MicrobiologyClass.net. Dr. Chika Ejikeugwu was a DAAD postdoctoral fellow at Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM), Berlin, Germany (2021) and a MIF Postdoctoral Fellow at Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan (2018). In 2021, he was awarded the Young Investigator Award on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) by Institute Mérieux in France. Dr. Chika Ejikeugwu is a member of the Global Young Academy in Germany, and a member of other professional (microbiology) societies including Applied Microbiology International (AMI), European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), Nigerian Society for Microbiology (NSM) and American Society for Microbiology (ASM). He holds a doctorate degree in Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology. Dr. Chika Ejikeugwu is a Senior Lecturer & Researcher at Enugu State University of Science & Technology (ESUT), Nigeria where he mentors undergraduate and postgraduate students on microbiology & other aspects of life. He has a flair for teaching, research and community service.

SAFETY IN THE CELL CULTURE LABORATORY

Safety is paramount in any cell culture laboratory. It protects the researcher from possible contamination and it also helps to ensure that healthy cell lines are produced in the process. Failure to dutifully follow aseptic techniques and other safety measures in the cell culture laboratory can result in the contamination of cells. Some safety measures […]

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Cell Culture Notes,

APPLICATIONS OF CELL CULTURE TECHNIQUE

Cell culture technique is defined as the process by which prokaryotic, eukaryotic or plant cells are grown or cultured in vitro under controlled laboratory conditions. Cell culture techniques have applications in the following fields: DISEASE DIAGNOSIS Cell culture techniques are applied in clinical medicine for the diagnosis of infectious diseases especially diseases caused by pathogenic

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Cell Culture Notes, ,

TERMINOLOGIES USED IN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES

Such drift or subtle changes in the antigenic surfaces of pathogens are a setback for most vaccination exercises because some vaccines have a short lifespan and, thus new forms of such vaccines must be produced and administered in order to confer a better protection against the antigen it is directed to. Both antigenic drift and

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Epidemiology, ,

ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF LICHEN SECONDARY METABOLITES

Lichens possess varying antimicrobial properties; and they have been shown to be active against a plethora of pathogenic microorganisms including bacteria, fungi and viruses. Many reviews and research papers have well expanded and documented the biological and pharmacological importance of lichen secondary metabolites. Lichens and lichen compounds have long been used by Native Americans, the

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Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Antimicrobial Agents & Antibiotics, ,

MACROMOLECULES OF LIFE

Macromolecules are large biological molecules that are made up of repeating smaller biological units generally known as monomers. They are polymers of high molecular weight that are biologically and chemically assembled from simpler precursors (i.e. monomers). The monomers are the foundational constituents of macromolecules; and these smaller biological units are usually held together by strong

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Microbial Physiology & Metabolism, , , , ,

Application of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)

The field of medicine has in the past decades seen the production of many biotherapeutics and/or drugs from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Many safer and cheaper vaccines and other drugs have been produced from GMOs. For example, injectable insulin (which is used to treat and manage diabetes mellitus disease in diabetic patients) was traditionally produced

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Biotechnology, , ,

GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS (GMOs)

Genetically modified organisms(GMOs) are living organisms including plants and microorganisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated through genetic engineering or recombinant DNA technology in a laboratory. The term GMO also encompasses any living organism that possesses a novel combination of genetic materials obtained from various sources through the use of modern biotechnology. The genetic

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Biotechnology, , , , , ,

MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX (MHC) MOLECULES

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) moleculesalso known as human leukocyte antigens (HLA) complex are a large set of cell surface protein molecules that are controlled by a collection of polymorphic genes known as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) which are located on chromosome 6 in humans and on chromosome 17 in mice. The MHC is a

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Immunology & Immune System, , ,

IMMUNE SYSTEM CELLS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

All the cells of the immune system inclusive of blood cells originate from the bone marrow during haematopoiesis from progenitor haematopoietic stem cells. Haematopoiesis is simply defined as the biological process involved in the formation of blood cells (i.e. white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets) and other cellular components of blood particularly the

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Immunology & Immune System, ,