The Current Opinion journals were developed out of the recognition that it is increasingly difficult for specialists to keep up to date with the expanding volume of information published in their subject. Elsevier’s Current Opinion journals comprise of 13 leading titles in life sciences and adjacent fields.

Current Opinion in Biotechnology

IMPACT FACTOR: 8.486
5-Year Impact Factor: 9.157
Issues per year: 6 issues
Editorial Board

Current Opinion in Biotechnology

The Current Opinion journals were developed out of the recognition that it is increasingly difficult for specialists to keep up to date with the expanding volume of information published in their subject. In Current Opinion in Biotechnology, we help the reader by providing in a systematic manner:
1. The views of experts on current advances in biotechnology in a clear and readable form.
2. Evaluations of the most interesting papers, annotated by experts, from the great wealth of original publications

Division of the subject into sections
The subject of biotechnology is divided into themed sections, each of which is reviewed once a year. The amount of space devoted to each section is related to its importance.

Analytical biotechnology • Plant biotechnology • Food biotechnology • Environmental biotechnology • Systems biology • Protein technologies and commercial enzymes • Biochemical engineering • Tissue and cell engineering • Chemical biotechnology • Pharmaceutical biotechnology

Selection of topics to be reviewed
Section Editors, who are major authorities in the field, are appointed by the Editors of the journal. They divide their section into a number of topics, ensuring that the field is comprehensively covered and that all issues of current importance are emphasised. Section Editors commission reviews from authorities on each topic that they have selected.

Reviews
Authors write short review articles in which they present recent developments in their subject, emphasising the aspects that, in their opinion, are most important. In addition, they provide short annotations to the papers that they consider to be most interesting from all those published in their topic over the previous year.

Editorial Overview
Section Editors write a short overview at the beginning of the section to introduce the reviews and to draw the reader's attention to any particularly interesting developments.
This successful format has made Current Opinion in Biotechnology one of the most highly regarded and highly cited review journals in the field (Impact factor = 6.8)

Ethics in Publishing: General Statement

The Editor(s) and Publisher of this Journal believe that there are fundamental principles underlying scholarly or professional publishing. While this may not amount to a formal 'code of conduct', these fundamental principles with respect to the authors' paper are that the paper should: i) be the authors' own original work, which has not been previously published elsewhere, ii) reflect the authors' own research and analysis and do so in a truthful and complete manner, iii) properly credit the meaningful contributions of co-authors and co-researchers, iv) not be submitted to more than one journal for consideration, and v) be appropriately placed in the context of prior and existing research. Of equal importance are ethical guidelines dealing with research methods and research funding, including issues dealing with informed consent, research subject privacy rights, conflicts of interest, and sources of funding. While it may not be possible to draft a 'code' that applies adequately to all instances and circumstances, we believe it useful to outline our expectations of authors and procedures that the Journal will employ in the event of questions concerning author conduct. With respect to conflicts of interest, the Publisher now requires authors to declare any conflicts of interest that relate to papers accepted for publication in this Journal. A conflict of interest may exist when an author or the author's institution has a financial or other relationship with other people or organizations that may inappropriately influence the author's work. A conflict can be actual or potential and full disclosure to the Journal is the safest course. All submissions to the Journal must include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. The Journal may use such information as a basis for editorial decisions and may publish such disclosures if they are believed to be important to readers in judging the manuscript. A decision may be made by the Journal not to publish on the basis of the declared conflict.

For more information, please refer to: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors/conflictsofinterest

Best Cited over the last year.

Subscribe to RSS Sciverse Scopus

Anaerobic fermentation of glycerol: a path to economic viability for the biofuels industry

Although biofuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol represent a secure, renewable and environmentally safe alternative to fossil fuels, their economic viability is a major concern. The implementation of biorefineries that co-produce higher value products along with biofuels has been proposed as a solution to this problem. The biorefinery model would be especially advantageous if the conversion of byproducts or waste streams generated during biofuel production were considered. Glycerol-rich…

Volume 18, Issue 3, 01 June 2007, Pp 213-219
Yazdani, S.S. | Gonzalez, R.

The microbe electric: conversion of organic matter to electricity

Broad application of microbial fuel cells will require substantial increases in current density. A better understanding of the microbiology of these systems may help. Recent studies have greatly expanded the range of microorganisms known to function either as electrode-reducing microorganisms at the anode or as electrode-oxidizing microorganisms at the cathode. Microorganisms that can completely oxidize organic compounds with an electrode serving as the sole electron acceptor are expected to be…

Volume 19, Issue 6, 01 December 2008, Pp 564-571
Lovley, D.R.

Fluorescence imaging in vivo: recent advances

In vivo fluorescence imaging uses a sensitive camera to detect fluorescence emission from fluorophores in whole-body living small animals. To overcome the photon attenuation in living tissue, fluorophores with long emission at the near-infrared (NIR) region are generally preferred, including widely used small indocarbocyanine dyes. The list of NIR probes continues to grow with the recent addition of fluorescent organic, inorganic and biological nanoparticles. Recent advances in imaging…

Volume 18, Issue 1, 01 February 2007, Pp 17-25
Rao, J. | Dragulescu-Andrasi, A. | Yao, H.

Cancer stem cells in solid tumors

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are cells that drive tumorigenesis, as well as giving rise to a large population of differentiated progeny that make up the bulk of the tumor, but that lack tumorigenic potential. CSCs have been identified in a variety of human tumors, as assayed by their ability to initiate tumor growth in immunocompromised mice. Further characterization studies have demonstrated that gene expression profiles in breast cancer correlate with patient prognosis, and brain CSCs are…

Volume 18, Issue 5, 01 October 2007, Pp 460-466
Ailles, L.E. | Weissman, I.L.

Food-derived peptides with biological activity: from research to food applications

Many peptides that are released in vitro or in vivo from animal or plant proteins are bioactive and have regulatory functions in humans beyond normal and adequate nutrition. Different health effects have been attributed to food-derived peptides, including antimicrobial properties, blood pressure-lowering (ACE inhibitory) effects, cholesterol-lowering ability, antithrombotic and antioxidant activities, enhancement of mineral absorption and/or bioavailability, cyto- or immunomodulatory effects,…

Volume 18, Issue 2, 01 April 2007, Pp 163-169
Hartmann, R. | Meisel, H.

Bioproduction of butanol from biomass: from genes to bioreactors

Butanol is produced chemically using either the oxo process starting from propylene (with H2 and CO over a rhodium catalyst) or the aldol process starting from acetaldehyde. The key problems associated with the bioproduction of butanol are the cost of substrate and butanol toxicity/inhibition of the fermenting microorganisms, resulting in a low butanol titer in the fermentation broth. Recent interest in the production of biobutanol from biomass has led to the re-examination of…

Volume 18, Issue 3, 01 June 2007, Pp 220-227
Ezeji, T.C. | Qureshi, N. | Blaschek, H.P.

Nanotoxicity: the growing need for in vivo study

Nanotoxicology is emerging as an important subdiscipline of nanotechnology. Nanotoxicology refers to the study of the interactions of nanostructures with biological systems with an emphasis on elucidating the relationship between the physical and chemical properties (e.g. size, shape, surface chemistry, composition, and aggregation) of nanostructures with induction of toxic biological responses. In the past five years, a majority of nanotoxicity research has focused on cell culture systems;…

Volume 18, Issue 6, 01 December 2007, Pp 565-571
Fischer, H.C. | Chan, W.C.

Nanotechnological applications in medicine

Nanotechnology-based tools and techniques are rapidly emerging in the fields of medical imaging and targeted drug delivery. Employing constructs such as dendrimers, liposomes, nanoshells, nanotubes, emulsions and quantum dots, these advances lead toward the concept of personalized medicine and the potential for very early, even pre-symptomatic, diagnoses coupled with highly-effective targeted therapy. Highlighting clinically available and preclinical applications, this review explores the…

Volume 18, Issue 1, 01 February 2007, Pp 26-30
Caruthers, S.D. | Wickline, S.A. | Lanza, G.M.

Metabolic engineering of microorganisms for biofuels production: from bugs to synthetic biology to fuels

The ability to generate microorganisms that can produce biofuels similar to petroleum-based transportation fuels would allow the use of existing engines and infrastructure and would save an enormous amount of capital required for replacing the current infrastructure to accommodate biofuels that have properties significantly different from petroleum-based fuels. Several groups have demonstrated the feasibility of manipulating microbes to produce molecules similar to petroleum-derived products,…

Volume 19, Issue 6, 01 December 2008, Pp 556-563
Lee, S.K. | Chou, H. | Ham, T.S. | Lee, T.S. | Keasling, J.D.

Enzyme-based biofuel cells

Enzyme-based biofuel cells possess several positive attributes for energy conversion, including renewable catalysts, flexibility of fuels (including renewables), and the ability to operate at room temperature. However, enzyme-based biofuel cells remain limited by short lifetimes, low power densities and inefficient oxidation of fuels. Recent advances in biofuel cell technology have addressed these deficiencies and include methods to increase lifetime and environmental stability. © 2006 Elsevier…

Volume 18, Issue 3, 01 June 2007, Pp 228-234
Minteer, S.D. | Liaw, B.Y. | Cooney, M.J.

Aquatic phototrophs: efficient alternatives to land-based crops for biofuels

To mitigate some of the potentially deleterious environmental and agricultural consequences associated with current land-based-biofuel feedstocks, we propose the use of biofuels derived from aquatic microbial oxygenic photoautotrophs (AMOPs), more commonly known as cyanobacteria, algae, and diatoms. Herein we review their demonstrated productivity in mass culturing and aspects of their physiology that are particularly attractive for integration into renewable biofuel applications. Compared with…

Volume 19, Issue 3, 01 June 2008, Pp 235-240
Dismukes, G.C. | Carrieri, D. | Bennette, N. | Ananyev, G.M. | Posewitz, M.C.

Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in water environments

Antibiotic-resistant organisms enter into water environments from human and animal sources. These bacteria are able to spread their genes into water-indigenous microbes, which also contain resistance genes. On the contrary, many antibiotics from industrial origin circulate in water environments, potentially altering microbial ecosystems. Risk assessment protocols for antibiotics and resistant bacteria in water, based on better systems for antibiotics detection and antibiotic-resistance…

Volume 19, Issue 3, 01 June 2008, Pp 260-265
Baquero, F. | Martínez, J.-L. | Cantón, R.

Alternative non-antibody scaffolds for molecular recognition

Originally proposed one decade ago, the idea of engineering proteins outside the immunoglobulin family for novel binding functions has evolved as a powerful technology. Several classes of protein scaffolds proved to yield reagents with specificities and affinities in a range that was previously considered unique to antibodies. Such engineered protein scaffolds are usually obtained by designing a random library with mutagenesis focused at a loop region or at an otherwise permissible surface area…

Volume 18, Issue 4, 01 August 2007, Pp 295-304
Skerra, A.

What is the maximum efficiency with which photosynthesis can convert solar energy into biomass?

Photosynthesis is the source of our food and fiber. Increasing world population, economic development, and diminishing land resources forecast that a doubling of productivity is critical in meeting agricultural demand before the end of this century. A starting point for evaluating the global potential to meet this goal is establishing the maximum efficiency of photosynthetic solar energy conversion. The potential efficiency of each step of the photosynthetic process from light capture to…

Volume 19, Issue 2, 01 April 2008, Pp 153-159
Zhu, X.-G. | Long, S.P. | Ort, D.R.

Emerging concepts in molecular MRI

Molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers the potential to image some events at the cellular and subcellular level and many significant advances have recently been witnessed in this field. The introduction of targeted MR contrast agents has enabled the imaging of sparsely expressed biological targets in vivo. Furthermore, high-throughput screens of nanoparticle libraries have identified nanoparticles that act as novel contrast agents and which can be targeted with enhanced diagnostic…

Volume 18, Issue 1, 01 February 2007, Pp 4-10
Sosnovik, D.E. | Weissleder, R.

Plastid biotechnology: prospects for herbicide and insect resistance, metabolic engineering and molecular farming

Transgene expression from the chloroplast (plastid) genome offers several attractions to plant biotechnologists, including high-level accumulation of foreign proteins, transgene stacking in operons and a lack of epigenetic interference with the stability of transgene expression. In addition, the technology provides an environmentally benign method of plant genetic engineering, because plastids and their genetic information are maternally inherited in most crops and thus are largely excluded…

Volume 18, Issue 2, 01 April 2007, Pp 100-106
Bock, R.

A green light for engineered algae: redirecting metabolism to fuel a biotechnology revolution

Microalgae have the potential to revolutionize biotechnology in a number of areas including nutrition, aquaculture, pharmaceuticals, and biofuels. Although algae have been commercially cultivated for over 50 years, metabolic engineering now seems necessary in order to achieve their full processing capabilities. Recently, the development of a number of transgenic algal strains boasting recombinant protein expression, engineered photosynthesis, and enhanced metabolism encourage the prospects of…

Volume 19, Issue 5, 01 October 2008, Pp 430-436
Rosenberg, J.N. | Oyler, G.A. | Wilkinson, L. | Betenbaugh, M.J.

DNA as a target for anticancer compounds: methods to determine the mode of binding and the mechanism of action

Small molecules that bind to DNA are extremely useful as biochemical tools for the visualization of DNA both in vitro and inside the cell. Additionally, the clinical significance of DNA-binding compounds can hardly be overstated, as many anticancer regimens include a compound that binds to and/or modifies DNA. Although many of the important DNA-binding anticancer drugs were discovered in phenotypic, cell-based screens, in vitro experiments have been developed that enable a precise determination…

Volume 18, Issue 6, 01 December 2007, Pp 497-503
Palchaudhuri, R. | Hergenrother, P.J.

Viral vectors for the expression of proteins in plants

The use of plant viral vectors for the transient expression of heterologous proteins offers a useful tool for the large-scale production of proteins of industrial importance, such as antibodies and vaccine antigens. In recent years, advances have been made both in the development of first-generation vectors (that employ the 'full virus') and second-generation ('deconstructed virus') vectors. For example, vectors based around the 'full virus' strategy can now be used to express long polypeptides…

Volume 18, Issue 2, 01 April 2007, Pp 134-141
Gleba, Y. | Klimyuk, V. | Marillonnet, S.

Mixed culture biotechnology for bioenergy production

Mixed culture biotechnology (MCB) could become an attractive addition or alternative to traditional pure culture based biotechnology for the production of chemicals and/or bioenergy. On the basis of ecological selection principles, MCB-based processes can be established that generate a narrow product spectrum from a mixed substrate. Three example processes are briefly discussed in this paper: anaerobic digestion aimed at the production of methane-containing biogas, mixed culture fermentation…

Volume 18, Issue 3, 01 June 2007, Pp 207-212
Kleerebezem, R. | van Loosdrecht, M.C.

Molecular imaging with targeted contrast ultrasound

Molecular imaging with contrast ultrasound relies on the detection of targeted microbubbles or other acoustically active nanoparticles. These microbubbles are retained in diseased tissue where they produce an acoustic signal because of their resonant properties in the ultrasound field. Targeting is accomplished either through manipulating the chemical properties of the microbubble shell or through conjugation of disease-specific ligands for the targeted molecule to the microbubble surface. As…

Volume 18, Issue 1, 01 February 2007, Pp 11-16
Kaufmann, B.A. | Lindner, J.R.

Glycosylation engineering in yeast: the advent of fully humanized yeast

Yeasts have been extensively used as model organisms to elucidate cellular processes and their mechanism in lower eukaryotes. Consequently, a large number of powerful genetic tools have been developed to engineer yeast and improve its utility. These tools and the development of efficient large-scale fermentation processes have made recombinant protein expression in yeast an attractive choice. However, for the production of glycoproteins for human use, native high-mannose yeast glycosylation is…

Volume 18, Issue 5, 01 October 2007, Pp 387-392
Hamilton, S.R. | Gerngross, T.U.

Microencapsulation for the improved delivery of bioactive compounds into foods

The development of functional foods through the addition of bioactive compounds holds many technological challenges. Microencapsulation is a useful tool to improve the delivery of bioactive compounds into foods, particularly probiotics, minerals, vitamins, phytosterols, lutein, fatty acids, lycopene and antioxidants. Several microencapsulation technologies have been developed for use in the food industry and show promise for the production of functional foods. Moreover, these technologies could…

Volume 18, Issue 2, 01 April 2007, Pp 184-190
Champagne, C.P. | Fustier, P.

New improvements for lignocellulosic ethanol

The use of lignocellulosic biomass for the production of biofuels will be unavoidable if liquid fossil fuels are to be replaced by renewable and sustainable alternatives. Ethanol accounts for the majority of biofuel use worldwide, and the prospect of its biological production from abundant lignocellulosic feedstocks is attractive. The recalcitrance of these raw materials still renders proposed processes complex and costly, but there are grounds for optimism. The application of new, engineered…

Volume 20, Issue 3, 01 June 2009, Pp 372-380
Margeot, A. | Hahn-Hagerdal, B. | Edlund, M. | Slade, R. | Monot, F.

'Cradle-to-grave' assessment of existing lignocellulose pretreatment technologies

Pretreatment is considered to be a central unit process in a biorefinery to convert lignocellulosic biomass into fuels and chemicals, affecting all other operations in the process. A variety of technologies to pretreat lignocellulosic biomass are available today, which encompass a wide range of physical, chemical, and biological based processes. Among these, chemical based pretreatments are considered to be the most promising for future biorefineries. However, several key criteria regarding…

Volume 20, Issue 3, 01 June 2009, Pp 339-347
da Costa Sousa, L. | Chundawat, S.P. | Balan, V. | Dale, B.E.