Patents by Inventor Francis A. Stewart

Francis A. Stewart has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20110165630
    Abstract: The invention provides a method for inserting a single stranded replacement nucleic acid into a target nucleic acid, said method comprising the steps of: a) generating a single stranded replacement nucleic acid from a double stranded nucleic acid, wherein the double stranded nucleic acid is adapted at one or both of its 5? ends such that preferential degradation of one strand and/or strand separation generates the single stranded replacement nucleic acid, wherein the single stranded replacement nucleic acid comprises a 5? region that is identical to sequence on the target nucleic acid, a 3? region that is identical to sequence on the target nucleic acid and optionally a replacement region between the 5? and 3? regions that is not identical to sequence on the target N nucleic acid, b) exposing the target nucleic acid to the single stranded replacement nucleic acid under conditions suitable for recombination to occur between the single stranded replacement nucleic acid and the target nucleic acid, and c) select
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2009
    Publication date: July 7, 2011
    Applicant: Gene Bridges GmbH
    Inventors: Marcello Maresca, Axel Steffen Erler, Jun Fu, Philipp Martin Seibert, Adrian Francis Stewart, Youming Ahang
  • Patent number: 7878733
    Abstract: An erosion protection device is described which is made of two or more components. Each component has an edge, surfaces on respective sides of the edge and at least one joining portion (a joining portion of a component comprises a recess in the edge and receiving portions on respective sides of the edge). Each recess has a base which is indented relative to the edge, and sidewalls which diverge as they extend from the base out to the edge. The receiving portions diverge relative to each other with the same slope as the sidewalls as they extend from adjacent the base of the recess away from the edge towards the respective surfaces. When joining two components together, a bonding medium is applied to the joining portion on one or both components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Inventor: Francis Stewart Atkinson
  • Publication number: 20100317061
    Abstract: The invention relates to methods for cloning DNA molecules using recE/recT-mediated homologous recombination mechanism between at least two DNA molecules where one DNA molecule is a circular or linear DNA molecule and the second DNA molecule is a circular DNA molecule, and the second DNA molecule contains two regions with sequence homology to the first DNA molecule. Competent cells and vectors are also described.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2010
    Publication date: December 16, 2010
    Applicant: EUROPAISCHES LABORATORIUM FUR MOLEKULARBIOLOGIE (EMBL)
    Inventors: FRANCIS STEWART, YOUMING ZHANG, FRANK BUCHHOLZ
  • Publication number: 20100172881
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method for preparing an expression vector encoding a tailored recombinase, wherein said tailored recombinase recombines asymmetric target sites within the LTR of proviral DNA of a retrovirus inserted into the genome of a host cell and is useful as means for excising the provirus from the genome of the host cell. The present invention further relates to an in vitro-method of optimising the treatment of a retroviral infection of a subject and to the use of tailored recombinases for the preparation of pharmaceutical compositions for reducing the viral load in a subjected infected by a retrovirus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2008
    Publication date: July 8, 2010
    Applicants: MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT zur FORDERUNG der WISSENSCHAFTEN E.V., TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT DRESDEN
    Inventors: Joachim Hauber, Frank Buchholz, Ilona Hauber, Francis A. Stewart, Indrani Sarkar
  • Patent number: 7736851
    Abstract: The invention relates to methods for cloning DNA molecules using recE/recT-mediated homologous recombination mechanism between at least two DNA molecules where one DNA molecule is a circular or linear DNA molecule and the second DNA molecule is a circular DNA molecule, and the second DNA molecule contains two regions with sequence homology to the first DNA molecule. Competent cells and vectors are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Europaisches Laboratorium fur Molekularbiologie (EMBL)
    Inventors: Francis Stewart, Youming Zhang, Frank Buchholz
  • Publication number: 20100104368
    Abstract: An erosion protection device is described which is made of two or more components. Each component has an edge, surfaces on respective sides of the edge and at least one joining portion (a joining portion of a component comprises a recess in the edge and receiving portions on respective sides of the edge). Each recess has a base which is indented relative to the edge, and sidewalls which diverge as they extend from the base out to the edge. The receiving portions diverge relative to each other with the same slope as the sidewalls as they extend from adjacent the base of the recess away from the edge towards the respective surfaces. When joining two components together, a bonding medium is applied to the joining portion on one or both components.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2008
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Inventor: Francis Stewart Atkinson
  • Publication number: 20090298117
    Abstract: The invention provides a method for the heterologous expression of a secondary metabolite encoded by a biosynthetic pathway. Also provided is a method for introducing a large sized DNA molecule into the chromosome of a heterologous host using a transposable element. Novel myxochromide S derivatives are also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2005
    Publication date: December 3, 2009
    Inventors: Youming Zhang, Rolf Müller, Francis Stewart, Frank Gross, Silke C. Wenzel, Jun Fu
  • Patent number: 7083976
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to methods and compositions for TnpI-mediated genetic engineering using the Bacillus thuringiensis recombinase TnpI and the TnpI recombination substrates TRT or TRT?, and variants thereof. In particular, the invention relates to TRT or TRT? sequences, and variants thereof, vectors, cells and kits useful for TnpI-mediated genetic recombination, as well as methods for the use of TRT or TRT? sequences for TnpI-mediated genetic engineering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2006
    Assignees: The European Molecular Biology Laboratory, l 'Universite catholique de Louvain
    Inventors: A. Francis Stewart, Youming Zhang, Bernard Hallet
  • Patent number: 7000900
    Abstract: A portable reel jack for supporting and lifting large spools of heavy cable, wire and the like includes a hydraulic lift with an extendable piston rod. A stanchion that is pivotally connected to the piston rod carries a spool support and remains vertically oriented during movement of the piston rod relative to the cylinder. Moreover, when the piston rod moves vertically away from the base in a lifting motion, then the stanchion moves laterally away from the hydraulic cylinder. As the spool is being lifted off of the ground by the hydraulic jack, the load-bearing location of the rod that carries the spool moves increasingly farther away from where the operator is standing to operate the lifting action of the portable reel jack. Additionally, the spool support has the flexibility of three different height elevations for carrying the rod on which the spool is in turn carried.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2006
    Inventors: Robert D. McKenney, Francis Stewart, Terry Hawkins
  • Publication number: 20040203057
    Abstract: The invention relates to methods for cloning DNA molecules using recE/recT-mediated homologous recombination mechanism between at least two DNA molecules where one DNA molecule is a circular or linear DNA molecule and the second DNA molecule is a circular DNA molecule, and the second DNA molecule contains two regions with sequence homology to the first DNA molecule. Competent cells and vectors are also described.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2004
    Publication date: October 14, 2004
    Applicant: Europaisches Laboratorium fur Molekularbiologie (EMBL)
    Inventors: Francis Stewart, Youming Zhang, Frank Buchholz
  • Patent number: 6787316
    Abstract: The invention relates to methods for cloning DNA molecules using recE/recT-mediated homologous recombination mechanism between at least two DNA molecules where one DNA molecule is a circular or linear DNA molecule and the second DNA molecule is a circular DNA molecule, and the second DNA molecule contains two regions with sequence homology to the first DNA molecule. Competent cells and vectors are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2004
    Assignee: Europaisches Laboratorium fur Molekularbiologie (EMBL)
    Inventors: Francis Stewart, Youming Zhang, Frank Buchholz
  • Publication number: 20040161756
    Abstract: The invention relates to methods for the evolution of molecules with improved biological properties. In particular, the invention relates to methods using proteins that modify a DNA substrate to establish a link between the action of these proteins and the selection of molecules with improved biological properties. A unifying feature of all these mechanisms is that the coding region being evolved is in the same genetic element or on the same DNA molecule as a target site for a DNA-modifying protein. Accordingly, the activity (or inactivity) of the DNA-modifying protein can be tested by evaluating the sequence of its nucleic acid substrate. In this manner, a number of different types of compounds may be selected, including improved DNA-modifying proteins, improved substrates for DNA-modifying proteins, improved ligand-receptor interactions, improved co-factor and regulatory protein activities, improved DNA-binding proteins, and so on.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2003
    Publication date: August 19, 2004
    Inventors: Adrian Francis Stewart, Frank Buchholz
  • Publication number: 20040101520
    Abstract: The invention relates to a novel method for altering the sequence of a nucleic acid molecule using repair recombination in a simple one component system. The frequency of the recombination reaction is high, allowing a range of feasible selection strategies to identify successful recombination events. The method involves the steps of bringing a first nucleic acid molecule into contact with a second nucleic acid molecule in the presence of a phage annealing protein into contact with a second nucleic acid molecule in the presence of a phage annealing protein, or a functional equivalent or fragment thereof, wherein said first nucleic acid molecule comprises at least two regions of shared sequence homology with the second nucleic acid molecule, under conditions suitable for repair recombination to occur between said first and second nucleic acid molecules; ad selecting a nucleic acid molecule whose sequence has been altered so as to include sequence from said second nucleic acid molecule.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2003
    Publication date: May 27, 2004
    Inventors: Joep P P Muijrers, Youming Zhang, Andrian Francis Stewart
  • Publication number: 20030113837
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to methods and compositions for TnpI-mediated genetic engineering using the Bacillus thuringiensis recombinase TnpI and the TnpI recombination substrates TRT or TRT′, and variants thereof. In particular, the invention relates to TRT or TRT′ sequences, and variants thereof, vectors, cells and kits useful for TnpI-mediated genetic recombination, as well as methods for the use of TRT or TRT′ sequences for TnpI-mediated genetic engineering.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2001
    Publication date: June 19, 2003
    Inventors: A. Francis Stewart, Youming Zhang, Bernard Hallet
  • Publication number: 20030036198
    Abstract: The invention refers to a novel method for cloning DNA molecules using a homologous recombination mechanism between at least two DNA molecules comprising: a) providing a host cell capable of performing homologous recombination, b) contacting in said host cell a first DNA molecule which is capable of being replicated in said host cell with a second DNA molecule comprising at least two regions of sequence homology to regions on the first DNA molecule, under conditions which favour homologous recombination between said first and second DNA molecules and c) selecting a host cell in which homologous recombination between said first and second DNA molecules has occurred.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2002
    Publication date: February 20, 2003
    Applicant: Europaisches Laboratorium fur Molekularbiologie (EMBL)
    Inventors: Francis Stewart, Youming Zhang, Frank Buchholz
  • Patent number: 6509156
    Abstract: The invention relates to methods for cloning DNA molecules using recE/recT-mediated homologous recombination mechanism between at least two DNA molecules where one DNA molecule is a circular or linear DNA molecule and the second DNA molecule is a circular DNA molecule, and the second DNA molecule contains two regions with sequence homology to the first DNA molecule. Competent cells and vectors are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2003
    Assignee: Europaisches Laboratorium Fur Molekularoiologie (EMBL)
    Inventors: Francis Stewart, Youming Zhang, Frank Buchholz
  • Publication number: 20020161833
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of registering a client wireless device for an event, and to a method of alerting registered client wireless devices, which may not be connected, that the event is about to commence. Both methods take advantage of the fact that wireless devices often have permanent unique identification numbers associated with then, and that it is possible to send a timed message to a wireless device which may or may not be connected to an event server at that time. Together these steps allow a participant in a live interactive event to pre-register and enter the event with the minimum number of user actions, and without needing to remember him/herself to re-enter the event site at the appropriate time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2002
    Publication date: October 31, 2002
    Inventors: Bruce David Gordon Niven, Giles Francis Stewart Payne
  • Patent number: 6355412
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to methods and compositions for DNA subcloning using bacterial recombinase-mediated homologous recombination. The invention relates to methods for cloning, compositions comprising polynucleotides usefall as cloning vectors, cells comprising such polynucleotide compositions, and kits useful for cloning mediated by bacterial recombinases, such as RecE/T and Red&agr;/&bgr;.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2002
    Assignee: The European Molecular Biology Laboratory
    Inventors: A. Francis Stewart, Youming Zhang, Joep Pieter Paul Muyrers
  • Patent number: 6040430
    Abstract: An invention is described that permits the regulation of recombination in cells, organisms or appropriate cell-free systems. The invention involves creating fusion proteins between recombinase proteins, or components of recombinase systems, and ligand binding domains derived from nuclear receptors. The fusion proteins show little recombinase activity in the absence of the ligand that binds to the ligand binding domain. Upon binding of the ligand, recombinase activity is induced. The invention provides a practical means to regulate recombination in cells and organisms and, by linking ligand binding to recombination, provides a simple means whereby ligand binding can be measured as recombination achieved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 1995
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2000
    Assignee: European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)
    Inventor: Francis Stewart