An increasing interest in building novel biological devices with designed cellular functionalities has triggered the search of innovative tools for biocomputation. Utilizing the tools of synthetic biology, numerous genetic circuits have been implemented such as engineered logic operation in analog and digital circuits. Whole cell biosensors are widely used biological devices that employ several biocomputation tools to program cells for desired functions. Up to the present date, a wide range of whole-cell biosensors have been designed and implemented for disease theranostics, biomedical applications, and environmental monitoring. In this review, we investigated the recent developments in biocomputation tools such as analog, digital, and mix circuits, logic gates, switches, and state machines. Additionally, we stated the novel applications of biological devices with computing functionalities for diagnosis and therapy of various diseases such as infections, cancer, or metabolic diseases, as well as the detection of environmental pollutants such as heavy metals or organic toxic compounds. Current whole-cell biosensors are innovative alternatives to classical biosensors; however, there is still a need to advance decision making capabilities by developing novel biocomputing devices.

Consumption of fermented milk products especially kefir is accelerated in the population due to their high nutritional value and other health benefits. These health benefits are rooted in the composition of source material and flora of kefir grains. Therefore, the utilization of different kinds of milk as source material in kefir production directly affects the properties of kefir. In this study, changes in the physicochemical properties, microbiological profiles, antibacterial effects, antioxidant activities, sensory evaluation, and total phenolic and total flavonoid contents of kefirs obtained from donkey milk (DM) and cow milk (CM) were compared. It was found that donkey milk kefir (DMK) and cow milk kefir (CMK) have different physicochemical properties and microbiological profile. DMK showed antibacterial activity against seven bacterial strain used in this study. The antioxidant activity was increased with fermentation in both kefir samples. The total phenolic content of DMK was higher than that of CMK whereas the total flavonoid content of CMK was higher than that of DMK. Sensory analysis showed that participants prefer CMK to DMK. It can be concluded that with its higher flavonoid content and antibacterial activity, DMK might be an alternative nutrient for consumers.

ÖZET: Fermente süt ürünlerinden kefir özellikle son yıllarda sağlık üzerindeki etkileri nedeniyle sıklıkla tercih edilmektedir. Geleneksel yöntemle hazırlanan kefirde kullanılan danelerin mikrobiyolojik içerikleri, elde edildikleri bölge ile oldukça ilişkilidir ve üretilen kefirin özelliklerini doğrudan etkilemektedir. Dolayısıyla kullanılan danelerin biyoaktivitelerinin incelenmesi önem teşkil etmektedir. Bu çalışmada Antalya, Türkiye bölgesinden lokal bir dane ve ticari dane ile fermente edilen keçi ve inek sütleri kefirlerinin biyoaktivitelerinin karşılaştırmalı analizi yapılmıştır. Bu amaçla, kefir örneklerinin mikrobiyolojik analizleri, antibakteriyel, antioksidan aktivite analizleri, toplam fenolik madde ve toplam flavonoid miktar tayinleri yapılmıştır. Elde ettiğimiz sonuçlar lokal dane ile elde edilen kefirlerin antioksidan ve antibakteriyel aktivitelerinin ticari dane ile üretilenlere oldukça yakın olduğu ve aynı zamanda fenolik madde ve flavonoid açısından tüketicilerin güvenle kullanabilecekleri bir alternatif olduğunu göstermektedir.