MUHAMMAD ABBA SHERIFF
SCI/13/BCH/00339
APPLICATIONSOFBIOTECHNOLOGYANDGENETICENGINEERING
Geneticen
Biotechnologydeals with industrial scaleproduction of biopharmaceuticals and
biologicals usinggenetically modified microbes, fungi, plants and [Link]
applications of biotechnology include therapeutics,diagnostics, genetically
modified crops for agriculture, processed food, bioremediation, waste
treatment, andenergy production.
Humans have been engineering life for thousands of years, through selective
breeding useful traits in plants and animals were strengthened. In the 1960s,
scientists bombarded plants with radiation to cause random mutations in the
genetic code. The idea was to get a useful plant variation by pure chance.
In the 70s, scientists inserted DNA plasmids to bacteria, plants and animals to
study and modify them for research agriculture and medicine. The earliest
genetically modified animal was born in 1974 making mice a standard tool for
research thereby saving lives
In the 80s, the first patent was given to a microbe engineered to absorb oil.
Today many chemicals are produced by means of engineered life like life saving
clotting factors, growth hormones and insulin.
In 1994 the first food modified in the laboratory went on sale, the FlavrSavr
Tomato, a tomato with an extra gene that suppresses the building up of rotting
enzymes, thus increasing its shelf-life.
Biotechnology has many applications, in agriculture for increasing food
production, in medicine for treating diseases and infertility, in industries for
purification, in the environment, and so on
INAGRICULTURE
Plants, bacteria, fungi and animals whose genes have been altered
bymanipulation are calledGenetically Modified Organisms (GMO). GMplants
have been useful in many ways. Genetic modification has:
(i) made crops more tolerant to abiotic stresses (cold, drought, salt,
heat).
(ii) reduced reliance on chemical pesticides (pest-resistant crops).
(iii) helped to reduce post harvest losses.
(iv) increased efficiency of mineral usage by plants (this prevents early
exhaustion of fertility of soil).
(v) enhanced nutritional value of food, e.g., Vitamin A enriched rice.
In addition to these uses, GM has been used to create tailor-madeplants to
supply alternative resources to industries, in the form of starches,fuels and
[Link] applications of biotechnology in agriculture are the
production of pest resistant plants, which coulddecrease the amount of
pesticide used. Bt toxin is produced by abacterium called Bacillus
thuringiensis(Bt for short). Bt toxin gene hasbeen cloned from the bacteria and
been expressed in plants to provideresistance to insects without the need for
insecticides; in effect created abio-pesticide. Examples are Bt cotton, Bt corn,
rice, tomato, potato and
soyabean etc.
IN MEDICINE
The recombinant DNA technological processes have made immense impactin
the area of healthcare by enabling mass production of safe and moreeffective
therapeutic drugs. Further, the recombinant therapeutics do notinduce
unwanted immunological responses as is common in case ofsimilar products
isolated from non-human sources. At present, about30 recombinant
therapeutics have been approved for human-use theworld over. In India, 12 of
these are presently being marketed.
Genetically Engineered Insulin
Insulin is a protein hormone produced in the pancreas which has an
important function in the regulation of blood sugar levels. Insulin facilitates
the transport of glucose into cells. A deficiency in insulin is one of the causes
of the disease diabetes mellitus or sugar diabetes in which the sugar levels in
the blood become raised resulting in harmful consequences. At least 3% of the
worlds population is affected by diabetes mellitus and sufferers of the disease
require insulin injections to manage the [Link] genetic engineering,
insulin used for treatment was sourced from the pancreas of slaughtered pigs
and cattle. This source of insulin had minor differences in the amino acid
composition to the insulin produced in humans and also contained trace
impurities. As a result some patients were allergic to insulin sourced from
animals and had damaging side effects as a result of treatment from these
injections. The solution to this problem was solved by genetic engineering
Gene Therapy
If a person is born with a hereditary disease, can a corrective therapybe taken
for such a disease? Gene therapy is an attempt to do [Link] therapy is a
collection of methods that allows correction of agene defect that has been
diagnosed in a child/embryo. Here genesare inserted into a persons cells and
tissues to treat a [Link] of a genetic defect involves delivery of a
normal gene intothe individual or embryo to take over the function of and
compensatefor the non-functional [Link] first clinical gene therapy was
given in 1990 to a 4-year old girlwith adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency.
This enzyme is crucial forthe immune system to function. The disorder is
caused due to the deletionof the gene for adenosine deaminase. In some
children ADA deficiencycan be cured by bone marrow transplantation; in
others it can be treatedby enzyme replacement therapy, in which functional
ADA is given to thepatient by injection. But the problem with both of these
approaches thatthey are not completely curative. As a first step towards gene
therapy,lymphocytes from the blood of the patient are grown in a culture
outsidethe body. A functional ADA cDNA (using a retroviral vector) is
thenintroduced into these lymphocytes, which are subsequently returned tothe
patient. However, as these cells are not immortal, the patient requiresperiodic
infusion of such genetically engineered lymphocytes. However, ifthe gene
isolate from marrow cells producing ADA is introduced into cellsat early
embryonic stages, it could be a permanent cure.
Molecular Diagnosis
For effective treatment of a disease, early diagnosis andunderstanding its
pathophysiology is very important. Using conventional methods of diagnosis
(serum and urine analysis, etc.) early detection isnot possible. Recombinant
DNA technology, Polymerase Chain Reaction(PCR) and Enzyme Linked
Immuno-sorbent Assay (ELISA) are some ofthe techniques that serve the
purpose of early [Link] of a pathogen (bacteria, viruses, etc.) is
normally suspectedonly when the pathogen has produced a disease symptom.
By this timethe concentration of pathogen is already very high in the body.
However,very low concentration of a bacteria or virus (at a time when the
symptomsof the disease are not yet visible) can be detected by amplification of
theirnucleic acid by PCR. PCR is now routinely used to detect HIV in
suspectedAIDS patients. It is being used to detect mutations in genes in
suspectedcancer patients too. It is a powerful technique to identify many
othergenetic disorders.A single stranded DNA or RNA, tagged with a
radioactive molecule(probe) is allowed to hybridise to its complementary DNA
in a clone ofcells followed by detection using autoradiography. The clone
having themutated gene will hence not appear on the photographic film,
becausethe probe will not have complementarity with the mutated [Link]
is based on the principle of antigen-antibody [Link] by pathogen
can be detected by the presence of antigens(proteins, glycoproteins, etc.) or by
detecting the antibodies synthesized against the pathogen.
IN ENVIROMENT
In summary, the application of biotechnology in environmental remediation
can be expressed as follows:
Effective removal of harmful contaminants from the environment using
filter-feeder (microorganisms and plants)
Removal of oil pollutants using oil-eating bacteria
Removal of industrial pollutants such as heavy metals
Removal of toxic chemicals and pesticide
Production of biodegradable plastics using vegetable proteins
Production of environmentally friendly chemicals
Production of non-fossil fuels
Reduction of air, soil and water pollution
Bioremediation
Remediation of polluted sites necessitates the development of new
technologies which emphasize the destruction of pollutants rather than
conventional disposal methods. Bioremediation is the most widely used among
the new technologies. Bioremediation is a process in which microorganisms,
green plants or their enzymes for the remediation of contaminated
environments and their high performance in biodegradation of pollutants,
usually take a central role in environmental remediation. It is a form of
treatment that uses naturally occurring organisms to break down hazardous
substances into less toxic or non toxic substances.
Bio plastic
Productions of plastics from synthetic polymers derived from renewable
resources have brought many bioenvironmental problems including their non-
biodegradability. Production of new materials such as bio plastics using sugars,
fats, proteins, fibers and other natural ingredients extracted from plants would
prevent the use of renewable resources such as fossil fuels and it will lead to
less energy, more limited resources and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Germs can produce necessary enzymes to convert plant material into structural
materials for the biodegradable plastics.
Bioleaching
The future of sustainable development requires measures to reduce
dependence on renewable raw materials and demand for basic needs. New
sources of metals must be developed with the help of technology.
Biotechnology is a modern science which has solutions for many human
problems, and it has provided great services to the human society. The
application of bioleaching process in extracting minerals is among significant
advantages of this science. In fact, bioleaching is the interaction between metals
and microbes with the aim of converting insoluble metal sulfides into soluble
metal sulfides. Bioleaching process is generally used for extraction of useful
elements from their ores by bacteria and to dissolve them. Leaching efficiency
is dependent on soil micro flora.
