INTRODUCTION TO BIOTECHNOLOGY
Definition : Biotechnology is the use of a living organism or its component to develop or create various useful products.
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Importance : Biotechnology is useful in the field of medicine. It is useful for the production of therapeutic proteins and drugs. It involves understanding how living organisms function at molecular level. So it combines a number of disciplines such as biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, science and technology.
Impact of Biotechnology : Biotechnology has great impact on medicine. The important ones are the following -
Synthetic insulin
Synthetic growth hormone
Diagnostic tests to detect various diseases
Development of vaccines
Production of antibiotics
Different fields of Biotechnology :
Medical Biotechnology
Industrial Biotechnology
Environmental Biotechnology
Marine Biotechnology
Agricultural Biotechnology
Overlap : There is an overlap of biotechnology with various fields such as -
Molecular biology
Bionics
Bioengineering
Genetic engineering
Nanotechnology
Main tools : The three main tools of biotechnology are -
Recombinant DNA technology
Gene cloning
Genetic engineering
Recombinant DNA technology : It is the joining together of DNA from two different species. The recombinant DNA molecule is inserted into a host organism to produce new genetic combination products. These products have great value in science, medicine, agriculture and industry. It involves isolation, characterisation and manipulation of genes to produce new and useful products.
Gene cloning : It is the process by which a gene is isolated and copied, out of all DNA extracted from an organism. The basis for gene cloning is DNA, the molecule that encodes genetic information.
Genetic engineering : It involves -
Identification of DNA containing desired genes
Introduction of desired DNA into host organism
Maintaining the introduced DNA in the host genome and transfer of DNA into its progeny
DNA technology, which is sequencing, analysing and cutting pasting DNA
Advantages of Biotechnology
It improves health
Offers flexibility in food production
Allows to preserve resources
Minimises or eliminates diseases
Reduces infectious diseases
Applications : Biotechnology is applied successfully in the following areas -
Recombinant insulin
Gene therapy
Molecular diagnosis
Pharmacogenomics
Edible vaccines
Recombinant insulin : Insulin obtained from pig's pancreas, can replace human insulin. But enough pigs are not available. Specific gene sequences that code for human insulin have been identified. They are introduced into E.coli, for producing recombinant insulin.
Gene therapy : It is used for treating genetic diseases and genetic disorders. It involves insertion of a normal gene or correct gene for defective or inactive gene. It is done through vectors such as viruses (rota virus, adeno virus, herpes simplex virus). Normal gene replaces defective gene.
Molecular diagnosis : Pathogen concentration increases by the time, a disease is diagnosed. Early diagnosis is done by techniques like - i) Recombinant DNA technology ii) Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) iii) Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Pharmacogenomics : It is the production of drugs to suit the individual's genetic makeup. It is applied in the treatment of cancer, depression, HIV, asthma etc.
Edible vaccines : Vaccines are obtained from animals or by cell culture. These vaccines contain inactivated pathogens. Transgenic plants can produce antigens that can be used as edible vaccines. Antigenic proteins from several pathogens can be expressed in plants such as banana and tomato. Transgenic sugar beat can treat foot and mouth disease. Transgenic genes from banana and tomato can cure cholera and hepatitis.
Health benefits : Biotechnology is nature's own tool box. It uses ones own genetic makeup to treat diseases.
This helps to -
Reduce rate of infectious diseases
Decreasing life threatening complications
Minimises health risks
Tailoring treatment, according to need
