Biotechnology is the use
of living systems and organisms to develop or make useful products, or
"any technological application that uses biological systems, living
organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for
specific use" (UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Art. Depending
on the tools and applications, it often overlaps with the (related) fields of bioengineering
and biomedical engineering.
Application of Biotechnology
Biotechnology has applications in
four major industrial areas, including health care (medical), crop production
and agriculture, non food (industrial) uses of crops and other products (e.g. biodegradable plastics, vegetable oil,
biofuels),
and environmental uses.
A series of derived terms have been coined to identify several branches
of biotechnology; for example:
- Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary
field which addresses biological problems using computational techniques,
and makes the rapid organization as well as analysis of biological data
possible. The field may also be referred to as computational biology,
and can be defined as, "conceptualizing biology in terms of molecules
and then applying informatics techniques to understand and organize the
information associated with these molecules, on a large scale." Bioinformatics plays a key role in various areas, such as functional genomics, structural genomics, and proteomics, and forms a key component in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical
sector.
- Blue biotechnology is a term that has been
used to describe the marine and aquatic applications of biotechnology, but
its use is relatively rare.
- Green biotechnology is biotechnology applied to
agricultural processes. An example would be the selection and
domestication of plants via micro propagation. Another example is the
designing of transgenic plants to grow under specific
environments in the presence (or absence) of chemicals. One hope is that
green biotechnology might produce more environmentally friendly solutions
than traditional industrial agriculture. An example of this is the
engineering of a plant to express a pesticide, thereby ending the need of external application of pesticides. An
example of this would be Bt corn. Whether or not green
biotechnology products such as this are ultimately more environmentally
friendly is a topic of considerable debate.
- Red biotechnology is applied to medical
processes. Some examples are the designing of organisms to produce antibiotics, and the engineering of genetic cures through genetic manipulation.
- White
biotechnology, also
known as industrial biotechnology, is biotechnology applied to industrial processes. An example is the designing of an organism to produce a
useful chemical. Another example is the using of enzymes as industrial catalysts to either produce valuable chemicals or destroy
hazardous/polluting chemicals. White biotechnology tends to consume less
in resources than traditional processes used to produce industrial goods.
The investment and economic output of all of these types of applied bio technologies is termed as "bioeconomy".
Medicine
In medicine, modern biotechnology finds applications in areas such as pharmaceutical drug discovery and production, pharmacogenomics, and
genetic testing (or genetic screening).
DNA microarray chip – some
can do as many as a million blood tests at once
Pharmacogenomics (a
combination of pharmacology and genomics) is the
technology that analyses how genetic makeup affects an individual's response to
drugs. It deals with the influence of genetic variation
on drug response in patients by correlating gene expression or single-nucleotide
polymorphisms with a
drug's efficacy or toxicity. By doing
so, pharmacogenomics aims to develop rational means to optimize drug therapy,
with respect to the patients' genotype, to ensure
maximum efficacy with minimal adverse effects. Such approaches promise the advent of "personalized medicine"; in which drugs and drug combinations are
optimized for each individual's unique genetic makeup.
Computer-generated
image of insulin hexamers highlighting the threefold symmetry, the zinc ions holding it together, and the histidine residues
involved in zinc binding.
Biotechnology has contributed to the discovery and manufacturing of
traditional small molecule pharmaceutical drugs as well as drugs that are the product of biotechnology
- bio pharmaceutics. Modern biotechnology can be used to manufacture
existing medicines relatively easily and cheaply. The first genetically
engineered products were medicines designed to treat human diseases. To cite
one example, in 1978 Genentech developed synthetic humanized insulin by joining
its gene with a plasmid vector inserted into the bacterium Escherichia coli. Insulin,
widely used for the treatment of diabetes, was previously extracted from the
pancreas of abattoir animals (cattle and/or pigs). The resulting
genetically engineered bacterium enabled the production of vast quantities of
synthetic human insulin at relatively low cost. Biotechnology has also enabled
emerging therapeutics like gene therapy. The
application of biotechnology to basic science (for example through the Human Genome Project) has also dramatically improved our understanding
of biology and as our
scientific knowledge of normal and disease biology has increased, our ability
to develop new medicines to treat previously untreatable diseases has increased
as well.
Genetic testing allows the genetic diagnosis of
vulnerabilities to inherited diseases, and can
also be used to determine a child's parentage (genetic mother and father) or in
general a person's ancestry. In addition to studying chromosomes to the
level of individual genes, genetic testing in a broader sense includes biochemical tests for
the possible presence of genetic diseases, or mutant forms of genes associated
with increased risk of developing genetic disorders. Genetic testing identifies
changes in chromosomes, genes, or proteins. Most of the time, testing is
used to find changes that are associated with inherited disorders. The results
of a genetic test can confirm or rule out a suspected genetic condition or help
determine a person's chance of developing or passing on a genetic disorder. As of 2011
several hundred genetic tests were in use. Since genetic testing may open up
ethical or psychological problems, genetic testing is often accompanied by genetic counseling.
Agriculture
Genetically modified crops ("GM crops", or "biotech
crops") are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering techniques. In most cases the aim is to introduce
a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the
species.
Examples in food crops include resistance to certain pests, diseases, stressful environmental conditions, resistance
to chemical treatments (e.g. resistance to a herbicide), reduction
of spoilage, or improving the nutrient profile of the crop. Examples in
non-food crops include production of pharmaceutical
agents, biofuels, and other
industrially useful goods, as well as for bioremediation.
Farmers have widely adopted GM technology. Between 1996 and 2011, the
total surface area of land cultivated with GM crops had increased by a factor
of 94, from 17,000 square kilometers (4,200,000 acres) to 1,600,000 km2
(395 million acres). 10% of
the world's crop lands were planted with GM crops in 2010. As of 2011, 11
different transgenic crops were grown commercially on 395 million acres (160
million hectares) in 29 countries such as the USA, Brazil, Argentina, India,
Canada, China, Paraguay, Pakistan, South Africa, Uruguay, Bolivia, Australia,
Philippines, Myanmar, Burkina Faso, Mexico and Spain.
Genetically modified foods are foods produced from organisms that have
had specific changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering. These techniques have allowed for the
introduction of new crop traits as well as a far greater control over a food's
genetic structure than previously afforded by methods such as selective breeding and mutation breeding. Commercial
sale of genetically modified foods began in 1994, when Calgene first
marketed its Flavr Savr delayed ripening tomato. To date most genetic
modification of foods have primarily focused on cash crops in high
demand by farmers such as soybean, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil. These have
been engineered for resistance to pathogens and herbicides and better nutrient
profiles. GM livestock have also been experimentally developed, although as of
November 2013 none are currently on the market.
There is broad scientific consensus that food on the market derived from GM crops
poses no greater risk to human health than conventional food. GM crops also
provide a number of ecological benefits, if not used in excess. However, opponents
have objected to GM crops per se on several grounds, including environmental
concerns, whether food produced from GM crops is safe, whether GM crops are
needed to address the world's food needs, and economic concerns raised by the
fact these organisms are subject to intellectual property law.
Industrial biotechnology
Industrial biotechnology (known mainly in Europe as white biotechnology)
is the application of biotechnology for industrial purposes, including industrial fermentation. It includes the practice of using cells such as micro-organisms, or
components of cells like enzymes, to generate industrially useful
products in sectors such as chemicals, food and feed, detergents, paper and
pulp, textiles and biofuels. In doing so, biotechnology uses renewable raw
materials and may contribute to lowering greenhouse gas emissions and moving
away from a petrochemical-based economy.
DNA CLONING
-is a set of
experimental methods in molecular biology that are used to assemble recombinant
DNA molecules and to direct their replication
within host organisms. The use of the word cloning
refers to the fact that the method involves the replication of one molecule to
produce a population of cells with identical DNA molecules. Molecular cloning
generally uses DNA sequences from two different organisms: the species that is
the source of the DNA to be cloned, and the species that will serve as the
living host for replication of the recombinant DNA.
Molecular cloning methods are central to many contemporary areas of modern
biology and medicine.
Adult
DNA cloning
-involves removing the
DNA from an embryo and replacing it with the DNA from an adult animal. Then,
the embryo is allowed to develop into a new animal with the same DNA as the
donor. It has been used to clone a sheep and other animals. It has not been tried
on humans.
Is Adult DNA cloning is Moral?
A subsequent Time/CNN poll, conducted on
2001-FEB found:
90% felt that cloning humans was a bad
idea
67% felt that cloning animals, such as
sheep, was a bad idea.
45% believe that it will be possible to
clone a human within the next ten years.
69% believe that human cloning is
against God's will; 23% say that it is not.
We say no to Adult DNA cloning because:
There is no guarantee
that the first cloned humans will be normal. The fetus might suffer from some
disorder that is not detectable by ultrasound. They may be born disabled.
Disorders may materialize later in life. Such problems have been seen in other
cloned mammals. There is no reason to assume that they will not happen in
humans.
Cells seem to have a
defined life span built into them. "Dolly" was created from a cell
that was about six years old; this is middle age for a ewe. There were some
indications that Dolly's cells were also middle-aged. She was believed to be,
in essence, about six years old when she was born. She was expected to live
only for five years, which is shorter than the normal life span of 11 years. If
this is also true of humans, then cloned people would have a reduced life
expectancy. The cloning technique could take many years off their life. [These
fears proved to be unfounded. "Dolly" has grown into a comfortable
middle age with signs of normal aging for her age.]
Some people have
expressed concern about the effects that cloning would have on relationships.
For example, a child born from an adult DNA cloning from his father would be,
in effect, a delayed twin of one of his parents. That has never happened before
and may lead to emotional difficulties.
Most pro-life
supporters believe that a fertilized ovum is a full human person. When its nucleus
is removed during cloning, that person is, in effect, murdered.
A secondary concern is
the whole business of collecting surplus embryos and simply storing them in a
deep-freeze as a commodity.
Some claim that
cloned humans may be born without souls. They speculate that the soul enters
the body when a sperm fertilizes an ovum. Since there is no sperm involved in
cloning, perhaps the fetus would develop without a soul. There is no way to
know whether a soul is present; it has no weight, it cannot be seen, touched,
smelled, heard, or detected in any other way. In fact, many people believe
that souls do not exist. Speculation on this topic can never be resolved.
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