Biotechnology and its Applications

Key Concepts

Applications in Agriculture

Biotechnology provides alternatives to agro-chemical based agriculture and organic farming.

Tissue Culture: Regenerating whole plants from explants (any part of a plant).
- Totipotency: The capacity of a cell/explant to generate a whole plant.
- Micro-propagation: Producing thousands of plants in short durations. Plants are somaclones (genetically identical).
- Virus-free Plants: Obtained by culturing the meristem (apical/axillary), which remains free of virus even in infected plants.
- Somatic Hybridisation: Fusion of isolated protoplasts from two different varieties (e.g., Pomato - tomato + potato).
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO): Plants, bacteria, fungi, and animals with altered genes.
- Benefits: Abiotic stress tolerance, reduced pesticide reliance, reduced post-harvest losses, increased mineral usage efficiency, and enhanced nutritional value.

Golden Rice Golden rice is a transgenic variety of rice (Oryza sativa) produced to biosynthesize beta-carotene, a precursor of Vitamin A, in the edible parts of rice.

Benefits: Abiotic stress tolerance, reduced pesticide reliance, reduced post-harvest losses, increased mineral usage efficiency, and enhanced nutritional value (e.g., Golden Rice - Vitamin A enriched).
Bt Cotton:
- Produced by Bacillus thuringiensis. Contains Bt toxin (coded by cry genes).

Bt Toxin Activation The Bt toxin protein exists as inactive protoxins but once an insect ingests the inactive toxin, it is converted into an active form of toxin due to the alkaline pH of the gut which solubilise the crystals.

Toxin exists as inactive protoxins. Becomes active in the alkaline pH of the insect's gut, creating pores in the midgut and causing death.
cryIAc and cryIIAb control cotton bollworms; cryIAb controls corn borer.
Pest Resistant Plants:
- RNA Interference (RNAi): Cellular defense in eukaryotes. Silences specific mRNA using complementary dsRNA.
- Used to protect tobacco plants from the nematode Meloidogyne incognita.

Applications in Medicine

Genetically Engineered Insulin:
- Earlier extracted from cattle/pigs (caused allergies).
- Human Insulin: Consists of two chains (A and B) linked by disulphide bonds.
- Eli Lilly (1983): Produced A and B chains separately in E. coli plasmids and combined them to form human insulin. (C-peptide is removed during maturation).
Gene Therapy:
- Correction of a gene defect in a child/embryo by delivering a normal gene.

ADA Deficiency Case The first clinical gene therapy was given in 1990 to a 4-year-old girl with adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency, caused by the deletion of the gene for adenosine deaminase.

ADA Deficiency (1990): First clinical gene therapy for a 4-year-old girl. Involves introducing functional ADA cDNA into the patient's lymphocytes using a retroviral vector.
Molecular Diagnosis:
- PCR: Detects very low concentrations of pathogens (e.g., HIV, mutations in cancer) by nucleic acid amplification.
- ELISA: Based on antigen-antibody interaction.
- Probes: Radioactive single-stranded DNA/RNA used to detect mutated genes via autoradiography.

Transgenic Animals

Animals with manipulated DNA (95% are mice).

Reasons for Production:
1. Study of normal physiology and development.
2. Study of diseases (models for cancer, Alzheimer's, etc.).
3. Biological products (e.g., Rosie, the first transgenic cow, produced milk with human alpha-lactalbumin).
4. Vaccine safety testing (e.g., Polio vaccine).
5. Chemical safety testing (toxicity testing).

Ethical Issues

GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee): Indian organisation that regulates GM research and safety.
Patents: Issues arise when companies patent resources used by indigenous people for centuries (e.g., Basmati Rice patent by a US company in 1997).
Biopiracy: Use of bio-resources by MNCs without proper authorisation or compensation to the countries/people concerned.
Indian Patents Bill: Includes provisions to prevent unauthorised exploitation of bio-resources and traditional knowledge.

Key Concepts

Biotechnology provides alternatives to agro-chemical based agriculture and organic farming.

Tissue Culture: Regenerating whole plants from explants (any part of a plant).

Totipotency: The capacity of a cell/explant to generate a whole plant.
Micro-propagation: Producing thousands of plants in short durations. Plants are somaclones (genetically identical).
Virus-free Plants: Obtained by culturing the meristem (apical/axillary), which remains free of virus even in infected plants.
Somatic Hybridisation: Fusion of isolated protoplasts from two different varieties (e.g., Pomato - tomato + potato).

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO): Plants, bacteria, fungi, and animals with altered genes.

Benefits: Abiotic stress tolerance, reduced pesticide reliance, reduced post-harvest losses, increased mineral usage efficiency, and enhanced nutritional value.

Golden Rice Golden rice is a transgenic variety of rice (Oryza sativa) produced to biosynthesize beta-carotene, a precursor of Vitamin A, in the edible parts of rice.

Benefits: Abiotic stress tolerance, reduced pesticide reliance, reduced post-harvest losses, increased mineral usage efficiency, and enhanced nutritional value (e.g., Golden Rice - Vitamin A enriched).

Bt Cotton:

Produced by Bacillus thuringiensis. Contains Bt toxin (coded by cry genes).

Toxin exists as inactive protoxins. Becomes active in the alkaline pH of the insect's gut, creating pores in the midgut and causing death.

cryIAc and cryIIAb control cotton bollworms; cryIAb controls corn borer.

Pest Resistant Plants:

RNA Interference (RNAi): Cellular defense in eukaryotes. Silences specific mRNA using complementary dsRNA.
Used to protect tobacco plants from the nematode Meloidogyne incognita.

Genetically Engineered Insulin:

Earlier extracted from cattle/pigs (caused allergies).
Human Insulin: Consists of two chains (A and B) linked by disulphide bonds.
Eli Lilly (1983): Produced A and B chains separately in E. coli plasmids and combined them to form human insulin. (C-peptide is removed during maturation).

Gene Therapy:

Correction of a gene defect in a child/embryo by delivering a normal gene.

ADA Deficiency Case The first clinical gene therapy was given in 1990 to a 4-year-old girl with adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency, caused by the deletion of the gene for adenosine deaminase.

ADA Deficiency (1990): First clinical gene therapy for a 4-year-old girl. Involves introducing functional ADA cDNA into the patient's lymphocytes using a retroviral vector.

Molecular Diagnosis:

PCR: Detects very low concentrations of pathogens (e.g., HIV, mutations in cancer) by nucleic acid amplification.
ELISA: Based on antigen-antibody interaction.
Probes: Radioactive single-stranded DNA/RNA used to detect mutated genes via autoradiography.

Animals with manipulated DNA (95% are mice).

Reasons for Production:

Study of normal physiology and development.
Study of diseases (models for cancer, Alzheimer's, etc.).
Biological products (e.g., Rosie, the first transgenic cow, produced milk with human alpha-lactalbumin).
Vaccine safety testing (e.g., Polio vaccine).
Chemical safety testing (toxicity testing).

GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee): Indian organisation that regulates GM research and safety.

Patents: Issues arise when companies patent resources used by indigenous people for centuries (e.g., Basmati Rice patent by a US company in 1997).

Biopiracy: Use of bio-resources by MNCs without proper authorisation or compensation to the countries/people concerned.

Indian Patents Bill: Includes provisions to prevent unauthorised exploitation of bio-resources and traditional knowledge.

Biotechnology and its Applications

Biotechnology and its Applications

Key Concepts

Applications in Agriculture

Applications in Medicine

Transgenic Animals

Ethical Issues

On this page

Biotechnology and its Applications

Biotechnology and its Applications

Key Concepts

Applications in Agriculture

Applications in Medicine

Transgenic Animals

Ethical Issues

On this page