MODERN APPLICATIONS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY OMICS

Suraj Jagtap 11CHE1059

Introduction

Use of biological processes in our daily life is not new thing we are applying it from many thousands of years. We began growing crops and raising animals 10,000 years ago to provide a stable supply of food and clothing. We have used the biological processes of microorganisms for 6,000 years to make useful food products, such as bread and cheese, and to preserve dairy products. Why is biotechnology suddenly receiving so much attention? Lets see

Biotechnology

Biotechnology : Lets break the word into its roots i.e. Bio + Technology. It says the technology which uses biological activities to obtain or to improve something useful product. Its not just the single technology it is the bunch of the technologies. It has lots of applications in various fields such as agriculture, medicines, environment, genetics, foods, biochemical industry, cloning and so on.

Green Biotechnology

It is just the name given to the biotechnology used in the agriculture. Plants, bacteria, fungi and animals whose genes have been altered by manipulation are called Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). These modifications are carried out to:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Increase the yield. Make crops more resistible to environmental stress. Such as cold, draught, heat. Reduce dependence on chemical pesticides and insecticides by producing pest resistant plants. Reduce the losses during post harvesting. Enhance the nutritional value.

Agriculture

Increases in the crop yield is the most obvious application of biotechnology in agriculture but its the most difficult one. One or many genes are transferred from one species to another to make the new crop variety with better characteristics that will increase the yield. But many of the yield characteristics are associated with the large no of genes and each of these have very small effect on the yield; so a lot of work to be done on this area.

Pest resisting crops

They are developed to reduce the dependence of the farmers on the agrochemical. Some common examples are BT cotton, BT corn, brinjals, potatoes. BT toxin is produced by a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis. Some strains of Bacillus thuringiensis produce proteins that kill certain insects. Bt toxin gene has been cloned from the bacteria and been expressed in plants to provide resistance to insects without the need for insecticides; in effect created a bio-pesticide.

How it works..
B. thuringiensis forms protein crystals during a particular phase of their growth. These crystals contain a toxic insecticidal protein. Actually, the Bt toxin protein exist as inactive protoxins but once an insect ingest the inactive toxin, it is converted into an active form of toxin due to the alkaline pH which solubilize the crystals. The activated toxin binds to the surface of epithelial cells and create pores that cause cell swelling and eventually cause death of the insect.

Transgenic Animals

Animals that have had their DNA manipulated to possess and express an foreign gene are known as transgenic animals. Transgenic rats, rabbits, pigs, sheep, cows and fish have been produced.
1.

2.

3.

Transgenic animals can be specifically designed to allow the study of how genes are regulated, and how they affect the normal functions of the body and its development. Study of disease: to increase our understanding of how genes contribute to the development of disease, and investigation of new treatments for disease. Vaccine safety: Transgenic mice are being developed for use in testing the safety of vaccines before they are used on humans. Also they are used to testing the toxicity of the drugs.

Animal Biotechnology

In animals, biotechnology techniques are being used to improve genetics for pharmaceutical or industrial applications. Molecular biology techniques can help drive breeding programs by directing selection of superior animals. Animal cloning, allows for genetic replication of selected animals. Genetic engineering, using recombinant DNA, alters the genetic makeup of the animal for selected purposes, including producing therapeutic proteins in cows and goats. Endangered species conservation.

Health Care

Protein Pharmaceuticals Vaccines & Therapeutic Agents Diagnostics: Protein or DNA Based Gene Therapy Stem Cell Research Cancer Treatment

Genetic Engineering

Gene: basic physical and functional units of heredity which carries information. It is the manipulation of genetic material of various organisms i.e. the transfer of gene from one organism to another to improve or develop the properties of organisms. It consists of some processes such as
1. 2. 3. 4.

Isolation of gene Insertion of gene to a vector Transfer of vector And to wait till the gene becomes active

Gene Therapy

Insertion of a new healthy gene into the organism to provide needed proteins, hormones etc. Gene is carried into the host by a viral vector that has been disabled. Can provide relief for many genetic diseases Gene therapy may be used for treating genetic & acquired diseases like cancer and AIDS by using normal genes to supplement or replace defective genes.

Genetically Engineered Insulin

Insulin used for diabetes was earlier extracted from pancreas of slaughtered cattle and pigs. But it could develop allergy or other type of damage to the proteins. In 1983, Eli Lilly an American company prepared two DNA sequences corresponding to A and B, chains of human insulin and introduced them in plasmids of E. coli to produce insulin chains. Chains A and B were produced separately, extracted and combined by creating disulfide bonds to form human insulin.

DNA Fingerprinting

DNA fingerprinting is a DNA-based identification system that relies on genetic differences among individuals or organisms. DNA typing has become one of the most powerful and widely known applications of biotechnology today. Applications
1. 2.

3.

Forensic uses: in criminal investigations Paternity Wildlife management

Cloning

Cloning technology allows us to generate a population of genetically identical molecules, cells, plants or animals asexually. Because cloning technology can be used to produce molecules, cells, plants and some animals, its applications are extraordinarily broad. Virtually all applications in biotechnology, from drug discovery and development to the production of transgenic crops, depend on gene cloning.

There are two different ways to make an exact genetic copy of an organism
1.

Artificial embryo twinning (AET)

The old-fashioned way to clone. Researchers manually separate a very early embryo into individual cells and then allow each cell to divide and develop on its own.

2.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)

involves the isolation of a somatic (body) cell, which is any cell other then those used for reproduction.

Biosensors

Biosensor technology couples our knowledge of biology with advances in microelectronics. These are devices that rely on the specificity of cells and molecules to identify and measure substances at extremely low concentrations. Applications:
1. 2. 3. 4.

Glucose monitoring in diabetes patients Detection of pesticides Detection of pathogens measure the nutritional value, freshness and safety of food.

Bioremediation

Use of biological processes to solve environmental problems. Pretreating and softening wood chips prior to pulping. And removing pine pitch from pulp to improve the efficiency of paper-making. Enzymatically bleaching pulp rather than using chlorine. De-inking of recycled paper. Using wood-processing wastes for energy production Remediating soils contaminated with wood preservatives and coal tar. Waste water treatment using biological activities. Phytoremediation: use of plants to breakdown the pollutants.

Omics

Omics refer to field of study in biology

Proteomics
1. 2. 3. 4.

Genomics
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Cognitive Genomics Functional Genomics Metagenomics Personal Genomics Epigenomics Transcriptomcis

Immunoproteomics Nutriproteomics Proteogenomics Structural genomics metabonomics

Metabolomics
1.

Nutrigenomics

Nutrigenomics is the science that examines the response of individuals to food compounds using post-genomic and related technologies. Its aim is to understand how the body responds to the foods they consume. Nutrigenomics focuses on the relationship between dietary nutrients and gene expression. Nutrigenomics applies high throughput molecular biology techniques including sequencing and genotyping (genomics), proteomics and metabolomics.

Genomics and proteomics

Genomics is the scientific study of the genome and the role genes play, individually and collectively, in determining structure, directing growth and development, and controlling biological functions. Genomics focuses on an organism's genetic makeup, while proteomics focuses on gene products. Both are interrelated .

Ethical issues

The manipulation of living organisms by the human race cannot go on any further, without regulation. Some ethical standards are required to evaluate the morality of all human activities that might help or harm living organisms. Therefore, the Indian Government has set up organizations such as GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee), which will make decisions regarding the validity of GM research and the safety of introducing GM-organisms for public services.

References

NCERT biology books Wikipedia The Guide to Biotechnology -by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) www.google.com

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