BIO-TECHNOLOGY & IT’S APPLICATION D.K.VERMA K.V NO.1 KOTA

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BIO-TECHNOLOGY HAS DEFINED AS INTEGGRATION OF NATURAL SCIENCE AND ORGANISM;CELL ;PARTS ,THEREOF AND MOLECULAR ANALOGUES FOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. IT INCLUDES BOTH OLD AND MODERN BIO-TECNOLOGY.

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Biotechnology is engaged in producing genetically modified organism –microbes;fungi;plants and animals.; for industrial extraction of bio pharmaceutical; and biological; agriculture; processed food ‘bio remediation waste treatment and energy production. For industrial production of biochemical; there are three critical areas of research; (1)catalyst (2) optimum-condition (3)down stream processing

Bio technology is applied for ;- (1)Therapeutics. (2)Diagnostic (3)GM crops for agriculture (4)Processed food (5)Bio-remediation (6)Waste treatment (7)Energy production (A) Bio –tech applications in agriculture (a)agro-chemical based agriculture (b)Organic agriculture (c)genetically engineered crops based agriculture.

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*The green revolution succeeded for maximum production of crops due to –(a)Use of improved variation.(b)Use of agro-chemicals (fertilizers).*by using existing varieties of crops, followed by conventional method of breeding the further production was not possible.*agro-chemicals further become pollutants' of soil and water, and are expensive for the farmers.*the uses of genetically modified plants are followed (1.)Tolerant against abiotic stresses (cold ,drought, salt , heat).(2)Reduces reliance on chemical pesticides (pest-resistant crops).(3)Reduces post harvest losses.(4)Increases efficiency of minerals used by plants (this prevents early exhaustion of fertility of soil).(5)Enhances nutritional value of food,e.g,-vitamin ‘A’ enrichedRice(golden rice).

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*GM is also used to create tailor-made plants to supply alternative recourses to industries as starches, fuels and pharmaceuticals .*other applications of biotechnology in agriculture are as follows-(1)Bt cotton (bacillus thuringiensis).*some strains of Bt produce proteins that kill some insects like-l,(tobacco,budwarm ,armyworms ) coleopterans (beetles) an epidopterans d dipterans (flies, mosquitoes).*Bt forms proteins crystals which contain a toxic insecticidal proteins .*Bt toxins are initially inactive protoxins but after ingestion by the insect their inactive toxin becomes active due to the alkaline ph of the gut which solublise the crystals •The activated toxin binds to the surface of midgut epithelial cells thus creating pores which causes cell swelling and lysis further leading to death of the insects.•Specific Bt toxin genes obtained from Bt are used in several crop plants like cotton.

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(2)Pest resistant plants*A nematode Meloidegyne incognitia insects the roots of tobacco plants which reduce the production .*It can be prevented by using RNA interference (RNAi) process which is checked by silencing of specific mRNA due to a complementary dsRNA.*dsRNA binds and prevents translation of the mRNA (silencing). *By using Agro bacterium vectors ,nematode-specific genes were introduced into the host plants which produces both sense and anti-sense RNA in the host cells.*these two RNA’s are complementary to each other and forms a double stranded (dsRNA) that initiate RNAi hence silenced the specific mRNA of the nematode.*the parasite cannot survive in transgenic host ,so prevents the plants from pests.

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*The toxin is coded by a gene called cry which are of various types. Example-proteins encoded by the genes cryIAc and cryIIAb control the cotton bollworms ,that of cryIAb controls corn borer.*Bt-tobacco was first cultured to kill hornworm (Manduka sexta).

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(B)biotechnological application in medicine*The recombinant DNA technology is used for production of therapeutic drug which are safe and effective.*it avoids unwanted immunological responses, commonly observed with similar products isolated from non-human sources.*about thirty recombinant therapeutics have been approved from human-use in the world including India.*Genetically engineered insulin*Insulin contains two short polypeptide chain –chain A and chain B linked by disulphide bridges.*In human ,initially insulin is synthesized as a pro-hormone (like a pro-enzyme ,the pro-hormone is also processed to become mature and functional hormone) and contains an extra stretch called C peptide.

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*C peptide is absent in mature insulin and is removed during maturation into insulin.*Production of insulin was achieved by Eli Lilly company of America (1983) that prepared two DNA sequence ,introduced them in plasmids of E.coli cells to produce insulin chains A and B.*The extracted chain A and B were combined by creating disulfide bonds to form human insulin.

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Gene therapy*Here genes are inserted into the cells and tissues of an individual to cure some hereditary genetic diseases.*By insertion of normal genes, the defective mutant allele of the genes are replaced.*viruses are also used to attack the host and introduce their genetic material.*For the first time in 1990, Michaele blease and W.french Andresco of National Institute of health, bethesda ,USA, attempted gene therapy on 4 year old girl with adenosine deaminase deficiency (ADA).*Due to the deficiency of (ADA) ,the diseases SCID occurred.*In some cases it was cured by bone marrow transplantation, but it is not fully curative.*Lymphocytes were grown in a culture and functional ADA ,cDNA was introduced in those Lymphocytes using a retroviral vector.* Lymphocytes were transferred into the patient’s body which require periodic infusion of such genetically engineered Lymphocytes.*for permanent cure, gene isolated from the bone marrow cells producing ADA at early embryonic stage.*Other diseases like-cystic fibrosis ,haemophilia,AIDs,cancer,Parkinson’s, etc,are also curable by gene therapy .

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Molecular diagnosis *For early diagnosis of diseases ,recombinant DNA molecules and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and enzyme linked Immune- sorbent Assay(ELISA)are used.*Expression of cloned gene produce recombinant proteins used in sensitive diagnostic technique like ELISA(enzyme liked Immuno-sorbent assay).*Cloned genes are also used as a ‘probe’ to detect the presence of complementary DNA strand.*A piece of single stranded DNA acts as a probe ,attached with radioactive molecule for complementary DNA detection by autoradiography.*Normal or mutant gene is detected by this method. To detect HIV in AIDs patients, PCR technique is used.

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(C)Transgenic Animals*Animals that have their DNA manipulated to posses and express an extra (foreign) gene are known as transgenic animals. Transgenic rats, rabbits ,pigs, sheep ,cows are produced.*there are some reasons for using transgenic animals as follows-(1)Normal physiology and development*using to study how gene are regulated, affect the normal functional of the body and its development information about the biological role of the factor in the body such as insulin-like growth factor. (2)Study of disease*Study of genes which are responsible for diseases in human and their remedy.*Transgenic models exist for many human diseases like-cancer,crystic fibrosis ,rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer’s.

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Transgenic animals

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(3)Biological products*Useful biological products can be produced by introducing the portion of DNA (or gene) which codes for a particular products.*Such products are like human proteins used to treat emphysema.Treatment of phenylketonuria(PKU) and cystic fibers diseasesIs also cured.*In 1997 ,the first transgenic cow,rosie,produced human protein-enriched milk (2.4 gram) . (4)Vaccine safety*Transgenic mice are development to test safety vaccines use on human like-babies vaccine.(5)Chemical safety testing*transgenic animals are made ,that carry genes which make them more sensitive to the toxic substance than non-transgenic animals.

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(D)Ethical issues*Genetic modification of organization show unpredictable result when such organization are introduced into the ecosystem.*The modification and use of living organisms for public services (as food and medicine sources ,for example) create problem with patient granted. *Government of India formed the organization like-GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approved Committee) to decide the validity and safety of GM-organisms for public safety.*Angered public is questioning that certain companies granted patents for products and technology which are grown, identified and used by farmers and indigenous people related to a specific region/countries.*Rice is being used since thousands of years in Asia's agricultural history in which 2,00,000 varieties are in India alone.

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*Basmati is unique for its aroma and flavour whose 27 varieties are cultivated in India .*In1997, an American company got patent rights for basmati rice through the US and abroad.*This new variety of Basmati was derived from Indian farmers varieties .*Indian Basmati was crossed with semi-dwarf varieties and claimed as an invention or a novelty.*Besides Basmati rice, now attempts are in progress for turmeric and neem.*Our rich legacy will be reduced by other countries/individuals if we do counter these patent application.

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Biopiracy*It refers to the use of bio-resources by multinational companies and other without proper authorization from the countries and concerned people without compensatory payment.*Generally, financially rich nations are poor in biodiversity and traditional knowledge ,while developing and under-developed world is rich in biodiversity and traditional knowledge related to bio-resources. *Traditional knowledge related to bio-resources can be exploited to develop modern applications are used to save time ,efforts and expendeture during their commercialization.*Some nations are developing laws to prevent such unauthorized exploitation of bio-resources and traditional knowledge.

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*To check these problems ,Indian parliament has recently cleared the second amendment of the Indian patents bill, that takes such issues into consideration

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Transgenic plants