Biotechnology: History
Biotechnology: History
Biotechnology: History
History
microorganisms
like Clostridium
acetobutylicum, Lecuonostoc
Lowering the temperature for cleaning clothes and potentially saving $4.1
billion annually;
Using biotech crops that need fewer applications of pesticides and that
allow farmers to reduce tilling farmland;
Developing crops with enhanced nutrition profiles that solve vitamin and
nutrient deficiencies;
Improving food and crop oil content to help improve cardiovascular health.
Source: Healing, Fueling, Feeding: How Biotechnology is Enriching Your Life
gene
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, bio-fuels),
and
environmental uses
.
1. 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 histidineresidues
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 - biopharmaceutics. 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.
Genetically modified foods are foods produced from organisms that have had
specific changes introduced into their DNA with 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 asselective 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
3. 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 bio-fuels. In doing so, biotechnology uses renewable raw materials and may
contribute to lowering greenhouse gas emissions and moving away from a
petrochemical-based economy.
4. Regulation
The regulation of genetic engineering concerns approaches taken by governments
to assess and manage the risks associated with the use of genetic