Biotechnology and Its Applications

Any scientific application that uses biological systems, living creatures, or derivatives thereof to manufacture or alter products or processes for a specific use is referred to as biotechnology. It can also be defined as technology that deals with the industrial-scale production of biopharmaceuticals and biologicals using genetically modified microbes, fungi, plants and animals. Medicine, therapeutics, diagnostics, bioremediation, agriculture, waste management, food science, and energy production are all areas where it can be used.

The main concern areas of biotechnology include:

1. Improved microbes or a pure enzyme that can give better catalytic efficiency.
2. Providing a favourable environment for enzyme engineering for its catalysis
3. Downstream processing to obtain purified products like proteins, vaccines etc.

There are two core techniques that enable us to combine the genetic elements of two or more living cells:

1. Genetic engineering: it involves the alteration of genetic material (DNA, RNA) and insertion in the host organism to change its phenotype.
2. Bioprocess engineering: it involves the maintenance of sterile conditions to enable the growth of desired microbes for the manufacture of biotechnological products like antibiotics, vaccines, enzymes etc.

History

A primitive version of biotechnology was practised in past times by agriculturalists who used cross-pollination and cross-breeding to create higher-quality varieties of plants and animals. Biotechnology has previously been used to manufacture cheese, yoghurt, bread, beer  and wine through training and selective breeding animals, cultivating crops, and using microorganisms. Food production and domestication of animals dates back over ten thousand years. Rice, barley and wheat are some of the first cross-bred plants. When the process of fermentation was first discovered, several alcoholic beverages such as beer and wine were invented. Microorganisms, such as bacteria, yeast and moulds were later discovered to hydrolyze carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen, which led to fermentation. In the late 1800s, Louis Pasteur described the scientific evidence for fermentation for the first time. He demonstrated the germ theory, which describes the survival of microorganisms and their subsequent impacts on the fermentation process.

In 1928, Alexander Fleming isolated the first antibiotic, penicillin, from a mould called Penicillium notatum. In the 1930s, biotechnology became more focused on using surplus agricultural items to substitute imported goods or petrochemicals. In 1972 the first construction of an artificial Recombinant DNA molecule was done by Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer. In the 20th century significant increase in agricultural productivity was observed, which resulted in the introduction of improved high yielding varieties of crops, better irrigation practises, soil conservation techniques, and use of agrochemicals, i.e., fertilisers and pesticides.

Biotechnological Processes and Principles

The construction of recombinant DNA was done in the following steps:

1. The antibiotic-resistant genes were isolated by cutting a piece of DNA from a plasmid that had antibiotic resistance.
2. The DNA cutting was done by restriction enzymes, and the cut piece of DNA was linked with plasmid DNA with the help of a ligase enzyme.
3. These plasmid DNA act as the vectors which were transferred to the host organisms.
4. This makes a new combination of circular replicating DNA in-vitro, and it is known as Recombinant DNA.

There are three basic steps in genetically modified organisms:

• First is the identification of DNA with desirable genes
• Introduction of identified DNA into host, and
• Maintenance of introduced DNA in the host and transfer of the DNA to its progeny

Tools of Recombinant DNA technology

DNA manipulative enzymes include restriction enzymes, polymerases enzymes, ligase enzymes, vectors and host organisms

Applications of Biotechnology

In Agriculture

1. Agro chemical-based agriculture: It involves using agrochemicals that include a broad range of pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. It also includes synthetic fertilisers, hormones and other chemical growth agents.
2. Organic farming: In this case, farmers use manures, biofertilizers, biopesticides and biocontrols to increase crop production instead of using artificial fertilisers and pesticides. This helps them achieve good crop production without harming the natural environment.
3. Genetically engineered crop-based agriculture (GM plants): It involves transgenic plants that are useful in many ways. These plants are made tolerant to abiotic stress (cold, drought, salt, heat). The process also helps reduce dependence on chemical pesticides, increase the efficiency of mineral usage by plants, decrease post-harvest losses, and enhance the nutritional value of food. Vitamin A enriched rice, also known as Golden rice, is one example. Other examples include insecticide-resistant Bt cotton, Flavr, savr tomatoes, etc.

In Medicine

The recombinant DNA technologies have enabled the mass production of recombinant drugs and therapeutics with no or fewer side effects.

1. Recombinant therapeutics include human insulin, erythropoietin, hepatitis B vaccine, human interleukin, Alpha interferon, Gamma interferon, blood factor VIII, follicle-stimulating hormone, hirudin etc.
2. Gene therapy cures inherited disease by providing the patient with the correct copy of the defective genes. With advancements in biotechnology, trials are made to treat any disease by introducing cloned genes into the patient.
3. Molecular diagnosis of disease by the modern techniques DNA fingerprinting, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

In Industry

1. Transgenic goats were made by transferring spliced spider genes to the lactating goats, and they were able to manufacture silk along with the milk. The tiny silks strands were extracted from the milk and were used in weaving thread and in making military uniforms, medical micro sutures and tennis racket strings.
2. Toxicity sensitive transgenic animals have been produced for chemical safety testing. Microorganisms have been engineered to produce a wide variety of proteins, which can produce enzymes that can speed up industrial chemical reactions.
3. Engineered microorganisms for the fermentation of ethanol, butanol and other fuels and manufacturing enzymes used in oil production.
4. Enhanced or improved algal strains for biofuel production.

Transgenic Animals

Transgenic animals are those animals that have their DNA manipulated to possess and express extra genes of our interests. For example, rabbits, rats, pigs, sheep, monkeys etc. Dolly is the first engineered sheep to be successfully cloned from an adult somatic cell where no genetic modification was carried. Like Dolly, Polly and Molly were also cloned at Roslin Institute of Edinburg, Scotland. The first transgenic sheep to produce Alpha 1 antitrypsin was Tracy.

Bioremediation

The use of microorganism metabolism to remove pollutants from the environment is termed bioremediation. It is classified into in-situ and ex-situ. In-situ bioremediation involves treating the contaminated material at the site, while ex-situ bioremediation involves the removal of contaminated materials to be treated elsewhere. Pseudomonas putida, or superbugs, was developed by M Chakraborty and is used for cleaning oil spills.

Conclusion

Biotechnology refers to the application of technology to biology, molecular biology, genetics, and a variety of other biological subfields. Biotechnology is the use of cellular and biomolecular processes to develop technologies and products that benefit both humans and the environment. We’ve been doing this for a long time by manufacturing useful foods like bread and cheese, as well as storing dairy products. Recent biotechnology has produced ground-breaking goods and technologies to combat diseases, decrease environmental damage, use less and cleaner energy, create safer environments, and make industrial manufacturing processes more efficient.