Definitions [4]
Definition: Transgenic Animal
A transgenic animal is an animal whose genome has been artificially modified to contain one or more genes from another species.
Define the term:
Bioethics
Bioethics is the branch of ethics that deals with moral principles and issues arising from advances in biology, medicine, and life sciences.
Definition: Bioethics
Bioethics are a set of standards that may be used to regulate our activities in relation to the biological world.
Definition: Biopiracy
'Biopiracy' is defined as 'the theft of various natural products and then selling them by getting a patent without giving any benefits or compensation back to the host country’.
or
It is an unauthorised misappropriation of any biological resource and indigenous knowledge.
Key Points
Key Points: Critical Areas of Research
- Biotechnology involves the large-scale production of biopharmaceuticals using genetically modified microbes, fungi, plants, and animals.
- Applications include diagnostics, therapeutics, waste treatment, bioremediation, processed food, energy production, and GM crops.
- Three critical research areas - (a) best catalyst (improved microbe/enzyme), (b) optimal conditions for catalyst, (c) downstream processing to purify proteins.
- Biotechnology enhances the quality of human life, particularly in food production and health.
- Downstream processing - technologies used to purify the final protein or organic compound after the biotechnological process.
Key Points: Applications of Biotechnology in Agriculture
- While the Green Revolution significantly increased food production using agrochemicals, biotechnology offers a sustainable alternative to overcome yield limitations and chemical pollution.
- Tissue culture enables micropropagation, allowing for the rapid, large-scale production of genetically identical and disease-free plants from small tissue samples.
- Somatic hybridisation allows scientists to fuse the cell-wall-free protoplasts of two distinct plant varieties to create new hybrids with combined desirable traits.
- Genetically modified crops are engineered to possess highly beneficial characteristics, including enhanced nutritional value and increased tolerance to harsh environmental stresses.
- Agricultural biotechnology drastically reduces the reliance on harmful chemical pesticides by developing inherently pest-resistant plants, such as Bt cotton.
Difference Between Bt Cotton and Resistant Plants
| Bt Cotton | Pest-Resistant Plants (RNAi) |
|---|---|
| Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) produces insecticidal proteins toxic to pests like lepidopterans. | RNA interference (RNAi) is used to control pests like nematodes (e.g., Meloidogyne incognita). |
| Bt toxin is produced as inactive protoxin in bacteria. | dsRNA is introduced to silence specific pest genes. |
| In the insect gut (alkaline pH), protoxin activates and kills cells. | dsRNA matches pest mRNA → gene silencing. |
| Activated toxin damages the midgut → insect death. | Prevents essential protein formation → pest dies. |
| Bt genes (e.g., cry1Ac, cry1Ab) are inserted into crops. | Genes introduced via vectors produce dsRNA in plants. |
| Effective against pests like cotton bollworms. | Provides resistance against nematodes and parasites. |
Key Points: Applications of Biotechnology in Health and Medicine
- Recombinant DNA technology allows for the mass production of safe therapeutic proteins, eliminating the allergic reactions associated with earlier animal-derived medicines.
- Genetically engineered human insulin is produced by separately synthesising the A and B chains in E. coli and linking them with disulphide bonds.
- Biotechnology facilitates the development of recombinant subunit vaccines, which use specific pathogen antigens to safely stimulate the immune system.
- Transgenic plants can be engineered to produce cost-effective edible vaccines that deliver injection-free mucosal and systemic immunity upon consumption.
- Gene therapy treats genetic disorders like ADA deficiency (SCID) by using retroviral vectors to insert a functional gene into a patient's extracted lymphocytes.
- Patients receiving gene therapy for ADA deficiency require periodic infusions of genetically corrected lymphocytes because these cells have a limited lifespan.
- Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a highly sensitive molecular diagnostic tool that amplifies trace amounts of DNA or RNA to detect diseases before clinical symptoms arise.
- Molecular diagnostics also use ELISA for mass screening via antigen-antibody reactions and DNA probes to detect specific genetic mutations through hybridisation.
Key Points: Transgenic Animal
- Transgenic animals have artificially modified genomes containing specific foreign genes from other species.
- They are produced by isolating a desired gene, inserting it into a host embryo, and growing it into a complete animal expressing the new trait.
- They serve as essential living models for studying normal physiology, understanding complex diseases, and testing the safety of vaccines and chemicals.
- They function as biological factories for therapeutic products, such as "Rosie", the first transgenic cow that produced human protein-enriched milk.
- Mice are the most widely used models in disease research, while other animals such as sheep, pigs, and fish are utilised for medical and agricultural advancements.
Key Points: Bioethics
- Bioethics sets moral standards to safely regulate biotechnology and prevent the misuse of biological resources.
- Major ethical concerns focus on preventing animal suffering in research and avoiding the ecological risks of cross-species gene transfer.
- Biosafety protocols are essential to protect human health and the environment from the unpredictable effects of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
- The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) strictly evaluates and regulates the safe release of genetically engineered products into the environment.
Key Points: Biopiracy
- Biopiracy is the unauthorised use or patenting of biological resources and traditional knowledge without giving compensation to the original owners.
- It mainly occurs when developed countries exploit the rich biodiversity and traditional knowledge of developing countries.
- Traditional knowledge includes information about agriculture, medicines, and conservation practices passed through generations.
- Biopiracy harms indigenous communities by denying them rights, benefits, and recognition for their knowledge.
- Common examples include the patenting of neem, basmati rice, and turmeric (haldi) by foreign companies, which were later challenged and revoked.
