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 ‘theft of various natural products and then selling them by getting 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: Biotechnological Application in Agriculture
- Totipotency is the basis of tissue culture.
- Micropropagation produces many plants rapidly.
- Somaclones are plants obtained through tissue culture.
- Meristem culture helps produce virus-free plants.
- Somatic hybridisation involves the fusion of protoplasts.
- Golden rice is an example of a nutritionally improved GM crop.
- Bt cotton protects against bollworms.
- Bt protoxin becomes active in the alkaline gut of insects.
- RNAi silences specific mRNAs and helps control pests such as Meloidogyne incognita.
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.
- Biopiracy is the unethical, unauthorised commercial exploitation of regional biological resources and traditional knowledge without fair compensation.
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.
