Unit – 9B
Biotechnology covering
Biotechnology is a technology that utilizes biological systems, living organisms or parts of this to develop or create different products.
Brewing and baking bread are examples of processes that fall within the concept of biotechnology (use of yeast (= living organism) to produce the desired product). Such traditional processes usually utilize the living organisms in their natural form (or further developed by breeding), while the more modern form of biotechnology will generally involve a more advanced modification of the biological system or organism.
With the development of genetic engineering in the 1970s, research in biotechnology (and other related areas such as medicine, biology etc.) developed rapidly because of the new possibility to make changes in the organisms' genetic material (DNA).
Today, biotechnology covers many different disciplines (eg. genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, etc.). New technologies and products are developed every year within the areas of medicine (development of new medicines and therapies), agriculture (development of genetically modified plants, bio-fuels, biological treatment) or industrial biotechnology (production of chemicals, paper, textiles and food).
Totipotency
Totipotency is the genetic potential of a plant cell to produce the entire plant. In other words, Totipotency is the cell characteristic in which the potential for forming all the cell types in the adult organism is retained.
The basis of tissue culture is to grow large number of cells in a sterile controlled environment. The cells are obtained from stem, root or other plant parts and are allowed to grow in culture medium containing mineral nutrients, vitamins and hormones to encourage cell division and growth. As a result, the cells in culture will produce an unorganised proliferative mass of cells which is known as callus tissue.
The cells that comprise the callus mass are totipotent. Thus a callus tissue may be in a broader sense totipotent i.e, it may be able to regenerated back to normal plant given certain manipulations of the medium and cultural environment. Truly speaking, totipency of the cell is manifested through the process of differentiation and the harmones in this process play the major role than any other manipulations.
CELL MANIPULATION
Definition
The collection of means for precise control of the static or dynamic position of individual biological cells with the purpose of observing, probing, and/or altering the cellular responses is cell manipulation.
Overview
Different techniques for manipulating cells in micro-fluidic devices have been proposed for a wide variety of applications. The purpose of this essay is to systematize the techniques by the physical principles and forces used for controlling cell position. The reader is encouraged to follow the links to chapters describing in more detail how the interaction between cells and mechanical and biochemical entity, or with electrical, magnetic, or optical fields can be implemented at micro-scale for the handling of cells for various applications.
Tissue culture, a method of biological research in which fragments of tissue from an animal or plant are transferred to an artificial environment in which they can continue to survive and function. The cultured tissue may consist of a single cell, a population of cells, or a whole or part of an organ. Cells in culture may multiply; change size, form, or function; exhibit specialized activity (muscle cells, for example, may contract); or interact with other cells.
Tissue culture is defined as the growth of cells and tissues of the organism out of its body. Many mediums are required to accomplish the task for example semi-solid, liquid and growth medium. Broth agar is considered as best for cell and tissue culture. It consists of nutrients, sugar, vitamins and hormones. These components in the gel make the plant to grow rapidly and produce new plants.
Culture Environments
Cells may be grown in a culture medium of biological origin such as blood serum or tissue extract, in a chemically defined synthetic medium, or in a mixture of the two. A medium must contain proper proportions of the necessary nutrients for the cells to be studied and must be appropriately acid or alkaline. Cultures are usually grown either as single layers of cells on a glass or plastic surface or as a suspension in a liquid or semisolid medium.
To initiate a culture, a tiny sample of the tissue is dispersed on or in the medium, and the flask, tube, or plate containing the culture is then incubated, usually at a temperature close to that of the tissue’s normal environment. Sterile conditions are maintained to prevent contamination with microorganisms. Cultures are sometimes started from single cells, resulting in the production of uniform biological populations called clones. Single cells typically give rise to colonies within 10 to 14 days of being placed under culture conditions.
Historical background
Historical background of tissue culture is that in 1885, Wilhelm roux extracted small part of the madullary plate form the embryo of a chicken and cultured it. For several days he put this culture under observation and established the basis of tissue culture. Then in 1907, ross granville Harrison prepared a medium of clotted lymph and placed frog nerves in it. He observed the growth of the nerve cells in that medium. In plants tissue culture is used to increase the growth of the plants. The laboratory atmosphere is best suited for the plant tissue culture, because it is a sterile and free of germs.
Steps involved in tissue culture
Plant tissue culture is beneficial agriculturally. By using the techniques of tissue culture, many thousands of plants can be produced in a very short time. This technique is also useful in the sense, that by using only a single parent plant, many planst can be produced. As all the procedures of tissue culture takes place in the sterile environment that is why it is difficult for the gems or insects to attack the crops and growth can be increased.
Plant tissue can also be used at cellular level. Agriculturists can observe the cells of the plants and can make certain changes in the genome to make them herbicide resistant.
Like plants, animal cells can also culture. Following steps takes place in animal tissue culture
There is a difference of animal cell culture than plants tissue culture. Undergoing the limited number of cell cycles, animal cells begin to degrade. When the animal cell culture is produced in the medium, there is a lot of need of changing the medium otherwise animal cell will not grow properly. There is difficulty of growing the animal cell and tissue culture because unlike plants which need nutrients and other components, animal cells need vitamins, proteins and other body components which are slightly difficult to provide to the medium.
Recombinant DNA is defined as the joining together of DNA molecules from different organisms and inserting it into a host organism to produce new genetic combinations that are of value to science, medicine, agriculture and industry.
Recombinant DNA Technology
Recombinant DNA technology comprises altering genetic material outside an organism to obtain enhanced and desired characteristics in living organisms or as their products. This technology involves the insertion of DNA fragments from a variety of sources, having a desirable gene sequence via appropriate vector. Manipulation in organism's genome is carried out either through the introduction of one or several new genes and regulatory elements or by decreasing or blocking the expression of endogenous genes through recombining genes and elements.
Applications of recombinant technology
Recombinant DNA technology is playing a vital role in improving health conditions by developing new vaccines and pharmaceuticals. The treatment strategies are also improved by developing diagnostic kits, monitoring devices, and new therapeutic approaches. Synthesis of synthetic human insulin and erythropoietin by genetically modified bacteriaand production of new types of experimental mutant mice for research purposes are one of the leading examples of genetic engineering in health. Likewise, genetic engineering strategies have been employed to tackle the environmental issues such as converting wastes into biofuels and bioethanol, cleaning the oil spills, carbon, and other toxic wastes, and detecting arsenic and other contaminants in drinking water. The genetically modified microbes are also effectively used in biomining and bioremediation.
The advent of recombinant DNA technology revolutionized the development in biology and led to a series of dramatic changes. It offered new opportunities for innovations to produce a wide range of therapeutic products with immediate effect in the medical genetics and biomedicine by modifying microorganisms, animals, and plants to yield medically useful substances. Most biotechnology pharmaceuticals are recombinant in nature which plays a key role against human lethal diseases. The pharmaceutical products synthesized through recombinant DNA technology, completely changed the human life in such a way that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved more recombinant drugs in 1997 than in the previous several years combined, which includes anaemia, AIDS, cancers (Kaposi's sarcoma, leukemia, and colorectal, kidney, and ovarian cancers), hereditary disorders (cystic fibrosis, familial hypercholesterolemia, Gaucher's disease, haemophilia A, severe combined immunodeficiency disease, and Turnor's syndrome), diabetic foot ulcers, diphtheria, genital warts, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, human growth hormone deficiency, and multiple sclerosis. Considering the plants develop multigene transfer, site-specific integration and specifically regulated gene expression are crucial advanced approaches. Transcriptional regulation of endogenous genes, their effectiveness in the new locations, and the precise control of transgene expression are major challenges in plant biotechnology which need further developments for them to be used successfully.
Food and Agriculture
Recombinant DNA technology has major uses which made the manufacturing of novel enzymes possible which are suitable in conditions for specified food-processing. Several important enzymes including lipases and amylases are available for the specific productions because of their particular roles and applications in food industries. Microbial strains production is another huge achievement that became possible with the help of recombinant DNA technology. A number of microbial strains have been developed which produce enzyme through specific engineering for production of proteases. Certain strains of fungi have been modified so that their ability of producing toxic materials could be reduced. Lysozymes are the effective agents to get rid of bacteria in food industries. They prevent the colonization of microbial organisms. It is suitable agent for food items including fruits, vegetables, cheese, and meat to be stored as it increases their shelf life
Furthermore, tobacco plants can be engineered genetically to produce human collagen. High yielding molecular proteins is one of the major tasks under consideration in field of recombinant DNA technology
Genetic modification is needed in facilitating gene by gene introduction of well-known characters. It allows access to extended range of genes from an organism. Potato, beans, eggplant, sugar beet, squash, and many other plants are being developed with desirable characters, for example, tolerance of the herbicide glyphosate, resistance to insects, drought resistance, disease and salt tolerance. Nitrogen utilization, ripening, and nutritional versatility like characters have also been enhanced
Health and Diseases
Recombinant DNA technology has wide spectrum of applications in treating diseases and improving health conditions. The following sections describe the important breakthroughs of recombinant DNA technology for the improvement of human health:
Environment
Genetic engineering has wide applications in solving the environmental issues. The release of genetically engineered microbes, for example, Pseudomonas fluorescens strain designated HK44. HK44 serves as a reporter for naphthalene bioavailability and biodegradation whereas its bioluminescence signalling ability makes it able to be used as an online tool for in situ monitoring of bioremediation processes
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