Words: 560
By doing so, pharmacologists 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. Biotechnology has contributed to the discovery and manufacturing of traditional small molecule pharmaceutical drugs as well as drugs that are the product of biotechnology – bio pharmaceutics. Modern biotechnology can e 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 Genetic developed synthetic humankind 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. Genetic testing allows the genetic diagnosis of vulnerabilities to inherited diseases, and can also be used to determine a child’s parentage (genetic mother and father) or in general a arson’s ancestry.
In addition to studying chromosomes to the level of individual genes, genetic testing in a broader sense includes biochemical tests for the possible presence of genetic diseases, or mutant forms of genes associated with Increased risk of developing genetic disorders. Genetic testing Identifies changes In chromosomes, genes, or proteins. Most of the time, testing Is used to find changes that are associated with Inherited disorders. The results of a genetic test can confirm or rule out a suspected genetic condition or help determine a person’s chance of ere in use.
These techniques have allowed for the introduction of new crop traits as well as a far rater control over a food’s genetic structure than previously afforded by methods such as selective breeding and mutation breeding. Commercial sale of genetically modified foods began in 1994, when Challenge first marketed its Flavor Save 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.