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Biotechnology Is used to Improve the living of organisms. Biotechnology can be defined as the use of technology to produce products and involve the use of living things to improve the life of humans. “Modern biotechnology provides breakthrough products and technologies to combat debilitating and rare diseases, reduce our environmental footprint, feed the hungry, use less and cleaner energy, and have safer, cleaner and more efficient Industrial manufacturing processes. “l Biotechnology has been used for many centuries. The earliest form of biotechnology is the domestication of animals and the production of food for humans.
Now technology involves molecular genetics, which genetically alter animals and plants for the benefits of humans. Biotechnology is used in the modification of microorganisms, animals, plants, human gene therapy, reproduction cloning and stem cells. Biotechnology uses varies techniques to make many products such as DNA recombinant techniques, gel electrophoresis, northern and western blotting, enzyme linked misbegotten assay, and polymerase chain reaction. Biotechnology uses the DNA recombinant techniques to introduce genetic materials into animals and plants.
Gel electrophoresis is a basic technique used in many biotechnology experiments to operate proteins, DNA, and RNA. Northern blotting is used to find the DNA of interest, while Southern blotting Is used to find the proteins of interest. Enzyme linked Misbegotten Is used In biotechnology to detect specific antigens and antibodies. Polymerase chain reaction Is used to make copies of a certain DNA. These techniques are the bases of biotechnology. Biotechnology is used when experimenting with microorganisms. Microorganisms are used to benefit humans in a lot of ways.
Through the use of biotechnology, there have been many products made by using microorganisms, such as medicines, control gents, and control environmental pollutants. Scientist realized that certain diseases can occur because of the lack of hormones. During the ass’s geneticists used the DNA recombinant techniques to produce medicines that are beneficial to humans. Insulin is the first medicine used that contained hormones that have been modified to help regulate diabetes. Other drugs that were made using microorganisms are tissue plainspoken activator which is used to dissolve blood clots.
Medicine is not the only product produced by microorganism. Certain bacteria species can be used as biological control agents. Biological control Is a term used to refer to the “use of living organisms or their products to alleviate plant diseases and pest”3. Biological control agents can use unapologetic microorganisms are used to fight against pathogenic strains for nutrients in organisms. Other microorganisms can produce toxins that prevent harmful bacteria or insects from harming plants and animals. Even though biological control has huge positive affect on the environment by controlling pest, it also has a major negative effect.
Biological control can affect biodiversity. Not only are the pests being controlled and terminated, other species seed for medicines and biological controls, it can be also used to reduce environmental pollutants. Premeditation is the use living organisms to control and decrease pollutants in the environment. Premeditation is used through the process of using enzyme though microorganisms by altering or modifying a pollutant’s structure. This process is called beatifications. Premeditation has involved the usage of natural microorganisms rather than the recombinant microorganisms.
The reason why natural microorganisms are used is because they are considered safer than the recombinant microorganisms. Though careful research, scientist hope to rove that recombinant microorganisms are safe and can be effective in reducing pollutants in the environment. Premeditation is useful to the environment because it helps control toxic wastes produced by humans. Premeditation has been used for the treatment of sewage; hopefully it will help reduce other waste such as plastics, metals, and radio-active waste. Genetically modified animals are the product of biotechnology.
Genetically modified animals are transgenic organism that have been introduced to recombinant DNA from a different species and has been integrated into its own genome. Gene cloning has been the main bases, not the only, of technology while experimenting with animals. While dealing with animals, geneticists have cloned animal cells, added genes from one species to another and even learned how some human disease operate by placing the disease in animals. Scientist has even genetically modified livestock to benefit the human population. Geneticists have used various techniques to produce transgenic animals.
One technique that is used is the integration of a cloned gene into a chromosome. Integration of a cloned DNA is done by the process called recombination. A chromosome that has undergone gene integration has two results: gene replacement r gene addition. If a cloned gene “has been introduced to genome by monologues recombination and has become integrated it is called addition” 5. If the cloned gene replaces a piece of the genome it is called gene replacement. These processes have been used to by scientist by taking a desirable gene used in one animal and placing it in another.
Gene Replacement is also used in cloning mice. Molecular biologists produce mice that have gene replacements. The gene replacements are important because if a certain gene is taking from one species and place it in another and seeing how that particular gene affects the genome and the organism. The importance of gene replacement is to understand gene function and human disease. Researches can place certain genes disease in mice to see how it affects the mice and to find treatments for it. Biotechnology has extended from Just producing transgenic mice; it has extended to other animals, particularly livestock.
Scientist is genetically modifying animals to be more beneficial to humans, by injecting human hormones into animals. Molecular biologists are experimenting now with placing human hormones in milk-producing animals to produce healthier milk that contain certain proteins for the human body. An example is the protein accoutering that is injected into the cow genome to produce milk for infants that lack iron. Livestock are not the only things being modified, plants are too. Scientist use Crematorium tenancies and multitude of other techniques to produce plants with favorable characteristics.
Crematorium Tenancies is a bacteria used by into the chromosome plant, scientist have made vectors out of it. These vectors will allow molecular biologist to insert any chromosome into the genome, and then the genome will be integrated into the plant. This allows molecular biologist to produce plants that are resistant to disease, insects, and herbicides. This also improves human consumption. Molecular scientist can add any protein, vitamins, or nutrients into any crop that will be beneficial to humans. The plants are now modified to stay in storage longer.
Transgenic crops also have a negative side effect, it kills native crops and if genetically altered to have vitamins can replace the vital vitamins in place. Biotechnology is also used to help humans directly. Biotechnology is used in gene therapy. “Gene therapy is an experimental technique that uses genes to treat or prevent disease. This technique may allow doctors to treat a disorder by inserting gene into a patient’s cells instead of using drugs or surgery’6. Gene therapy can be used cure many diseases such as adenosine demeans deficiency.
Gene therapy is a process where cloned genes are introduced into the human cells. There are two ways to transfer cloned genes: lollipops mad viruses. Lollipops are the most common method. Lollipops are lipid vesicles. The benefit of lollipops is that it does not affect the immune system and its disadvantage is low gene transfer. Viruses are the second way to transfer cloned genes. This process usually uses retroviruses, adenosine, and ovoviviparous. The genetic modification of these viral genome is has led to the development of gene therapy vectors with a capacity to infect the cells”8.
The advantage of viral vectors is the ability of the gene to be transferred efficiently, the disadvantage is the potential to invoke an immune response. Gene therapy will hopefully be able to cure Alchemist’s, hemophilia, AIDS, and a lot of other gene targeted diseases. Gene therapy is not the only treatment scientists are researching. Molecular biologists are also looking at stem cells. Stem cells can be obtained from the ambition sack, cord cells, or adult stem cells. Stem cells are a class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialized cell types”10.
Stem cells can construct and replenish old and worn out cells. Molecular biologists are interested in stem cells because these particular cells can grow into any type of body cell. Stems can regenerate healthy cells to replace disease cells, replace damage skin, and treat any injury caused by cell damage. This could help humans and further advance treatment by learning how disease and cancer function. Biotechnology has helped improved the environment for a long time. Biotechnology has helped humans have foods that are rich in vitamins, nutrients, and proteins.