1. Production of human insulin using recombinant DNA technology.

2. Production of anti biotic like penicillin erythromycin. Etc.

3. Production of mono clonal antibodies using hybridoma technology.

4. Treating defective gene using gene therapy.5. Identification of immigrants. Criminals,

disputed parents, missing baby etc. using DNA finger printing technology.

1. Some microbes are used to treat sewage waste in water purification.

2. Detoxification of industrial waste are done using microbes.

3. Some microbes are used to reduce the percentage of oxides of sulphur in industrial effluents.

4. Degradation of petroleum products and management of oil spills are done by using microbes.

1. Production of useful organic compounds like ethyl alcohol, lactic acid, citric acid etc. by using microbes.

2. Production of enzymes like amylase, lipase, protease from microbes.

3. Production of bio fuel like ethanol, bio gas etc.

4. extraction of some minerals like copper, uranium, from low grade ore using microbes.

1.Rapid multiplication of crop plants, medicinal plants, forest plants and endangered plants using tissue culture.

2.Production of viral and other pathogen resistance plants.

3.Production of haploid or polyploidy crop plants to increase yield.

4.Production of transgenic plants as nitrogen fixing plants, insect resistance plants etc.

1.To develop Genetically modified animals or transgenic animals.

2.Transgenic cows – increase milk supply and meat3.Transgenic Chickens – more resistant to infections.4.Transgenic Goats, sheep and pigs – produce human

proteins in their milk5.To increase the heard of specific breed using invitro

fertilization and embryo transfer.6.Cloning of animals.7.Transgenic mice – used to study human immune

system.

• The three critical research areas of biotechnology are :

1. Providing the best catalyst in the form of improved organism. I,e. usually in the form of a microbe or pure enzyme.

2. Creating optimal conditions for a catalyst to function.

3. Downstream processing technologies to purify the protein/organic compound.

• Options for increased food production are,

1. Agrochemical – based agriculture.

2. Organic agriculture.

3. Genetically engineered crop-based agriculture.

• The Green Revolution succeeded in increasing the yield of crops mainly due to,

1. Use of improved varieties of crops

2. Use of agrochemicals (fertilizers and pesticides).

3. Increase in the yield with conevtional methods of breeding.

• But Agrochemicals cause pollution of soil and water. It is too expensive for the framers.

• The agriculture biotechnology solves this problems in developing genetically modified crop plants.

• genetically modified plants (GM Plants):

• Plants which genome is modified using r-DNA technology by introducing alterative gene are called GM Plants.

• The Gm plants are useful in the following ways:1. Gm crops plants more tolerant to abiotic stresses like cold,

heat, drought, salinity, etc.2. It has reduced the dependence chemical pesticides as they

are made pest-resistant. ex: Bt crops.3. Post – harvest losses are much reduced.4. The plants increased efficiency of mineral usage.5. Food produced from GM crops has enhanced nutritional

value. Ex Vitamin ‘A’ enriched rice.6. GM plants has been used to supply resources to industries

such as starch, fuel, pharmaceuticals, etc.

• Pest Resistant Plants:

• Pest resistant plants are developed to reduce the use of pesticide.

• One such approach is introduction of Bt toxin to target plant; eg.- Bt cotton, Bt corn, Bt Brinjal, Bt tomato, Bt potato and Bt soyabean.

• Bt toxin is produced by Bacillus thuringiensis due to presence of Bt toxin gene.

• Bt toxin gene of bacteria in transferred to plant and made to expresses to provide resistance to insects.

• The soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis produces crystal proteins called Cry proteins. It is toxic to larvae of insects like Tobacco budworm, cotton bollworms ,armyworm, beetles and mosquitoes

• The Cry proteins exist as inactive protoxins. It get converted into active toxin when ingested by the insect, as the alkaline pH of gut solubilises the crystals.

• The activated toxin binds to the surface of epithelial cells of midgut and creates pores.

• This causes swelling and lysis of cells leading to the death of the insect (Larva).

• The genes (cry genes) encoding this protein are isolated from the bacterium and incorporated into several crop plants like cotton, tomato, corn, rice, soybean, etc.

• The proteins encoded by the following cry genes control the pest given against them.

• cry I Ac and cry II Ab control cotton bollworms.• cry I Ab controls corn borer.• cry III Ab controls colarado potato beetle.• cry III Bb controls corn rootworm

• Medical biotechnology.

• The r-DNA technology has been used in the production of safe and more effective therapeutic drugs.

• The recombinant therapeutics do not induced unwanted immunological response.

• At present about thirty recombinant therapeutic drugs have been approved for human use. The twelve are being marketed in India also.

Human insulin

• Insulin is a protein natured hormone that maintains sugar metabolism. It converts the excess of blood sugar (glucose) into glycogen to maintain normal sugar level.

• This hormone is secreted by β-cells of islets of Langerhans present in pancreas.

• The deficiency of insulin increases the blood sugar level and causes diabetes mellitus.

• The diabetic patients are treated with hypoglycemic oral drug or insulin injection.

• The oral drug stimulates the β–cells to secrete insulin.

• In previous years insulin extracted from cows and pigs are injected to control diabetic condition. It causes allergy to most of the patients.

• The r-DNA technology gives solution to overcome this problem by producing human insulin (humulin) using human insulin producing gene.

Insulin structure.

• Genetically engineered insulin (humulin).

• Human insulin consists of two short polypeptide chains.

• The chain A and chain B are linked by disulphide bonds.

• The Insulin is secreted as prohormone which has to be processed before it becomes a mature and functional hormone.

• The prohormone contains another polypeptide called C- peptide chain, which is removed during maturation.

• In 1983, Eli lilly, an American company, prepared two DNA sequences coding for chains A and B of human insulin. They introduced them into plasmids of E.coli to produce insulin.

• The two chains produced were extracted and combined by creating disulfide bridges.

• Gene therapy• It is the method of insertion of normal genes into cells and tissues

of an individual to cure hereditary diseases.• It involves the delivery of a normal gene into the individual or

embryo to replace the defective mutant allele of the gene.• Viruses which attack the host and introduce their genetic material

into host are all used as vectors.• The first clinical gene therapy was given in 1990 to a four year old

girl with adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency.• ADA deficiency can be cured by bone marrow transplantation in

some children but it is not completely curative.• For gene therapy, lymphocytes were grown in a cultural and

functional ADA. cDNA is then introduced into these lymphocytes.• These lymphocytes are then transferred into the body of the

patient ; the patient requires periodically infusion of such genetically engineered lymphocytes.

• If a functional gene is introduced into the bone marrow cells at early embryonic stage, it would be permanent cure.

• Ethical Issues .

• Genetic modification of organism may be undesirable effects when they are introduced into the ecosystem.

• The use of GM organism for public service may resulted in problems with the granting of patents.

• The Indian Government has set up organization which are authorized to make decisions regarding the validity of genetic modification and the safety of introducing GM organisms for public services.

• One such organization is the Genetic Engineering approval committee (GEAC).