Applications of Biotechnology

APPLICATIONS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
What is Biotechnology?
Biotechnology applies the knowledge of biology to enhance and
improve the environment, health, and food supply.
 Using biotechnology, scientists work to develop environment-

friendly alternatives to fossil fuels and plastics; new medicines,
vaccines and disease diagnostic tools; and higher yielding and
more nutrient-rich crop plants.
APPLICATIONS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
In the coming years, most of the commercial application of
biotechnology will be in three markets:
The Applications of
Biotechnology
 Medical Biotechnology
 Diagnostics
 Therapeutics
 Vaccines
 Agricultural Biotechnology
 Plant agriculture
 Animal agriculture
 Food processing
 Environmental Biotechnology
 Cleaning through bioremediation
 Preventing environmental problems
 Monitoring the environment
Diagnostics
 Physicians can now detect many diseases and
medical conditions more quickly and with
greater accuracy.
 The time required to diagnose infectious
diseases has dropped from days to minutes.
 Certain cancers are now diagnosed by simple
taking a blood sample, thus eliminating the
need for invasive and costly surgery.
Biomarkers
Molecular footprints that are secreted by cells as
the disease progresses from one stage to the
next are known as “Biomarkers”.
Biotechnology has also decreased the cost of
disease diagnosis.
A new blood test, developed through
biotechnology, measures the amount of low-
density lipoprotein in blood.
MEDICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
FORENSICS
DNA fingerprinting allows for the

identification of individuals by
analyzing section of DNA that vary
widely from one individual to
another
Therapeutics
 Biotechnology will provide improved
versions of today’s therapeutic regimens.
 The novel therapeutic advances
biotechnology now makes following
things feasible:
 Gene therapy to correct genetic disease
 Immunosuppressive therapies
 Cell therapy to produce replacement
tissues and organs
 Replacement therapies
Therapeutics
Cancer Therapy to suppress tumor genes and
prevent or cure cancer
Design and production of vaccines
Vaccine delivery systems (goats that produce

milk with a malaria antigen in it)
Natural products as
pharmaceuticals
Many plants produce
compounds with human
therapeutic value.
For example: Digitalis
Bark of the slow-growing yew
tree
Gene therapy
It is a technique for correcting defective genes that
are responsible for disease development
There are four approaches:
1. A normal gene inserted to compensate for a
nonfunctional gene.
2. An abnormal gene traded for a normal gene
3. An abnormal gene repaired through selective reverse
mutation
4. Change the regulation of gene pairs
16-02-09 11
How It Works
A vector delivers the therapeutic gene into a patient’s
target cell
The target cells become infected with the viral vector
The vector’s genetic material is inserted into the
target cell
Functional proteins are created from the therapeutic
gene causing the cell to return to a normal state
Picture 
http://encarta.msn.com/media_461561269/Gene_Therapy.html
Cancer Therapies
Biotechnology research tools
have permitted progress in
treating cancer on a variety of
fronts.
How it works
MAbs are being used to bind to and inactivates the
protein produced by the genes that are involved in
certain critical events of cell growth.
When both copies of Tumor suppressor genes become
inactive then by introducing normal copies of the
genes into tumor cells through gene therapy made the
tumor to be regress.
INTRODUCTION
A vaccine is a biological preparation that
establishes or improves immunity to a particular
disease.
The term vaccine derives from Edward Jenner's

1796 use of the term cow pox , which, when
administered to humans, provided them protection
against smallpox.
VACCINE DESIGN AND
PRODUCTION
The vaccines that prevent small pox and other
diseases are based on the use of either killed or live
micro-organisms.
When vaccinated with such a non-virulent microbe,

your body produces antibodies to that organism, but
you don’t get the disease.
VACCINE DESIGN AND
PRODUCTION
If you are exposed to that microbe again, your body
has a ready supply of antibodies to defend itself.
PROBLEMS WITH VACCINES
1) Generally vaccines cause no serious problems, but
they do have side effects, like :
Allergic reactions
Aches or pains
Fever
PROBLEMS WITH VACCINES
2) A second problem with this method of vaccination
is consistent production of virus based vaccines.
3) Developing vaccinations for some deadly

infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and malaria
is risky
VACCINE PRODUCTION
Usually, only one or a few proteins on the surface of
pathogen trigger the production of antibodies.
By isolating the gene and inserting into E.coli, large
quantity of proteins can be produced to serve as
vaccine.
VACCINE PRODUCTION
When protein is injected the body produces
antibodies that can recognize the pathogen .
Using these new techniques of biotechnology,

scientists have developed vaccines against
diseases such as Hepatitis B and Meningitis.
DNA VACCINES
Injecting naked DNA into muscles or skin cells also
elicits immune response.
Researchers had assumed that DNA alone would
not trigger an immune response of sufficient
strength to impart protection against infectious
diseases.
VACCINE DELIVERY SYSTEMS
Vaccine being developed is a Live Virus, a coat
protein or a piece of its DNA, the production of
vaccines require costly facilities and procedures.
USING BIOTECHNOLOGY
Industrial researchers are using biotechnology to
develop edible vaccines.
A company has genetically engineered goats to
produce a malaria antigen in milk.
Positive results shown for human volunteers who
consumed hepatitis vaccines in bananas and
cholera vaccines in potatoes.
•Agriculture Biotechnology
•Plant Agriculture
•Crop Production and Protection
•Using Biological Methods to Protect Crops
•Value of crops
AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
Modern agricultural biotechnology includes a range
of tools that scientists employ to understand and
manipulate the genetic make-up of organisms for use
in the production of agricultural products.
APPLICATIONS
Micro-organisms have been used for decades as
living factories for the production of life-saving
antibiotics including penicillin, from the fungus
Penicillium, and streptomycin from the bacterium
Streptomyces.
Modern detergents rely on enzymes produced via
biotechnology, hard cheese production largely relies
on rennet produced by biotech yeast and human
insulin for diabetics is now produced using
biotechnology.
PLANT AGRICULTURE
As plants are genetically complex, plant agriculture
biotechnology lagged behind medical advances in
biotechnology.
An Important fact is that animal research has
received much more federal funding than plant
research.
USING BIOLOGICAL METHODS TO PROTECT CROPS
Biotechnology is also providing farmers with more
opportunities to work with nature in plant
agriculture.
Scientists have discovered that plants and animals
have endogenous defense systems, the hypersensitive
response and systemic acquired resistance.
Scientists are developing environmentally benign
chemicals that can be used to trigger these two means
of defense so that plants can better protect themselves
against attack by insects and pathogens.
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OR BIOCONTROL
It is suppression of pests and diseases through the use
of biological agents.
For example, a virus may be used to control an insect
pest, or a fungus may deter the growth of a weed.
EXPLOITING COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIPS IN NATURE
In addition to capitalizing on nature’s negative
interactions---predation and parasitism--- tocontrol
pests, farmers might also use existing positive
relationships that are important for plant growth.
For Example-symbiosis between plants in the bean
family and certain nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
By providing crop plant with a usable form of
nitrogen, the bacteria encourage plant growth.
Scientists are working tounderstand the genetic
basis of this symbiotic relationship so that we can
give nitrogen-fixing capabilities to crops other than
legumes.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF CROPS
The first generation of genetically engineered crops
primarily benefited farmers as well as consumers. Foe
example:- Bt Corn sustains relatively little insect damage,
it is also infected significantly less often by fungi and
molds that produce toxins that are fatal to livestock and
harmful to humans.
Biotechnology also provide consumers with plant
products that are designed specifically to be healthier and
nutritious. Healthier cooking oils are being developed.
Using genetic enginnering plant scientists have
decreased the concentrations of saturated fatty acids in
certain vegetable oils.

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APPLICATIONS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

 Using biotechnology, scientists work to develop environment-

DNA fingerprinting allows for the

Design and production of vaccines

Vaccine delivery systems (goats that produce

The term vaccine derives from Edward Jenner's

When vaccinated with such a non-virulent microbe,

3) Developing vaccinations for some deadly

Using these new techniques of biotechnology,

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