Explain applications of genetic engineering in medicine and agriculture
Answers
Efforts are being made to improve several agricultural crops using various techniques of genetic engineering which include:
(i) Transfer of nitrogen fixing genes (nif genes) from leguminous plants into cereals
(ii) Transfer of resistance against pathogens and pests from wild plants to crop plants.
(iii) Improvement in quality and quantity of seed proteins.
(iv) Transfer of genes for animal proteins to crop plants.
(v) Elimination of unwanted genes for susceptibility to different diseases from cytoplasmic male sterile lines in crop like maize, where cytoplasmic male sterility and susceptibility are located in mitochondrial plasmid.
(vi) Improvement of photosynthetic efficiency by reassembling nuclear and chloroplast genes and by the possible conversion of C3 plants into C4 plants.
(vii) Development of cell lines which may produce nutritious food in bioreactors.
Uses in medicine
Vaccines:
Recombinant DNA Technology is also used in production of vaccines against diseases. A vaccine contains a form of an infectious organism that does not cause severe disease but does cause immune system of body to form protective antibodies against infective organism. Vaccines are prepared by isolating antigen or protein present on the surface of viral particles.
When a person is vaccinate against viral disease, antigens produce antibodies that acts against the viral proteins and inactivate them. With recombinant DNA technology, scientists have been able to transfer the genes for some viral sheath proteins to vaccinia virus which was used against small pox.
Vaccines produced by gene cloning are contamination free and safe because they contain only coat proteins against which antibodies are made. A few vaccines are being produced by gene cloning, e.g., vaccines against viral hepatitis influenza, herpes simplex virus, virus induced foot and mouth disease in animals.
Hormones:
Until recently the hormone insulin was extracted only in limited quantities from pancreas of cows and pigs. The process was not only costly but the hormone sometimes caused allergic reactions in some patients of diabetes.
The commercial production of insulin was started in 1982 through biogenetic or recombinant DNA technology and the medical use of hormone insulin was approved by food and drug administration (FDA) of USA in 1982.
The human insulin gene has been cloned in large quantities in bacterium E. coli which could be used for synthesis of insulin. Genetically engineered insulin is commercially available as humilin.
Uses of genetic engineering in medicine
Vaccines:
Recombinant DNA Technology is also used in production of vaccines against diseases. A vaccine contains a form of an infectious organism that does not cause severe disease but does cause immune system of body to form protective antibodies against infective organism. Vaccines are prepared by isolating antigen or protein present on the surface of viral particles.
When a person is vaccinate against viral disease, antigens produce antibodies that acts against the viral proteins and inactivate them. With recombinant DNA technology, scientists have been able to transfer the genes for some viral sheath proteins to vaccinia virus which was used against small pox.
Vaccines produced by gene cloning are contamination free and safe because they contain only coat proteins against which antibodies are made. A few vaccines are being produced by gene cloning, e.g., vaccines against viral hepatitis influenza, herpes simplex virus, virus induced foot and mouth disease in animals.
Hormones:
Until recently the hormone insulin was extracted only in limited quantities from pancreas of cows and pigs. The process was not only costly but the hormone sometimes caused allergic reactions in some patients of diabetes.
The commercial production of insulin was started in 1982 through biogenetic or recombinant DNA technology and the medical use of hormone insulin was approved by food and drug administration (FDA) of USA in 1982.
The human insulin gene has been cloned in large quantities in bacterium E. coli which could be used for synthesis of insulin. Genetically engineered insulin is commercially available as humilin.
Efforts are being made to improve several agricultural crops using various techniques of genetic engineering which include:
(i) Transfer of nitrogen fixing genes (nif genes) from leguminous plants into cereals
(ii) Transfer of resistance against pathogens and pests from wild plants to crop plants.
(iii) Improvement in quality and quantity of seed proteins.
(iv) Transfer of genes for animal proteins to crop plants.
(v) Elimination of unwanted genes for susceptibility to different diseases from cytoplasmic male sterile lines in crop like maize, where cytoplasmic male sterility and susceptibility are located in mitochondrial plasmid.
(vi) Improvement of photosynthetic efficiency by reassembling nuclear and chloroplast genes and by the possible conversion of C3 plants into C4 plants.
(vii) Development of cell lines which may produce nutritious food in bioreactors.