1. Introduction To Biotechnology
According to Campbell et al. (2008) biotechnology is the manipulation of organism or their components to make useful products. The word “Biotechnology” originates from the word “Biology” and “Technology”. By looking at the word, we can say that biotechnology is a technology based on biology. Human had practiced biotechnology since centuries ago mostly involving food. Biotechnology can be classify into two; traditional and modern biotechnology.
Traditional biotechnology is a way of using living organism to make new product or manipulate the existing ones. It relies on nature and natural processes. Traditional biotechnology processes often takes a longer time to get the desired product as the chemical reactions carried out by the microorganism are slow. Traditional biotechnology involves fermentation of food and beverage, animal and plant breeding, and the utilization of waste product. All these processes occurs over a time until the final product can be obtained.
Whereas modern biotechnology are related manipulation of genes, cells and living tissue with controlled manner to make any changes in the genetic make-up of an organism. Other modern biotechnology involves protein or enzyme manipulation and manipulation of reproduction process. Biotechnology are aiming to improve the quality of lives. In the recent years, modern biotechnology industries are growing at a fast pace and more biotechnology products are being produce and used, especially in medical industry. With the advancement of modern biotechnology, more medicines and vaccines were produced to help in life saving.
The applications of biotechnology are so broad and the advantages so compelling, that virtually every industry is using this ...
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Modern biotechnology was born at the hands of American scientists Herb Boyer and Stain Cohen, when they developed “recombinant deoxyribonucleotide, (rDNA), [1] for medicinal purposes. Subsequently, biotechnologists started genetically engineering agricultural plants using this technology. A single gene responsible for a certain trait, from one organism (usually a bacterium) is selected altered and then ‘spliced” into the DNA of a plant to create an agricultural crop consisting of that...
“Enzymes are proteins that have catalytic functions” [1], “that speed up or slow down reactions”[2], “indispensable to maintenance and activity of life”[1]. They are each very specific, and will only work when a particular substrate fits in their active site. An active site is “a region on the surface of an enzyme where the substrate binds, and where the reaction occurs”[2].
Genetic engineering is defined as the direct manipulation of genes for practical purposes (citation). It is modifying an organism’s genome using biotechnology (citation). An example of genetic engineering is recombinant DNA technology, which is using DNA from two different sources (citation). This means you can insert the DNA from one species into another in order to make useful proteins. This technology can be used to develop useful human proteins. Some proteins that have been made from recombinant DNA technology are insulin, HGH, Ce...
Biotechnology is the request of scientific techniques that help alter and improve plants, animals, and microor¬ganisms to enhance their value. Agricultural biotech¬nology deals with biotechnology that is involved with applica¬tions to agriculture. It helps with the intensification of crop productivity by introducing such advantages as disease that are resistant and have an increase in deficiency tolerance to the crops. So now, research¬ers are able to select genes for disease resistance from other types of species and transfer them to important crops.
The three-dimensional contour limits the number of substrates that can possibly react to only those substrates that can specifically fit the enzyme surface. Enzymes have an active site, which is the specific indent caused by the amino acid on the surface that fold inwards. The active site only allows a substrate of the exact unique shape to fit; this is where the substance combines to form an enzyme- substrate complex. Forming an enzyme-substrate complex makes it possible for substrate molecules to combine to form a product. In this experiment, the product is maltose.
Are genetically modified foods safe? Genetically modified foods are crop plants created for human or animal consumption using molecular biological techniques. These plants have been modified to enhance certain traits like increased resistance to herbicides or improve nutritional content. This process traditionally has been done through breeding, but is not very accurate. Scientists have been using biotechnology to implant the gene that makes the plants act the way they want them to. Genetically modified foods have advantages and disadvantages on the environment and advantages and disadvantages on society. We have to weigh the positives and negatives to see if genetically modified foods are healthy for us and if we really need them.
Chetty, L., and C. D. Viljoen. “GM Biotechnology: Friend And Foe?.” South African Journal Of Science 103.7/8 (2007): 269-270.Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.
Biotechnology has helped our immune systems in fighting diseases, it has introduced interleukins, drugs that can help alter diseases–AIDS or malaria.–and has changed what we know about "life." Genetic engineering is complex field that only really benefits science and medicine, few, if any, negative impacts occur as a result of such technology. The future of genetic engineering is simply a more efficient and more widely implemented version of what is possible today. This technology may be changing what has occurred naturally, but it does so with positive intentions.
Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to explore the different factors which effect enzyme activity and the rates of reaction, such as particle size and temperature.
The ubiquitous and incalculable benefits of biotechnology as a whole and the specific issues involved in Gattaca successfully mute the alarmist calls for moratoriums and bans on these technological breakthroughs. With utmost caution and consideration these studies will ultimately lead humanity to limitless heights.
Any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use to benefit the lives of humans or other organisms, in bettering their lives. (Essays, UK. (November 2013). Can Genetic Engineering Be Regarded As Biotechnology Biology?. April 2014, http://www.ukessays.com/essays/biology/can-genetic-engineering-be-regarded-as-biotechnology-biology-essay.php?cref=1)
So what makes modern biotechnology modern? It is not modern in the sense of using various living organisms, but in the techniques for doing so. The introduction of a large number of new techniques has changed the face of classical biotechnology forever. These modern techniques, applied mainly to cells and molecules, make it possible to take advantage of the biological process in a very precise way. For example, genetic engineering has allowed us to transfer the property of a single gene from one organism to another. But before going into the details of biotechnology and the techniques that make it possible, let us first define
Biotechnology is a group of technologies that work together with living cells and their molecules to prolong life (Keener and Hoban et al., 2014). Today biotechnology can be used in a variety of ways such as in an industrial setting where they use it to create enzymes to synthesize chemicals, in an environmental setting where they use it for waste and pollution prevention and lastly it can be used in medical applications such as in pharmaceuticals, genetic engineering, DNA fingerprinting and lastly it can be used in stem cell therapy (Keener and Hoban et al., 2014). Everyone in today’s society depends on and uses biotechnology in one form or another, biotechnology is essential for our health and wellbeing. Vaccines are also manufactured using biotechnology which consist of three main ways, it aids scientists to separate pure antigen using specific monoclonal antibody, aids in synthesis of an antigen with the help of a cloned gene and lastly it also aids in the synthesis of peptides to be used as vaccines (Alam 2014). A vaccine can protect you from specific diseases that can make you sick or even kill you.
Biotechnology allows scientists to genetically engineer plants and animals for the human benefits. GMO may have had been originally developed for the people and their needs/desires, but the side effects are overlooked by the scientists and companies, causing the people to be treated like guinea pigs. Even if GMO brings awesome benefits for humans, if the side effects are to exist then there is a still a potential threat that the effects may harm the environment, health, and nature's balance.
The myriad mysteries of science can be unraveled by the emerging technologies including Biotechnology. Science has always been my interest and forte thus, the choice of Biotechnology as my academic option was the ideal decision. I had prepared for the highly competitive entrance exam AIET to get admission into the integrated Masters Degree in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics at Dr. D.Y. Patil University and secured 87th all over India rank and was proud to gain admission to this venerated university. The academic curriculum has introduced me to amazing subjects like ‘Microbiology’, ‘Molecular Biology’, ‘Biochemistry’, ‘Genetics’ and ‘Industrial Biotechnology’. Although many seminal biological events have been explained in theory during the past century, the technology to harness their potential for benefiting humankind has only been possible during the past few decades. This is testament to the great improvements in biotechnologies and I am glad to be a part of this grand scientific experience.