My journey with biotechnlogy began a long time ago.
As children we are often told, like you look like your mother or your father or you will grow up to become as beautiful as you grandmom.
But I believe that no kid, including myself, would have ever wondered why people say like that? do we actually look like our parents? and if yes, then why?
And I also had no answer to these questions till that morning when i had my first elementary-biology class.
When I was 10, my teacher introduced me to something known as nucleic acid- dna proteins, enzymes, which to my amazement were the answers to the above asked questions.
Initially I struggled to understand that how could such small molecules, like ,dna, proteins and so on carry out such heavy and important functions in our body.
But when my teacher asked me to build a model of these molecules and explain it to the class, I actually understand what these meant.
And this is how I was introduced to the world of genetics. Although genectics is just a tiny part of the huge world of biotechnology.
It was my first step towards that field - It w...
Many people feel that biology has become more advanced than physics. Biology has in fact become the new focus of the future as we tend to use it a lot in our daily lives. The study of Biotechnology is known as the branch of molecular biology that studies the use of microorganisms to perform specific industrial processes. This study shows that our lives can be transformed.
DNA was cracked! They solved the DNA three-dimensional structure at Cambridge, England and were ready to show the first model to their colleagues by March 7th, 1953. They learned how genes worked and how inherited features are passed down from one generation to the next. Their discovery was included in Matt Ridley’s book called Genome. People knew that heredity also affected animals and plants as it does humans. Having red hair or blue eyes gets passed on from one generation to the next one.
The study of nucleic acids has now become a fruitful and dynamic scientific enterprise. Nucleic acids are of unique importance in biological systems. Genes are made up of deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA, and each gene is a linear segment, or polymer, of a long DNA molecule. A DNA polymer, or DNA oligonucleotide, contains a linear arrangement of subunits called nucleotides. There are four types of nucleotides. Each nucleotide has three components; a phosphate group, a sugar and a base that contains nitrogen within its structure. The sugar moiety in DNA oligonucleotides is always dexoyribose, and there are four alternative bases: adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C). The phosphate groups and the deoxyribose sugars form the backbone of each DNA stand. The bases are joined to the deoxyribose sugar and stick out to the side. Both oligomers, DNA and RNA, consist of 5’->3’ phosphodiester-linked nucleotide units that are composed of a 2’-deoxy-D-ribose (DNA) or D-ribose (RNA) in their furanose forms and a heteroaromatic nucleobase (A, T, G, and C; A, U, G, C), and the resulting oligonucleotide chain is composed of a polar, negatively charged sugar-phosphate backbone and an array of hydrophobic nucleobases. The amphiphilic nature of these polymers dictates the assembly and maintenance of secondary and tertiary structures the oligonucleotides can form. In the DNA duplex structure, genetic information is stored as a linear nucleotide code. This code can be accessed and replicated. RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is another structurally related essential biopolymer. RNA differs from DNA in having the sugar ribose in place of the deoxyribos...
The essential component of life can be acknowledged and is made up of a nucleic acid known as DNA. DNA is the abbreviated form for the word deoxyribonucleic acid and it is the “carrier of genetic information” (McMurry, Ballantine, Hoeger, & Peterson, 1992, pg. 775). DNA contains the genetic instructions that are needed for an organism to develop, survive, and replicate, as it plays a crucial role in living systems that makes each species unique and distinctive. The multifaceted material is stored in every cell of every living organisms and it contains information about our nature, appearance, performance, etc. With the instructions that it contains, DNA is passed from the adult organism to their offspring during reproduction. (McMurry, Ballantine, Hoeger, & Peterson, 1992, pg.777).
Genetic engineering has been around for many years and is widely used all over the planet. Many people don’t realize that genetic engineering is part of their daily lives and diet. Today, almost 70 percent of processed foods from a grocery store were genetically engineered. Genetic engineering can be in plants, foods, animals, and even humans. Although debates about genetic engineering still exist, many people have accepted due to the health benefits of gene therapy. The lack of knowledge has always tricked people because they only focused on the negative perspective of genetic engineering and not the positive perspective. In this paper, I will be talking about how Genetic engineering is connected to Brave New World, how the history of genetic engineering impacts the world, how genetic engineering works, how people opinions are influenced, how the side effects can be devastating, how the genetic engineering can be beneficial for the society and also how the ethical issues affect people’s perspective.
Fletcher, John C. Introduction to the Virginia ELSI Project; "Preparing for the New Genetics: Education of Professionals;" University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville, VA.
Located in South San Francisco, CA, Genentech was started in 1976 by a biochemist Dr. Herbert Boyer and Robert A. Swanson. From 1995-2009 Arthur Levinson had become the CEO of Genentech; presently it is Ian T. Clark. Genentech is a leading biotechnology company, using human genetic information to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize medicines to treat people with serious or life-threatening medical conditions (2014). Biotechnology is the technology based on the science of cellular and biomolecular processes to develop technologies and products that help improve peoples’ lives and the health of our environment. How biotechnology uses cellular and biomolecular processes are by using molecular mechanisms by which genetic and metabolic processes occur in plant, animal, and microbial organisms. By using this technology it provides breakthrough products and technologies to combat debilitating and rare diseases, reduce our environment footprint, feed the hungry, use less and cleaner energy, and have safer and cleaner and more efficient industrial manufacturing processes. The many factors they are trying to prevent in our environment overall affects our human health. Genentech provides products in the areas of immunology, oncology, and disorders of tissue growth and repair. For example, scientists are finding ways to prevent the spreading of cancerous cell tissue growth of metastatic breast cancer.
The identification of a substance/phenomenon/condition(s) is the first step toward a new discovery or invention of substantial application (human or otherwise). In the light of this fact, the knowledge of the discovery of DNA is vital to appreciate the beauty of evolution of the events that led to the discovery of DNA. Unlike the common belief that DNA was discovered by the American biologist James Watson and English physicist Francis Crick, the genetic material was first identified by the Swiss physiological chemist Friedrich Miescher in the 1860s. He named them “nuclein”. While having an intention of separating and identifying the proteins present in the white blood cells, he discovered a material inside the white blood cells that were similar to proteins but having high phosphorus content. Sensing the importance of his findings, Miesher wrote “It seems probable to me that a whole family of such slightly varying phosphorous-containing substances will appear, as a group of nucleins, equivalent to proteins”. It was only in 1953, that Watson and Crick put together pieces of experimental information by various investigators to bring forth the three dimensional structure of DNA. Although, various improvisations and extensions have been brought forth to the Watson Crick model, but the four major propositions still remain the same :
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a self-replicating molecule or material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent in chromosomes. It encodes the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and many viruses. Simply put, DNA contains the instructions needed for an organism to develop, survive and reproduce. The discovery and use of DNA has seen many changes and made great progress over many years. James Watson was a pioneer molecular biologist who is credited, along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, with discovering the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. The three won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1962 for their work (Bagley, 2013). Scientist use the term “double helix” to describe DNA’s winding, two-stranded chemical structure. This shape looks much like a twisted ladder and gives the DNA the power to pass along biological instructions with great precision.
For a long time, scientists have been researching about DNA and its structures. DNA is strongly related to genetics and how living things perform. Two very intelligent scientists, James Watson and Francis Crick, have made history in Biochemistry when they discovered the structure of DNA. The central idea of this paper is researching the history of DNA structure discovery and about why it is very important. Discovery of DNA structure is very important because DNA is what makes all living things behave the way they do and studying DNA also means learning why living things act this way. DNA structure is a key part of organism traits, behavior, and development of all living organisms.
To all who know me, they know how I can’t stand anything that is gross and slimy, or possibly get me in any way, shape, or form dirty. (I can’t stand to be dirty at all!) When I go to the doctors, I can’t even stand to see the nurses poke my arm with a long, cold, sharp needle, so they can get a blood sample. I can’t even stand to watch the shows on the Discovery channel where they are operating on any part of the human body and there is blood oozing from the open flesh of a human being. I find it very hard to swallow when I even get a glimpse of it on television. This has always been my feeling ever since I was little, but when I entered high school and took a College Prep Biology course my feelings on things that are gross and slimy changed quite a bit.
Since school days the terms like cell, genes, DNA, protein intrigued me a lot and helped me in realizing the dream of pursuing a career in Biotechnology field that has been making many remarkable achievements. The passion towards biological sciences made me to take B.TECH in Biotechnology in Dr. M.G.R. University.
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.
I was first drawn to cell and molecular biology when I was a child, when my uncle gave me a microscope for Christmas. I was enthralled by the intricacy of biological structures, and curious as to how the hidden architecture of living things contributes to their function. When I entered high school, I was surprised at how much information in biology was still unknown or unclear. To pursue these answers, I studied beyond what was required of my classes, even to the point of individually learning AP biology. Despite my high achievements in these pursuits, my questions remained unanswered. With this, I decided the only way to have my curiosity satisfied would be to go to college to study cell and molecular biology.
While beauty may be a blessing in youth, it is wise for beautiful people to realize that one day they will be looking at a face they no longer recognize in the mirror. If beautiful people can realize that their beauty is only skin deep and that one day it will be gone, and can live a life non stereotypical of beautiful people they can enjoy the benefits of being beautiful but able to make the transition from beauty to aging in a healthy way. It is wise that for beautiful people to realize when they are young that one day they will not be able to survive in the world on looks alone and spend their youth not using their beauty over old fashioned hard work, and create a life that will be carry them from their youth through their elderly years.