Biotechnology deals with the field of bio-sciences with technology to generate efficient and better biological assays and applications. In biotechnology living systems are introduced or modified with the high-throughput techniques to amplify the results and lowering the cost and time.
For example, Modern breads and cheese are manufactured by using microbes which are genetically modified and targeted for specific biological pathways to give suitable or desired products. Modern biotechnology is totally different from the conventional biotechnology. In conventional biotechnology the techniques and results are very poor and very much labour intensive, but in modern biotechnology the desired ones are only harvested by using modern technology of gene transfer and gene editing.
Recent advancements in biotechnology are helping modern technologies and sciences to deal with the social needs:
Cure and Heal the World
There are 250+ vaccines and medicines are developed with the help of biotechnology to cure and prevent the disease. It also includes detection and its techniques to cure or diagnose any disease at early stage.
Fuel the World
Modern biotechnology has grown so far, Bio-fuels like Ethanol and Methane are produced by using yeast and other micro-organisms. The fuels produced by biotechnology are eco-friendly and said to be next generation fuels.
Production of High quality Foods
Today the available foods are having multiple qualities and have greater amount of nutrition with long lasting lifespan. This is done by using modern biotechnology. Green revolution was the first step towards the modern biotechnology which focused on high yielding crops.
Applications of Biotechnology:
In Agriculture
Modern agriculture is totally based on the biotechnology, and biotechnology has modified and upgraded several crop species to increase the yield these include:
Tomatoes: Their shelf life is increased by introducing the hybrid RNA which slower downs the process of its peel degradation.
Sugarcane: The length of the plant is modified by making hybrids of two sugarcane species to stand for more time.
Wheat: length of the plants is lowered down by gene editing due to which their stems become strong and don’t fell down in blowing air.
Rice: The varieties are improved or can be said to be fortified in higher nutritional content.
And many more are modified for different environmental and character needs. So far biotechnology is also used in making plants resistance from pest making pest resistance. Some other biological products and their production are facilitated by biotechnologies which are essential oils and secondary metabolites which are being used in medical and other industry.
In Medicine
When Biotechnology deals with medical science it becomes medical biotechnology. Role of biotechnology in the medical science speeded up the treatment and diagnosis process of the diseases. However biotechnology is still young and evolving, new efficient techniques are yet to be discovered.
Gene therapy and DNA fingerprinting began a revolution in medical sciences; DNA fingerprinting is widely used in early diagnosis of the hereditary diseases while Gene therapy corrects the genes which are defective. However Gene therapy is most costly and available for very few diseases.
Biotechnology uses transgenic techniques to obtain several biological molecules which are used in medicines called as bio-pharmaceuticals. Transgenic animals and plants are made to obtain these desired products.
In Environment
Modern biotechnology is dealing in to protect and restore the environment. Biotechnology contributes to pollution control and ways to reduce the pollution. Also alternatives are developed and tested regularly to for better implementation. It also focuses on reducing the environmental hazards like harmful chemicals and their extraction from environment etc.
Today’s major problem is environmental pollution and the main causes are plastics. Biotechnology is developing the bio-plastics can be a great alternative to plastics. This bio-plastic is more eco-friendly with environment and less harmful.
Conservation of natural resources and Plants are also taken care by biotechnology. New ways and techniques are also developed by biotechnologists to save the plants and natural resources.
ROLE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN DISEASE DIAGNOSIS
In order to treat any disease it is most important to identify and diagnose the disease first. The early stage and causes of the disease are diagnosed for this several techniques are developed like ELISA- Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay Which is used to diagnose HIV and other viral infections. Blotting techniques are used to diagnose various disease and hereditary disorders.
TRANGENIC ANIMALS – greatest achievement of biotechnology
Transgenic animals are the genetically modified animals which have been introduced by the gene of interest. They are also called as GMO (Genetically modifies Organisms). Examples: Rats, Mouse, Sheep, Goat etc.
Importance of Transgenic animals:
They are used as model organisms in the pre-clinical trials.
Used to study the effects of drugs.
Used to study and development of gene regulations.
Study of toxicology
INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Modern food, medical and agriculture industries completely rely on the biotechnology. It is obvious to use cheaper products than costly ones, which is done by biotechnology. Several biotechnological techniques reduced the production costs and time by using natural or modified machinery called as bio-reactors or carried out in-vivo. You can monitor your daily stuffs available in the market and reach to the conclusion.
DISADVANTAGES OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
No doubt biotechnology has very much importance in modern science, but due to an adverse impact it has some limits:
Through the transgene experiments, the wild gnomes are getting disappeared or you can say it as gene pollution. Alterations in one’s gene over long time causes in the deletion of wild genome.