Molecular Biotechnology In Life
If you have had a can of soft drink, ate a fruit, or took some head
ache
medicine this morning - then it's very likely you have used a
genetically
enhanced product. Genetics is a part of biotechnology that
manipulates
biological organisms to make products that benefit humankind.
Biotechnology is
essential in our life, but there are some concerns regarding
its safety.
Although, biotechnology may pose some danger it is proving to
be very beneficial
to humankind. The first applications of biotechnology
occurred approximately
around 5000 BC. Back then people used simple breeding
methods. Chains of plants
or animals were crossed to produce greater genetic
variety. The hybridized
offspring then were selectively bred to produce the
desired traits. For example,
for about 7000 years, corn has been selectively
bred for increased kernel size
and additional nutrition value. Also, through
selective breeding, cattle and
pigs have become the major sources of animal
foods for human (Encarta 99). The
modern era of biotechnology started in 1953
when British biophysicist Francis
Crick and American biochemist James
Watson presented their double-stranded model
of DNA. DNA is an extensive,
chain-like structure made up of nucleotides, and in
a way it looks like a
twisted rope ladder (Drlica 27). In 1960 Swiss
microbiologist Werner Arber
had discovered restriction enzymes. This special
kind of enzymes can cut DNA
of an organism at precise points. In 1973 American
scientists Stanley Cohen
and Herbert Boyer removed a specific gene from one
bacterium and inserted it
into another using restriction enzymes. This
achievement served as foundation
to recombinant DNA technology, which is
commonly called genetic engineering.
Recombinant DNA technology is a transfer of
a specifically coded gene of one
organism into bacteria. Further, the host
bacteria serve as a biologic
factory by reproducing the transferred gene. Today
biotechnology's
applications are used in a variety of areas. It's used in waste
management
for creation of biodegradable materials, in agriculture for higher
yields and
quality, in medicine for production of advanced pharmaceuticals,
cloning
tissues and curing genetic diseases. However there is a down side to
genetic
engineering. It deals with dangerous bacteria which could escape
the
boundaries of a lab and possibly cause epidemics. Moreover, if a
transgenic
organism escapes, it could eliminate a range of species and thus
disrupt natural
balance. Since biotechnology is a necessity, some government
guidelines were
established for strict regulation of recombinant DNA
experiments (Encarta 99).
Agriculture is the largest business in the
world, with assets of approximately
$900 billion and about 15 million
employees. Back in the 80's, there was a
concern, based on population growth
rates, that by the turn of the century
traditional agriculture would be in a
serious trouble (Hanson 68). But due to
the revolutionary development of
biotechnology during last couple of decades
agriculture has drastically
advanced. Sensational achievements were made in both
plant cultivation and
animal husbandry. The modification of plants has become
one of the most
important aspects in agriculture. Increased crop yields can be
achieved
through the increase of land, or increased yield per tract. Land is
expensive
and should be used efficiently, to do so - large quantities of
fertilizer,
herbicides, pesticides and frequent irrigation may be necessary. Due
to the
increase in petroleum cost - prices for nitrogen fertilizers
continuously
rise. Herbicides and pesticides are considered to be hazardous
and very costly
materials. Moreover, recurrent irrigation gradually leads to
serious damage of
the soil due to the salt accumulation. Eventually,
increased amounts of salt in
the soil result in large losses of crops (Hanson
69). Biotechnology can
incorporate genes that are resistant to environmental
stress, viruses, and
insects. Such modified plants will be resistant to the
same factors as the
incorporated gene. Crop plants could be genetically
engineered to manufacture
functional insecticides so that they are immanently
tolerant to insects. No
hazardous and costly pesticides are needed for such
plants resulting in very low
crop maintenance costs. Moreover, biological
insecticides are highly specific
for a range of insects and considered to be
harmless to humans and other higher
animals (Glick and Pasternak 341). Plant
viruses very often attack crops and
cause significant damage and loss of
crops. Recombinant DNA technology offers a
few ways to obtain natural virus
resistance: viral transmission can be blocked,
development of the virus can
be blocked, or viral symptoms can be bypassed or
resisted (Glick and
Pasternak 345). Biotechnology also contributes to the
development of plants
with higher tolerance to environmental changes. Plants
cannot avoid hazardous
environmental conditions such as heat, drought, and UV
radiation, so they
have developed physiological ways to deal with those
stresses. One of the
undesirable effects of physiological stress is production
of oxygen radicals.
Trough the use of recombinant DNA technology some plants are
given the
ability to tolerate high levels of oxygen radicals, these plants are
capable
of withstanding a various range of environmental stress (Glick
and
Pasternak 350). Another important area of biotechnology is
improvement of
livestock. Many generations of selective matings are required
to improve
livestock and other domesticated animals genetically for traits
such as milk
yield, wool characteristics, rate of weight gain, and egg laying
frequency. At
each successive generation, animals with superior performance
characteristics
are used as breeding stock. Eventually, high production
animals are developed as
more or less pure breeding lines. This combination
of mating and selection,
although time-consuming and costly, has been
exceptionally successful. Today
almost all aspects of the biological basis of
livestock production can be
attributed to this process. However, once an
effective genetic line has been
established, it becomes difficult to
introduce new genetic traits by selective
breeding methods (Glick and
Pasternak 359). Until recently, the only way to
enhance genetic properties of
domesticated animals was selective breeding.
However, research in new
areas of biotechnology lead to the development of new
technologies and almost
completely replaced traditional methodologies. Using
recombinant DNA
technology, scientists are able to insert a specific cloned gene
in to the
nucleus of fertilized egg of a higher organism. Then the fertilized
egg is
implanted into a receptive female. Most of the offspring derived from
the
implanted eggs will have the cloned gene in all their cells. The animals
with
the transgenic gene in their germ line are bred to establish new
superior
genetic lines. For example if the injected gene stimulates growth,
the animals
that received the gene would grow faster and require less food.
Even if
consumption of food was cut down by only a few percent - it still
would have a
profound effect on lowering the cost of production and the price
of final
product (Glick and Pasternak 361). Another area that benefits from
biotechnology
is medicine. This particular sector of biotechnology had risen
from about $6
billion share of global market in 1983 (Hanson 66) to about
$100 billion in 1997
("The Biotech Boom" 89). McDonald states that "today,
there are
more than 2,200 drugs that are in development and 234 awaiting
approval from
FDA" (91). The primary reasons for such rapid development
are millions of
deaths each year caused by disease, viruses, and genetic
disorders.
Biotechnology is widely used in pharmacy to create more
efficient and less
expensive drugs. Recombinant DNA technology is used for
production of specific
enzymes, which enhance the rate of production of
particular range of antibodies
in the organism (Hanson 67). Antibiotics
produced using such technology have
very specific effects and cause fewer
side effects. Also, using similar methods
a range of vaccines can be created.
Currently, scientists are working on
vaccines for fatal illnesses such as
AIDS, hepatitis, malaria, flu, and even
some forms of cancer. Shrof expects
that in the near future vaccines will come
in more convenient ways "some will
come in the form of mouthwash; others
will be swallowed in time-release
capsules, avoiding the need for
boosters." (57). Some genetically altered
foods that will convey antigens
against some disease are expected to be
available in about five years
("Miracle Vaccines" 57,67). Genetic disease
could be treated through
the use of genetic engineering. Defective genes in
an organism cause genetic
disorders. If a defective gene could be identified
and located in a particular
group of cells - it could be replaced with a
functional one. The transgenic
cells are then planted into the organism,
resulting in a cure of the disorder
(Jackson and Stich 64,65). Cloning is a
relatively new sector of biotechnology,
but it promises answers to very
important problems related to surgery. Tissues
and organs could be cloned for
surgical purposes. If scientists could isolate
stem cells, (stem cells have a
potential to grow into any kind of tissue or
organ) and then direct their
development, they would be able to create any kind
of a tissue, organ or even
a whole part of a body ("On the Horizon"
89). In a way, biotechnology is
just like one of its products - for all the
positive effects of biotechnology
there are some possible side effects. The
double-stranded molecule of DNA,
originally honored for its intelligibility, in
present society portraits a
double-sided sword, which could be employed as an
agent of death as well as
an agent of life ("All for the Good" 91).
There are some concerns that
genetic engineering could pose some serious danger
to earth inhabitants.
Nobody knows what ecological hazards could be caused by
novel transgenic
organisms ("DNA Disasters?" 80). The opposition of
genetic engineering says
that - the science is very young and needs a lot more
research. The majority
of recombinant DNA experiments use E. coli bacteria as a
host for production
of transgenic proteins. E. coli could be harmful to human
beings and other
species. Although the experiments are conducted in secure,
contained
facilities, there is a chance that some of bacteria could escape
the
boundaries of such laboratory. Escaped bacteria then could find an
environment
for replication and could spread at a fast pace. Some species
could be infected
and transmit the bacteria to others, thus causing global
epidemics (Jackson and
Stich 99-113). Moreover, genetic engineering
enables the scientists to combine
genetic materials of unrelated organisms.
Such recombinant events across species
have never been fond in nature. There
is a chance that such hybrid organisms
could escape from a laboratory. The
escaped transgenic organisms could eliminate
a range of species, and disrupt
the natural balance. Not to mention that such
organisms could abolish the
human kind. However, scientists tend to think that
there is a little chance
of such happening (Jackson and Stich 127). Hanson says
that "the primary
objective of genetic engineering is to control the
genetic structures of many
individual life forms which inhabit this planet,
including humans, for their
own benefit" (21). However, some individual
scientists may have different
goals. Indeed, some scientists may participate in
illegal activities in order
to achieve large financial rewards. There is a
concern that some genetic
project information could be sold to a group of
terrorists or such and then
used for development of biological weapons. Use of
biological weapons could
wipe out vast portion of specific species in a
particular region or even the
whole planet. There are some convincing reasons
for biotechnology to be
carefully regulated. In 1976, the National Institutes of
Health (NIH)
established a recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC). RAC is
responsible
for creating guidelines governing recombinant DNA experiments. All
the
institutions, companies or individuals working in the field of genetics
must
obey those guidelines. By the end of 1981, after reviewing the record
carefully,
RAC drew the conclusion that some of its requirements could be
loosened up
because safety of new technology was established (Hanson 80).
Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) has very high standards for proof of
safety and efficacy.
However, FDA has taken a constructive attitude in
making the products of
biotechnology quickly and safely available to the
public. FDA does not require
any unnecessary studies and provides the
companies with technical assistance
while taking the product through the
approval system. Today, there are 234 new
drugs awaiting approval from FDA
(Hanson 82). Innovation cannot exist without a
strong patent system. If there
were no patent system, the invention of one
company could become available to
other companies that did not incur high
research and development cost.
Without the potential for protecting company's
developments, there would be a
little chance to raise enough capital for growth
and support of the company
during the period while the products go through
regulatory approval process.
The patent system also contributes to a development
of stronger economy by
producing more competition. Under patent protection a new
company can compete
against larger, older and more entrenched companies. This,
in turn,
eliminates the possibility of monopoly and results in faster
development and
lower prices of the products (Encarta 99). On one hand, there
are some
concerns regarding safety of biotechnological experiments. However,
over the
years biotechnology has proved to be exceptionally safe. On the other
hand,
there is a strong need for more efficient agriculture and higher
achievements
in medical field. Biotechnology has also proved to be extremely
productive,
and innovative coming up with the answers for the problems mentioned
above.
In conclusion, if the 20th century was the century of physics, the
21st
century should be the century of
biology.
Bibliography
Drlica, Karl. Understanding DNA and Gene
Cloning. (Second Edition). 1 New
York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
1992. Encarta Encyclopedia 99, [Computer
Program for Windows 98]. 3
Raymond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 1999. Glick,
Bernard R. and
Pasternak, Jack J. Molecular biotechnology: Principles and 5
Application
of Recombinant DNA. Washington, DC: American Society of
Microbiology,
1994. Hanson, Earl D. (Ed.) Recombinant DNA Research and the
Human
Prospect. 6 Washington, DC: American Chemical Society, 1983.
Helvag, David.
"DNA Disasters?" Sierra September/October 1998: Proquest.
CD-ROM
Information Access. 1 Jackson, David A. and Stich, Stephen P.
(Ed.) The
recombinant DNA Debate. 3 Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc.,
1979.
Lemonick, Michael D. "On the Horizon." Time January 11, 1999:
Proquest.
CD-ROM Information Access. 1 McDonald, Duff. "The Biotech Boom:
Investing's
New Frontier." Money September, 2 1998: Proquest. CD-ROM.
Information
Access. Shrof, Joannie M. "Miracle Vaccines." US News &
World
Report, November 23, 1998. 2 Watson, James D. "All for the Good:
Why
Genetic Engineering Should March On." 1 Time January 11, 1999:
Proquest.
CD-ROM Information
Access.