Biotechnology

What is biotechnology?

Biotechnology uses living organisms or their components to make products and processes for practical use.

People used it long before the word existed. Yeast makes bread rise. Microbes ferment beer.

Modern biotechnology goes further. It changes the genes of living things on purpose.

• Old form: baking and brewing with yeast and bacteria.
• New form: editing and moving genes.

Sources: NHGRI: genetic engineering.

What is genetic engineering?

Genetic engineering directly changes an organism’s DNA to give it a new or better trait.

A classic case is human insulin. A human gene is placed into bacteria. The bacteria then make the protein on an industrial scale.

The gene comes from a different species. That is what makes it genetic engineering.

Sources: NHGRI: genetic engineering; NHGRI: recombinant DNA.

How is insulin made using gene technology?

The steps follow a fixed order. Each step prepares the next.

First, scientists isolate the human insulin gene. Next, they insert it into a plasmid vector, a small ring of DNA.

Last, they place this recombinant plasmid into E. coli bacteria. The bacteria then make insulin as they grow.

• 1. Isolate the gene.
• 2. Insert it into a plasmid vector.
• 3. Put the plasmid into E. coli.

Sources: NHGRI: plasmid; NHGRI: recombinant DNA.

What is cloning?

Cloning makes a genetically identical copy of an organism, a cell or a piece of DNA.

The most famous case is Dolly the sheep. She was born in 1996 at the Roslin Institute in Scotland.

She was the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, not from an embryo. She was named after Dolly Parton.

Sources: NHGRI: cloning.

What is recombinant DNA technology?

Recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology joins DNA from different sources to make new gene combinations.

This is the real method behind engineered insulin, GM crops and most gene therapies.

Without first recombining DNA from separate sources, none of these would exist.

Sources: NHGRI: recombinant DNA.

What do restriction enzymes do?

Restriction enzymes cut DNA at specific recognition sites. They work like molecular scissors.

They cut DNA into fragments. They do not simply pull the double helix into two strands.

Scientists use them to cut out a gene and open a plasmid so the gene can be inserted.

Sources: NHGRI: restriction enzyme; NHGRI: recombinant DNA.

What are the basic steps in genetically modifying an organism?

Three steps count together. Skipping any one fails the goal.

Scientists identify the desirable DNA. They introduce it into the host. Then they make sure it is maintained and passed on to the next generation.

• Identify the useful DNA.
• Introduce it into the host.
• Keep it and pass it to offspring.

Sources: NHGRI: genetic engineering.

How does biotechnology help agriculture?

It helps farmers grow pest-resistant and higher-yield crops.

GM crops, tissue culture and biofertilisers are the main tools.

Bt cotton, approved in 2002, is the only GM crop India has approved for farming.

Sources: Drishti: GM mustard; Nature Biotechnology: India approves GM cotton.

Where does medicine use biotechnology?

It has major uses in medicine. Vaccines and new drugs are two big areas.

Engineered insulin is a textbook case. Many gene therapies also rely on rDNA.

Sources: NHGRI: recombinant DNA; NHGRI: genetic engineering.

How can biotechnology help energy?

It can turn organic material into biofuels. Biofuels offer an alternative to fossil fuels.

This links biotechnology to climate goals as well as to farming and health.

Sources: Outlook Business: BioE3.

What was the Human Genome Project?

The Human Genome Project mapped the full set of human genes. It gave scientists a reference map of human DNA.

It finished in April 2003, over two years ahead of schedule. The US share of its cost was about $2.7 billion.

Reading a human genome now costs far less than it did then. Cheap sequencing made genome tests common.

• Finished: April 2003.
• US cost: about $2.7 billion.
• Today: sequencing is far cheaper.

Sources: NHGRI: Human Genome Project; NHGRI: completion FAQ.

How is hybridisation different from genetic engineering?

Hybridisation is an older method. It crosses two varieties of plants or animals to combine good traits.

It depends on natural crossing, so results can take generations.

Genetic engineering edits DNA directly. It skips the long wait for a lucky cross.

• Hybridisation: crosses whole varieties.
• Genetic engineering: edits chosen genes.

Sources: NHGRI: cloning.

What are the biosafety worries?

The worry is simple. Could a GM organism harm people or nature once it leaves the lab?

So GM products need safety checks before release. In India, the GEAC gives that approval.

Sources: Outlook Business: BioE3.

What is GEAC, and which law created it?

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) checks GM products before they go into fields.

A law from 1986 sets it up: the Environment (Protection) Act. It is not a food or wildlife law.

The Supreme Court gave a split verdict on GM mustard in July 2024 and asked for a national GM policy.

Sources: Drishti: GM mustard.

Why does biotechnology raise ethical questions?

Changing human genes and cloning raise questions of consent and identity. Nobody can predict the long-term results.

The science alone does not decide the outcome. Regulation, public trust and fair access matter too.

Sources: NHGRI: Human Genome Project.