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Not everyone agrees with cloning, or believes it is ethical.

However, there are many important


medical possibilities through the use of cloning. Such possibilities include the cure for
infertility, endangered species, baldness, and reconstructive surgery. Through cloning, we also
may be able to help with liver and kidney failure, leukemia, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s,
and possibly even cancer. Many people misunderstand cloning, and think it is used strictly for
reproducing whole animals or humans. Reproducing whole human beings would be just a small
portion of cloning, if made legal. The primary focus of cloning is to reproduce stem cells that
would be used to grow replacement organs. If people were more educated about cloning there
would be less people opposed to it. One of the main reasons people are against cloning is that
they believe someone will abuse it.

Cloning would help many people safely face problems with health and appearance, rather than
going through risky surgery. Cloning could amazingly increase the physical and emotional
value of many people’s lives. Many people are in favor of cloning because of its use in
reconstructive, cosmetic, and plastic surgery. Imagine if you were a burn victim, how would
you like to get your skin back to normal? It may even be possible for victims of limb
amputation, to have that limb regenerated. It could also help people with balding scalps. Dr,
Simon Smith states that “cloning can be used to get more hair from a few sample follicles or
grafts from the patient’s head and then grow them, later transplant the grafts where it is
needed.” Cloning would also be much safer for cosmetic surgery and breast implants. With the
new technology, instead of using material foreign to the body, doctors will be able to
manufacture bone, fat, connective tissue, or cartilage that matches with the patience.

Genetic cloning allows us to study genetic disorders in a lab environment. We can perform
experiments on these cloned cells without having to endanger the patient themselves. These
clones aren't humans; you can't even see them without a microscope most of the time. By
performing these experiments we learn about the different processes that occur within the cell.
And the more we learn about these processes the more we can do to prevent disorders that
occur due to malfunctions in these processes. How do you think cancer research is being done
right now? Without genetic cloning techniques where would we get these cancer cell samples
to perform tests in hopes of one day figuring out how to stop it?

Also in animals it is important such that cloning accelerates the birth of the best possible stock
and provides farmers with certainty of the genetic makeup of a particular animal. Cloning
reproduces the strongest, healthiest animals, thus optimizing animal well-being and minimizing
the need for veterinary intervention. Cloning can be used to protect endangered species. For
example, in China, panda cells are kept on reserve as insurance against extinction.

“Role of Biotechnology in increasing the yield and


quality of farm plants and animals”
Scientists all over the world continue their search for better food production
techniques. Human population growth has increased at a faster rate but the space for
growing crops and for raising livestock has remained limited. To address the problem of
inadequate food supply, several biological techniques have been developed. Though cell
fusion, for example, plants which do not normally cross-fertilize are hybridized. Desirable
characteristics like early maturation of capacity to bear large fruits can be made to appear
in a single plant. Cells from two plants with the desired characteristics are fused.

Hybrid plants can also be obtained by combining segments of DNA from different
plants containing genes with the desired traits. These hybrid plants are a product of
Recombinant DNA Technology. Recombinant DNA technology involves combining
fragments of DNA from different sources. The resulting cells or tissues are cultured. Thus,
high yielding, disease-resistant varieties and other desirable traits can be “designed” in
plants by using cell fusion and recombinant DNA technology.

ROLE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN CROPS

Insect-protected plants

Devastation of crops by insect pests is a major problem for farmers. To fight crop pests,
farmers usually spray crops with insecticides. These sprays have limitations as they may
degrade in sunlight or be washed away by rain. By introducing a specific gene into the genetic
make up of a plant, the plants are able to continuously produce proteins to protect against
harmful insects.

This built-in protection offers farmers an alternative to the use of chemical pesticides. When
the usage of chemical pesticides is decreased, beneficial bacteria survive and, in turn, help
control harmful insect pests.

Other potential benefits of insect-protected plants include:

• Maintenance or improvement of crop yields


• Reduced exposure of farmers to chemical insecticides
• Soil protection
• Less exposure of ground water to chemical insecticides
• Lower levels of fungal toxins spread by insect damage

Herbicide-tolerant plants

Weeds compete with crops for water, nutrients, sunlight and space. They also harbour insect
and disease pests, reduce crop quality and deposit weed seeds in crop harvests.

Farmers fight weeds by tilling, using herbicides or through a combination of these methods.
Tilling exposes valuable topsoil to wind and water erosion, and has serious long-term
consequences for the environment. Environmentally conscious farmers try to reduce tilling and
limit the use of chemical herbicides.

By introducing into a plant a gene that confers tolerance to a specific herbicide, a farmer can
apply this herbicide in judicious amounts to control weeds without destroying the crop.

This technology allows the grower to apply herbicide only when the presence of weeds
requires it, a practice consistent with the concept of integrated pest management. It may also
result in the increased use of environmentally-favourable herbicides and reduce the use of
tilling.

Disease-resistant plants

Plant disease, including fungal and viral diseases, can devastate both the yield and quality of
crop harvests. To minimize the economic loss resulting from plant disease, farmers often plant
more than they expect to harvest. This increases the costs of planting and results in wastage
of fuel, water and fertiliser. In addition, farmers use chemical insecticides to destroy pests
such as aphids that carry viral disease.

Researchers are working to develop crops protected from certain types of plant viruses. By
introducing a small part of the DNA from a virus into the genetic makeup of a plant, scientists
are developing crops that have in-built immunity to specific viral diseases. This allows reduced
dependence on chemical inputs and improves both productivity and crop quality.

Improved food and crop quality

Since the beginning of time, farmers have sought to improve the quality and quantity of food
crops through plant selection and hybridization. By introducing a gene (or genes) through
genetic modification, beneficial changes may be made to plant crops. Examples include:

• Consistently high-yielding oil palms


• Potatoes and tomatoes with a higher content of solids, making the plants more
suitable for food processing.
• Tomatoes, squash and potatoes with higher levels of nutrients such as vitamins A, C
and E.
• Corn and soya beans containing higher levels of essential amino acids.
• Potatoes with higher levels of essential amino acids.
• Oil seeds with lower levels of saturated fat.
• Garlic cloves with more allicin, an active ingredient that is being researched for a
potential role in helping to lower cholesterol.
• Strawberries with increased levels of natural agents that are being studied for their
role in helping to fight cancer.
• Slow-ripening tomatoes, peppers and tropical fruits with better keeping qualities and
better flavour.
• Crops that can grow in very low temperatures.
• Animal feed crops with improved levels of proteins.

Crop improvements like these can help provide an abundant supply of food and protect our
environment. The development of stronger crops would allow for increased food production in
regions of the world where farming conditions are too severe for traditional crops. Increasing
the nutritional content of staple foods could help certain populations get more nutrients
without having to change their diets significantly.

Increasing Yields

In addition to increasing crop productivity by using built-in protection against diseases, pests,
environmental stresses and weeds to minimize losses, scientists use biotechnology to improve
crop yields directly. Researchers at Japan's National Institute of Agrobiological Resources
added maize photosynthesis genes to rice to increase its efficiency at converting sunlight to
plant starch and increased yields by 30 percent. Other scientists are altering plant metabolism
by blocking gene action in order to shunt nutrients to certain plant parts. Yields increase as
starch accumulates in potato tubers and not leaves, or as oil-seed crops, such as canola,
allocate most fatty acids to the seeds.

Biotechnology also allows scientists to develop crops that are better at accessing the
micronutrients they need. Mexican scientists have genetically modified plants to secrete citric
acid, a naturally occurring compound, from their roots. In response to the slight increase in
acidity, minerals bound to soil particles, such as calcium, phosphorous and potassium, are
released and made available to the plant.

Nitrogen is released from organic materials after a long process of decay. Nostoc and
Gleotrichia are cyanobacteria that change atmospheric nitrogen to a form that plants can use.
These nitrogen-fixing organisms grow naturally in wetland paddies. Anabaena is another
nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria that grows within the aquatic fern, azolla, which is now
cultivated and used as fertilizer.

Another technique of enriching the soil using a nitrogen-fixing system is by intercropping with
legumes or by putting (inoculating) nitrogen-fixing bacteria into the soil surrounding the plant.
The roots of legumes provide a home for Rhizobium bacteria which can fix atmospheric
nitrogen. Scientists are now incorporating nitrogen-fixing genes into plant cells using
recombinant DNA tecgnology.

ROLE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN FARM ANIMALS:

Biotechnology is a key technology in the generation of an adequate food supply for the ever
growing human population. Genetics and reproduction as fundamental functional prerequisites
for successful livestock production have been important subjects of biotechnological research
in animal science for many decades. Biotechnological procedures developed so far are to be
applied for increasing breeding efficiency in farm animals, for the preservation of animal
genetic resources, for the improvement of product quality or for new production strategies and
novel animal products. Many of these opportunities are already a routine in animal husbandry;
others will be employed according to needs, suitability and their public perception. The latter
has to be addressed by observing the ethical principles for the application of biotechnology in
animals in selected areas of livestock production in which immediate benefits are to be
obtained. This paper deals with some of the future perspectives and visions for animal
biotechnology in research and field application. It focusses on cryopreservation of germ cells
and embryos, ovum pickup from ovaries in situ and IVMFC, gender preselection, cloning,
genome analysis and gene mapping, and gene transfer.

Artificial insemination and embryo transfer are important technologies used in livestock and
poultry production. Artificial insemination is no longer new and scientists can now preserve
sperm and detect the fertility period of female breeding animals. Embryo transfer technology
involves the transfer of an embryo to a substitute or surrogate parent. For example, the
sperm and eggs of an endangered animal undergo fertilization outside the body of the animal.
The resulting embryos are then implanted into surrogate mothers of a different but closely
related species.

Benefits

• Crops
o Enhanced taste and quality
o Reduced maturation time
o Increased nutrients, yields, and stress tolerance
o Improved resistance to disease, pests, and herbicides
o New products and growing techniques
• Animals
o Increased resistance, productivity, hardiness, and feed efficiency
o Better yields of meat, eggs, and milk
o Improved animal health and diagnostic methods
“Example of agricultural crops and farms animals that have
been genetically modified and improved characteristics that
have been imported to them”

Table: List of genetically modified crops and their altered traits.

Modified Trait Crop


Input Traits
Herbicide resistance Sugarbeet, Soybean, Corn, Canola, Cotton, Flax
Insect/herbicide resistance Corn
Insect resistance Tomato, Corn, Potato, Cotton
Virus resistance Squash, Papaya
Male sterile Corn
Output Traits
Modified oil Soybean, Canola
Modified fruit ripening Tomato
Provitamin A enriched Rice
Iron fortification Rice
Beta-carotene, lycopene enriched Tomato
Detoxification of mycotoxins Corn
Detoxification of cyanogens Cassava
Caffein-free Coffee beans
Vitamin E enriched Canola

Genetically Modified Farm Animals

• Cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits and pigs have been genetically
modified with the aim of producing human proteins that are useful,
generally as medicines. The gene transfer process is typically very
inefficient, and cloning is seen as another way of propagating the GM
animal
• Cows can be bioengineered to produce several varieties of milk: milk with
a lower level of a protein that's allergenic to some infants; milk that is
more easily digested by people who are lactose intolerant; milk that has
more naturally occurring antimicrobial enzyme, and therefore has longer
shelf life; and milk that makes better cheese because it has altered
distribution of caseins or less fat.
• Salmon, catfish and tilapia have been also genetically modified to grow
faster and more efficiently than their non-transgenic counterparts.
Rainbow trout has been engineered to increase its contents of omega 3
fatty acids, and shellfish is being modified to reduce its allergenicity and
make it grow faster.

• Two lines of cattle have been developed with increased resistance to mastitis,
a painful infection of the udder common in dairy cows

• Similar to the EnviropigTM, chickens and quail have also been developed with
a gene construct for phytase.

• Pigs have been genetically modified with at least 5 novel genes. Improving
phosphorous absorption in the diet of pigs and other farms animals has
challenged agricultural researchers for decades. Addressing the source of the
problem – the inability of pigs to digest phytate phosphorous

Scientists have created genetically altered


pigs that lack a gene involved in rejection
of transplanted organs. They could
potentially be used to grow organs for
human transplantation.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)

Today, through recombinant DNA


technology, modern biotechnology has
produced hormones such as insulin,
interferon and new varieties of crops and
livestock. The new products of
biotechnology are generally made by
transferring genes from one organism to
another. The resulting organism is known as
Genetically Modified Organism or GMO.
Agricultural plants are one of the most frequently cited examples of genetically modified
organisms (GMOs). Some benefits of genetic engineering in agriculture are increased crop
yields, reduced costs for food or drug production, reduced need for pesticides, enhanced
nutrient composition and food quality, resistance to pests and disease, greater food
security, and medical benefits to the world's growing population. Advances have also been
made in developing crops that mature faster and tolerate aluminum, boron, salt, drought,
frost, and other environmental stressors, allowing plants to grow in conditions where they
might not otherwise flourish Other applications include the production of nonprotein
(bioplastic) or nonindustrial (ornamental plant) products. A number of animals have also been
genetically engineered to increase yield and decrease susceptibility to disease. For example,
salmon have been engineered to grow larger) and mature faster and cattle have been
enhanced to exhibit resistance to mad cow disease.

Table 1: Examples of GMOs Resulting from Agricultural Biotechnology

Genetically Conferred Trait Example Genetic Change


Organism

APPROVED COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS

Herbicide tolerance Soybean Glyphosate herbicide (Roundup)


tolerance conferred by expression of a
glyphosate-tolerant form of the plant
enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-
phosphate synthase (EPSPS) isolated
from the soil bacterium Agrobacterium
tumefaciens, strain CP4

Insect resistance Corn Resistance to insect pests, specifically


the European corn borer, through
expression of the insecticidal protein
Cry1Ab from Bacillus thuringiensis

Altered fatty acid composition Canola High laurate levels achieved by inserting
the gene for ACP thioesterase from the
California bay tree Umbellularia
californica

Virus resistance Plum Resistance to plum pox virus conferred


by insertion of a coat protein (CP) gene
from the virus

PRODUCTS STILL IN DEVELOPMENT

Vitamin enrichment Rice Three genes for the manufacture of beta-


carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, in
the endosperm of the rice prevent its
removal (from husks) during milling

Vaccines Tobacco Hepatitis B virus surface antigen


(HBsAg) produced in transgenic
tobacco induces immune response when
injected into mice

Oral vaccines Maize Fusion protein (F) from Newcastle


disease virus (NDV) expressed in corn
seeds induces an immune response when
fed to chickens

Faster maturation Coho salmon A type 1 growth hormone gene injected


into fertilized fish eggs results in 6.2%
retention of the vector at one year of
age, as well as significantly increased
growth rates

Potential GMO Applications


Many industries stand to benefit from additional GMO research. For instance, a number
of microorganisms are being considered as future clean fuel producers and biodegraders.
In addition, genetically modified plants may someday be used to produce recombinant
vaccines. In fact, the concept of an oral vaccine expressed in plants (fruits and
vegetables) for direct consumption by individuals is being examined as a possible
solution to the spread of disease in underdeveloped countries, one that would greatly
reduce the costs associated with conducting large-scale vaccination campaigns. Work is
currently underway to develop plant-derived vaccine candidates in potatoes and lettuce
for hepatitis B virus (HBV), enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), and Norwalk virus.
Scientists are also looking into the production of other commercially valuable proteins in
plants, such as spider silk protein and polymers that are used in surgery or tissue
replacement (Ma et al., 2003). Genetically modified animals have even been used to
grow transplant tissues and human transplant organs, a concept called
xenotransplantation. The rich variety of uses for GMOs provides a number of valuable
benefits to humans, but many people also worry about potential risks.

“Transgenic Organisms”
A transgenic organism is a type of genetically
modified organism (GMO) that has genetic material from
another species that provides a useful trait. For instance; a
plant may be given genetic material that increases its
resistance to frost. Another example would be an animal that
has been modified with genes that give it the ability to
secrete a human protein.

Uses of transgenic organisms:

• in toxicology: as responsive test animals (detection of


toxicants);
• in mammalian developmental genetics;
• to introduce human genes into other organisms
(particularly human) for the study of disease processes;
• in molecular biology, the analysis of the regulation of
gene expression;
• in the pharmaceutical industry, the production of human
pharmaceuticals in farm animals ("pharming"); targeted
production of pharmaceutical proteins, drug production
and product efficacy testing;
• in biotechnology: as producers of specific proteins;
• genetically engineered hormones to increase milk yield,
meat production; genetic engineering of livestock in
agriculture affecting modification of animal physiology
and/or anatomy; cloning procedures to reproduce specific
blood lines;
• to speed up the introduction of existing characters into a
strain/breed for improvement and modification;
• developing animals specially created for use in
xenografting, ie. modify the antigenic make-up of animals
so that their tissues and organs can be used in
transfusions and transplants
Examples of Transgenic Organisms:
Many stable transgenic zebrafish lines now express jellyfish green fluorescent
protein (GFP) genes under tissue-specific promoters. Because GFP

expression can be observed in live


embryos and adult, these transgenic
zebrafish provided a powerful tool in
developmental analysis.

Green fluorescent protein gene


of tomato contains fish
genes a mouse having a mouse
jellyfish inserted into tobacco plant. ear in it’s back itself

This golden, glistering seahorse was created by a research team at Viet


Nam National University’s College of Science using a shooting method
(generated via a strong force to insert the light-emitting gene into the
seahorses’ egg cells). There are about 108 living seahorses glistering in gold
created successfully via genetically engineered technology.With regards to
the creation of this golden, glistering sea horse, the researcher said, “Gene
GFP, a light-emitting gene extracted from jelly fish, was combined with
tiny grains of gold. Then these grains of gold were injected into seahorse’s
egg cells. The gold mixed with the jellyfish genes was incorporated into the
cells of the sea horses, which glittered when they came into being.”

an orange gene was inserted into green apple fruit

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