Biotechnological Applications: From Medicine to Environmental Conservation

Biotechnological applications in medicine have revolutionized healthcare by providing advanced solutions such as genetically engineered insulin, gene therapy, and gene silencing. These innovations not only improve disease treatment and management but also offer sustainable approaches in bio-energy and environmental biotechnology.

Biotechnological Application in Medicine

Genetically Engineered Insulin

• About: Insulin used for diabetes was earlier extracted from pancreas of slaughtered cattle and pigs.
  • Insulin from an animal source, though, caused some patients to develop allergy or other types of reactions to the foreign protein.
• In 1983, Eli Lilly, an American company prepared two DNA sequences corresponding to A and B, chains of human insulin and introduced them in plasmids of E. coli to produce insulin chains.
• Chains A and B were produced separately, extracted and combined by creating disulfide bonds to form human insulin.

Gene Therapy

• About: Gene therapy is a technique for treating genetic problems that includes replacing faulty genes with healthy ones.
  • It is a way of introducing DNA into human cells that is done artificially.
• Categorisation: Gene therapy can be divided into two categories:

Application in Bio-energy

• About Biofuels: They are derived from biomass and are renewable and sustainable energies with the potential to replace fossil fuels.
• Application: Biotechnology can help to speed up the selection of varieties that are more suited to biofuel production with increased –
  • Biomass per hectare,
  • Increased content of oils (biodiesel crops) or
  • Fermentable sugars (ethanol crops), or
  • Improved processing characteristics that facilitate their conversion to biofuels.
• Significance: Utilization of microbial fuel cells is found to be useful for sustainable bioenergy synthesis via completing the wastewater treatment processes with electric energy synthesis.

Environmental Biotechnology

About: Environmental biotechnology, specifically, refers to the use of procedures to safeguard and restore the environment’s quality. 

Gene Silencing

• About: Gene silencing is the regulation of gene expression in a cell to prevent the expression of a certain gene.
  • When genes are silenced, their expression is reduced. 
  • Ex: Researchers designed two small RNA molecules that silence the fungal genes which produce aflatoxin in Groundnut.

• Impact: When genes are knocked out, they are completely erased from the organism’s genome and thus, have no expression.

Applications of Gene Silencing

• Specific gene silencing using RNAi in cell culture.
• Cancer treatments
• RNA interference has been used for applications in biotechnology.
• Useful in epigenomic analysis and clinical application of molecular diagnosis.
• Neuro-degenerative disorders treatment.

Conclusion

The integration of biotechnology in medicine has significantly enhanced our ability to treat genetic disorders, manage chronic diseases, and develop sustainable energy solutions. Through gene therapy, bioremediation, phytoremediation, and biosensors, biotechnology continues to play a crucial role in advancing healthcare and environmental protection, paving the way for a healthier and more sustainable future.

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