Boxes 2.1-2.3

 

Box 2.1: Components of biotechnology

Biotechnology is any technique that uses living organisms or parts thereof to make or modify a product, improve plants or animals, or develop microorganisms for specific uses.

All the characteristics of any given organism are encoded within its genetic material, which consists of the collection of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules that exist in each cell of the organism.  The complete set of DNA molecules in an organism comprises its genome.  The genome is divided into a series of functional units, called genes.  The genome containes two copies of each gene, one having been received from each parent.  The collection of traits displayed by any organism (phenotype) depends on which genes are present in its genome (genotype).   The appearance of any specific phenotypic trait also will depend on many other factors, including: whether the genetic information responsible for the trait (ie the specific gene(s) associated with it is turned on (expressed) or off, the specific cells within which the genes are expressed, and how the genes, their expression, and the gene products interact with environmental factors (genotype x environment effects).

 

Box 2.2: Recombinant DNA Technologies

In the 1970s, a series of complementary advances in the field of molecular biology provided scientists with the ability to readily move DNA between close and more distantly related organisms. Today, this recombinant DNA technology has reached a stage where a piece of DNA containing one or more specific genes can be taken from nearly any organism, including plants, animals, bacteria, or viruses, and introduced into any other organism.  This process is known as transformation. The application of recombinant DNA technology has been termed genetic engineering.  An organism that has been improved, or transformed, using modern techniques of genetic exchange is commonly referred to as a genetically improved organism or a living modified organism.  The offspring of any traditional cross between two organisms also are genetically improved relative to the genotype of either of the contributing parents.  Strains that have been genetically improved using recombinant DNA technology to introduce a gene from either the same or a different species also are known as transgenic strains and the specific gene transferred is known as a transgene.  Not all genetically improved organisms involve the use of cross-species genetic exchange. Recombinant DNA technology also can be used to transfer a gene between different varieties of the same species or to modify the expression of one or more of a given plant’s own genes, such as the ability to amplify the expression of a gene for disease resistance.

 

Box 2.3: New terms in biotechnology

Genomics is the discovery and study of many genes simultaneously on a genome-wide scale. The three-inter-related strands of genomics are structural, functional and comparative genomics:

Structural genomics is concerned with the determination of genome structure at the sequence level.

Comparative genomics involves understanding the molecular basis of similarities and differences between the genomes of organisms.

Functional genomics focuses on understanding the function of specific genes.

Proteomics involves large-scale studies on gene expression at the protein level, including the purification, identification, and quantification of proteins and the determination of their localization, modifications, interactions and activities in the organism.

Metabolomics relates to the analysis of all cellular metabolites, so as to understand all the compounds working in a cell, and the biochemical pathways by which they act.

Bioinformatics is the use of computers for the acquisition, collation, interrogation and interpretation of large collections of complex biological data.

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