BIOTECHNOLOGY: The Future of the World
Biotechnology or also cited as ‘biotech’ is a wide concept of biology. It plays an important role to improve the quality of life and also help to fight the grand challenges the world is facing.
Major problems that need immediate solution are increasing population and the availability of resources, healthcare, energy security, food security and climate change and biotechnology is playing a vital role to tackle these issues.
Here we will discuss what biotechnology is, the history of biotech, major fields of biotech and why it is considered as the future of the world.
What is Biotechnology
Biotechnology is the fusion of biology and technology. It applies different technologies on living organisms or living processes to manufacture the products which help to improve the quality of human life or in a broader sense change the world in a useful way.
From discovering a new treatment for a rare disease or to fight pandemic such as COVID to produce pest resistant crops, and from producing renewable energy resources to tackle climate change, the role of biotechnology is indispensable.
History of biotech
Biotechnology is considered as an advanced term but the processes are being used by humans for millennia.
The word Biotechnology was first coined by Karl Ereky in 1919. He described it as the process by which products are being manufactured using living cells.
Biotech can trace back to time when man learned to revolutionize agriculture and domesticate animals. They learned about selective breeding, grafting of plants and started to use microorganisms for the production of bread, cheese, wine and beer etc.
The evolution of biotech has been split up into three eras i.e,
- Ancient Biotechnology
- Classical Biotechnology
- Modern Biotechnology
Ancient Biotechnology (Pre-1800)
Ancient Biotechnology is also known as pre-historic biotechnology.
This was the time when man learned to utilize things to improve his quality of life. Man became civilized enough to breed plants and animals. They manufactured several types of fermented wine, beer and other beverages.
Most of these processes date back to 5000 years ago.
After domestication the next step was fermentation. It was the most powerful tool in improving man’s living conditions.
Cheese is considered as the first biotechnological product as it was created by an enzyme ‘rennet’ found in the stomach of the calves.
Although all these processes were being carried out in pre 1800, but the science behind these was still unknown.
KUNGA- First hybrid animal
The first hybrid animal ‘Kunga’, was created around 4500 years ago. It was considered as a status symbol back then and used in wars. Remains of Kunga were found near North Syria, buried in a royal burial complex. DNA Sequencing revealed that Kunga was the result of cross between a donkey and a horse.
FAIRCHILD’S MULE- First hybrid plant
The first hybrid plant was created in 1717. It was made by exchanging the pollen of the Carnation Plant with Sweet William.
Fairchild Thomas was the one who made this cross. He did not discover the sex of the plant but he opened a door for the world on how to exploit it.
Classical Biotechnology (1800–1945)
The era from the beginning of 1800 to the middle of the 20th century is an era of discoveries and evolution.
Every discovery supported by scientific evidence paved a path towards what is now called Modern Biotechnology.
Some of the major discoveries from the classical era are listed down:
In 1859, Darwin published his theory of evolution in his book ‘Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection’.
Darwin popularized the term ‘Natural Selection’. He wanted people to understand the concept of the survival of the fittest.
”One general law, leading to the advancements of all the organics beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die.”
-Charles Darwin, Origin of species.
In 1866, Gregor Mendel described the basic laws of genetics, which were later considered as the base of biotechnology. Although his work didn’t get much recognition and was later validated by other scientists in 1900.
Nucleus was discovered by Robert Brown in 1831 and in 1868 Friedrich Miescher discovered Nuclein (which was later named as DNA) from pus cells. These two discoveries led to the foundation of molecular biology.
In 1909, a Danish botanist Johannsen coined the word ‘Gene’. Although genes were already discovered by Gregor Mendel, he named them as ‘hereditary factors’.
Another major discovery which led to the antibiotic revolution was the discovery of penicillin.
In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming, found that the colony of Staphylococci died due to the growth of mold on petri dish. He later observed that one microorganism can be used to kill another microorganism.
Further studies revealed that an antibacterial toxin ‘penicillin’ from the mold ‘Penicillium notatum’ can be used against various infectious diseases.
Modern Biotechnology (1945-present)
Two revolutionary discoveries led to the beginning of modern biotechnology. One was the discovery of DNA that carries the hereditary information in the cells and the other was to determine the structure of DNA.
In 1953, two scientists James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA. It was a double helix, with two strands twisted around each other.
Further studies revealed that the composition, structure and function of the DNA was the same in all living organisms. The only difference that made each organism unique was the order of chemical bases in DNA molecules.
This gave the researchers an idea that if they change the DNA sequence they might be able to modify lifeforms. This gave rise to another discovery ‘recombinant DNA technology’.
First genetically engineered drug, human insulin was made in 1986, by using bacteria. The genes which encode for human insulin were cloned and expressed in E.coli.
In 1990, the first human genome project was launched.
Further studies and experiments gave rise to new discoveries and developments including human gene therapy, early detection of HIV virus using gene chip, cloning of a sheep Dolly, cloning of human embryonic cells, cancer drugs, plant-made vaccine, production of biotech crop on 330 million acres, gene editing and cutting technology (CRISPR) and the list goes on and on.
Tremendous discoveries have been made in the field of biotech since the discovery of DNA. It has revolutionized the world. Modern biotechnology depends on the developments in molecular biology and computer technology. Human genome sequencing would be infeasible without the development of complicated softwares and technologies.
Types of Biotechnology
Biotechnology has been divided into major sub-fields, including Medical, Agriculture, Industrial, Marine and Environmental biotechnology.
Medical biotechnology
From treating a viral flu to curing cancer, medical biotechnology is playing a very promising role. Medical Biotechnology uses living cells to produce pharmaceutical drugs and diagnostic products.
Some important applications of medical biotechnology includes
- Recombinant insulin
- Gene therapy
- Molecular Diagnosis
- Edible vaccines
- Nanobionics
Agriculture biotechnology
Agriculture biotechnology or ‘agritech’ deals with the techniques such as genetic engineering, molecular markers and tissue culture to improve or modify plants, animals and microorganisms. The main purpose of this modification is to increase agricultural productivity, enhance the nutrition and taste and to also increase the shelf life of foods.
Marine biotechnology
Marine biotech is used to unlock the treasure water ecosystem holds. It deals with the making of various products using marine life for betterment of human life. From cosmetics to medical and pharmaceutical products, marine biotechnology has been playing a vital role.
Other major application of marina biotech includes
- Production of biofuels
- Bioremediation
- Manufacturing of valuable enzymes
- Biosensors
- Production of drugs Some of the FDA approved drugs obtained from marine organisms are
1)Eribulin mesylate is used to treat breast cancer.
2)Ziconotide treat chronic pain.
3)Cytarabine, ara-C is an anticancer drug and help to treat leukemia patients.
4)Brentuximab vedotin(SGN-35) is another anticancer drug and used to treat lymphoma.
5)Omega-3 acid ethyl esters is used to maintain the level of triglycerides in blood.
6)Trabectedin is also anticancer medicine and used for the treatment of liposarcoma.
Environmental biotechnology
Environmental biotechnology plays a vital role in sustaining the environment and minimizing the damage human activities have been causing. This field of biotechnology uses biological systems and Eco-friendly processes to remediate the contamination of land, water and air.
Benefits of this branch includes
- Production of renewable energy resource
- Creation of environment friendly raw materials such as biodegradable plastics
- Production of genetically modified crops to reduce the use of agrochemicals.
- Use of biofertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers.
Color code for Biotechnology
On the basis of type of biotech, different colors have been assigned to different fields. This is also known as Rainbow code for biotechnology.
Bioethics
Although development in biotechnology revolutionized the world and proved to be a solution to many complicated problems, it gave humans power over the living things.
The advancement in the areas of gene therapy, gene editing, DNA synthesis etc, gave rise to a controversial debate.
Questions have been raised by different ethical communities like ‘ What are the limitations? ‘What are the risks or benefits an experiment would cause?’ ‘Either the research experiment has any harmful physical or physiological impacts on the participants?’
Some of these questions need a clear cut answer. Although strict restrictions have been given by the authorities in this regard including
- Voluntary consent
- Avoidance of accidental death or any disability
- Termination of research if harm is likely
- Experiments should be done by experts
- Results should be good for the society
- No other method would be able to produce desired results
Why it is considered as the future of the world
The way the world is changing rapidly , biotechnology will become a survival tool in future. The world needs new technologies and developments to fight with coming pandemics, lethal diseases, hunger, climate change and pollution.
Since the advancement of biotechnology, it has been helping in various ways to improve human life.
Biotechnology can help making the world a better place by following methods:
Heal the world
Biotech has been helping the world by developing new techniques and medicines that reduce the rate of infectious diseases. Knowledge about the genetics of bacteria and viruses help us understand how they cause diseases and how we can manufacture better antibiotics to target them specifically.
According to the FDA, over 20,000 drugs have been approved for marketing. In another report by WHO, currently each year 4–5 million deaths have been avoided by immunization, and 1.5 million lives could be saved only if the global coverage system of vaccination improves.
Thanks to biotech a lot of serious life threatening diseases have been treated. Cancer, for instance, is no longer a death sentence. The survival rate of cancer warriors has increased significantly.
According to stats of National Cancer institute, from 2012–2018 the survival rate recorded is 68.1%.
Ways in which biotech facilitating the world in health sector are
- Producing low cost medicines via cell culture technique.
- Increasing the amount of medicines produced using genetic modifications.
- Production of anti-leukemia, heart medicines and a few sedatives via plant culture.
- Creating more advanced tests and tools for early detection of diseases.
- Altering treatments to minimize health risks and side effects.
Fuel the world
Hearing the word ‘Biotech’ immediately creates a picture of pharmaceutics, genetic engineering and drugs in our mind but biotech is doing more than this.
Industrial biotechnology plays a vital role in protecting our planet. New biofuels, and biomass energy sources are being manufactured to make the world more sustainable.
Following are the ways in which biotech is helping to fuel the world.
- Manufacturing of the low temperature detergents to save energy and water.
- Lowering the greenhouse gas emission to 80% by replacing fossil fuels with biofuels.
- Reducing the use of chemicals in different industries e.g paper industry.
- Simplification of processes to reduce operating costs.
- By converting biomass to biofuels.
Feed the world
With the rapid increase in population, without biotech it will be impossible to feed the world. Agricultural biotechnology provides ways to produce more food specially in areas where growing conditions are not as perfect as they should be.
Biotech crops are also environmentally friendly as they require less pesticides and therefore reduce the emission of CO2. It also helps to improve the soil.
Techniques of genetic engineering are being used to modify crops.The first genetically modified crop that reached the market was Flavr Savr Tomato in the US.
Biotechnology is helping to feed the world by
- Making crops able to tolerate hard environmental conditions such as floods and droughts e.g Scuba Rice.
- Creating the plants having different growth conditions e.g altered flowering time to increase yield.
- Producing crops that are resistant to pests or insects to reduce the use of chemicals.
- Growing crops with enhanced nutritional value.
- Producing high yield crops with less inputs.
Conclusion
Biotechnology ensures a strong future of the world. It is worth trillions of dollars industry and will provide jobs to trillions of people out there.
To reach its full potential, the authorities should make sure to support all the risks and new discoveries and also enlighten a common man about the importance of biotechnology. It is and will remain a crucial part of our society and will continue to be used to create a healthy, sustainable environment and a high quality life for our future generations without compromising natural resources.