BIOTECHNOLOGY

Biotechnology exploits natural biological

processes to create a technology that aids human
being. It is used in environmental,
pharmaceutical and industrial areas which are
commercialized as it improves people’s need in
their daily life.
 Modern biotechnology provides
breakthrough products and technologies to
combat debilitating and rare diseases, reduce
our environmental footprint, feed the hungry,
use less and cleaner energy, and have safer,
cleaner and more efficient industrial
manufacturing processes.
 More than 13.3 million farmers around the
world use agricultural biotechnology to increase
yields, prevent damage from insects and pests
and reduce farming's impact on the environment.
ADVANTAGES
OF
BIOTECHNOLOGY
 Biotechnology has helped to improve the
nutritional content of our food supply.
It can improve Necessary vitamins and minerals can be
produced in croplands and this reduces
health and health issues that are related to a lack of
nutrients. At the same time,
reduce hunger biotechnology also improves cropland
simultaneously. yields and nutritional density, so people
can eat less and still receive the same
nutritional values. That allows more
people to have the food they need.
 Biotechnology can also help croplands be
able to produce foods that may not be
It creates possible under “regular” conditions.
Using concepts from this field of study, it
flexibility within is possible to grow crops in the desert. It
is possible to create crops that are
the food chain. naturally resistant to pests. Although the
amount of land our planet can provide is
finite, biotechnology allows us to be able
to use more of it for what we need.
 •
Biotechnology allows us to look within
just as easily as we can look to the
outside world for advancement.
It offers Studies that involve the human
genome have allowed us to understand
medical more about genetic diseases and some
cancers, creating more effective
advancement treatments for them – and sometimes
opportunities. cures. It has allowed us to explore the
reasons behind certain birth defects to
understand the importance of folic
acid. That makes it possible to extend
average human lifespans.
 Biotechnology gives us an opportunity to
extend the lifespan of our food supplies.
Practices that include salting foods to
It allows us to preserve them date back beyond Biblical
times. Freezing and drying foods as
preserve methods of preservation have been
known for centuries. Pasteur pioneered
resources. an approach of heating food products to
remove harmful elements so they can be
preserved for an extended period.
 According to National Geographic, the
footprint that humanity leaves on our
It helps us planet from waste is quite extensive.
65% of trash comes from homes and 55%
minimize or of that trash will end up in a landfill.
Biotechnology allows us to create waste
eliminate waste products that have better biodegradable
products. properties. It allows us to manage
landfills more effectively. That way we
can begin to minimize the footprint being
left for future generations.
 Biotechnology has helped us to create
vaccines. It has helped us be able to
create treatments that reduce difficult
It can reduce symptoms of disease. It has even helped
us to learn how infectious diseases can
infectious be transmitted so their transmission can
be reduced. That allows us to protect
disease rates. those who are most vulnerable to these
diseases, giving them a chance to live a
happy, fulfilling life.
DISADVANTAGES
OF
BIOTECHNOLOGY
 One of the biggest problems that
biotechnology faces is a lack of genetic
It creates an diversity. The processes included in this
field can increase crop yields and
all-or-nothing improve medical science, but it comes at
the price of a genetic bottleneck. Should
approach. something unforeseen happen, an entire
crop or medical treatment opportunity
could go to waste or even threaten the
survival of certain species.
 Although our database of biotechnology
has greatly expanded in the last
generation, there are still many long-
It is a field of term unknowns that we face. What
happens if we tinker with the genetics of
research with a person to treat a disorder? What
happens to the environment if we
many dramatically alter crops to grow in
locations that would normally not
unknowns. support crop growth? Should every
action have an equal and opposite
reaction, future generations could pay
the price for our research that is
happening today.
 Biotechnology has allowed more
vitamins and minerals to enter our food
chain, but it could be coming at a cost.
Many crops obtain their nutritional
content from the soil in which they grow.
It could ruin If that soil is overloaded by the crop, it
may lose its viability, even with crop
croplands. rotation occurring. That may reduce the
amount of growing time each land
segment is able to provide while
extending its recovery period at the
same time. In some situations, the
croplands could be permanently ruined.
 All the benefits that biotechnology can
provide could also be turned into a
weapon that is used for mass
It can be used destruction. Crops can be improved, but
they can also be destroyed. Medicines
for destruction can be made with biotechnology, but
diseases can also be weaponized. If left
unchecked, biotechnology could even
create a societal class that is created
specifically for research purposes only.
 LAW AND POLICY OF
RELEVANCE TO THE
MANAGEMENT OF PLANT
GENETIC RESOURCES
 ENHANCE THE
NUTRITIONAL QUALITY
OF FOOD
 Crop plants provide essential food nutrients to humans and livestock,
including carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, minerals and vitamins, directly or
indirectly. The level and composition of food nutrients vary significantly in
different food crops. As a result, plant foods are often deficient in certain
nutrient components. Relying on a single food crop as source of nutrients
thus will not achieve a balanced diet and results in malnutrition and
deficiency diseases, especially in the developing countries, due mainly to
poverty. The development and application of biotechnology offers
opportunities and novel possibilities to enhance the nutritional quality of
crops, particularly when the necessary genetic variability is not available.
While initial emphasis of agricultural biotechnology has been placed on
input traits of crops such as herbicide tolerance, insect resistance and virus
resistance, increasing effort and promising proof-of-concept products have
been made in output traits including enhancing the nutritional quality of
crops since 1990s.
 Scientists are using biotechnology to improve the process
by which food is being produced in order to make it more
environmentally friendly. For instance, certain biotech foods
are designed to be resistant to pests and diseases. This allows
farmers to use fewer chemicals, such as pesticides and
herbicides, while still maintaining a healthy, high-yielding
crop. The reduction in chemical usage is beneficial for water
and wildlife, as well as for those consumers who may worry
about ingesting chemicals when they eat fruits and vegetables.
MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGY
PAVES THE WAY FOR NEW
DEVELOPMENTS ON FOOD
AND AGRICULTURE
Vaccine
 New vaccines employing biotechnology innovations are changing
the processes of preventing illnesses, particularly in developing countries.
Genetically modified crops have had a significant contribution in the
development of vaccines. Foods such as fruits, grains, and vegetables are
engineered to carry antigenic proteins which are extracted from
pathogens. When injected into the body, these antigens trigger an immune
response and boost the resistance of the body against the pathogens.

An example is the anti-lymphoma vaccine that’s obtained from

tobacco. Tobacco plants are engineered to carry RNA from malignant B-
cells. The extracted protein is injected into the body, an immune response
is triggered which destroys the cancerous cells
Plant and Animal
Reproduction
 The use of traditional techniques such as cross-pollination,
grafting, and cross-breeding to enhance the behavioral patterns of
plants and animals is time-consuming. Agro-biotech has made it
possible to enhance plant and animal traits on a molecular level
through over-expression or gene removal, or the introduction of
foreign genes.

Artificial insemination, embryo transfer, and other associated

technologies are used in managing the reproductive functions of an
animal and influencing the traits of the resultant offspring. These
improvements have increased agricultural productivity in developing
countries and enhanced their capabilities to sustain the growing
population.
Antibiotics
 Agricultural biotechnology is applied in the
production of antibiotics for both humans and animals.
Animal antibiotics produced through this technology
are low cost but equally as efficient as traditionally
manufactured antibiotics. Since these antibiotics are
obtained from plants, a large quantity of the product can
be obtained at a time. Additionally, there is ease of
purification and the risk of contamination is minimized
as compared to the use of mammalian cells and culture
media in antibiotics production.
 Nutritional
Supplements
 In a bid to promote better human health globally,
scientists have come up with ways to create genetically
modified foods with nutrients that can help fight disease and
starvation. A great example of such foods is the golden rice
which contains beta carotene, a major source of Vitamin A
in the body.
The name of the rice comes from the color of the
transgenic grain made from three genes: two from daffodils
and one from bacterium. The genes are cloned to make the
rice “golden.” People who eat this rice supplement their diet
with the vitamin and other nutrients that they may not be
getting from other foods.
 Pesticide-
Resistant Crops
 In the past, farmers have incurred significant losses due
to the use of pesticides that affect both crops and weeds.
Biotechnology has led to the engineering of plants that are
resistant to pesticides. This allows farmers to selectively kill
weeds without harming their crop.
The tech was first introduced in genetically modified soy
beans, making them resistant to the herbicide glyphosate. The
herbicide can be applied in copious amounts to eliminate other
plants on a field other than the Roundup-Ready plants.
Selective elimination of weeds saves farmers’ valuable time as
compared to traditional methods of weeding.
Pest-Resistant
Crops
 For many years, a microbe known as Bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt) has been used to dust crops by producing
toxic proteins against pests. One of such toxic proteins used
for dusting crops is the European corn borer. Scientists have
come up with a way to eliminate the use of Bt by
introducing pest resistant crops. These are known as Bt
crops as the gene that’s introduced in the crop was originally
identified in Bacillus thuringiensis. Examples if pest
resistant crops today are Bt maize, potato, and corn. This
toxic protein is only harmful to pests, but is safe for humans.
It has saved farmers from dealing with expensive pest
infestations in crops.
Flowers
 Agricultural biotechnology is not just about developing
drugs and genetically modified foods and crops – it has some
aesthetic applications as well. Scientists are using gene
recognition and transfer techniques to improve the color, size,
smell, and other properties of flowers. The technology has also
been used to improve other ornamental plants such as shrubs
and trees. Some of the techniques applied are similar to those
used on crops. For instance, tropical plants’ color confrontation
can be enhanced to make it possible for the tree to thrive in
gardens in the northern regions.
Bio-Fuels
 The agricultural industry plays a major role in the
production of bio-fuels to the extent that feedstock is
used for fermentation and purification of bio-oil, bio-
ethanol, and bio-diesel. Genetic engineering and
enzyme optimization techniques are used to produce
good-quality feed stocks for more efficient conversions
and higher BTU outputs of the resultant bio-fuels. High-
energy and high-yielding feed stocks can reduce the
relative costs of harvesting and transportation. The
result is high-quality bio-fuel products.
A Biotic Strain
Confrontation
 A very small proportion of the earth, approximately 20
percent, is arable land. However, scientists have come up with
ways to modify crops that can endure conditions such as
salinity, cold, and drought. For instance, the detection of genes
in plants that are tasked with the uptake of sodium has led to
the introduction of plants that can thrive in high-salinity
environments.
A technique known as up- or down-regulation of record
is used to influence drought-resistance in plants. These
technologies have increased food production as plants are able
to adapt to hostile climates and non-arable lands.