Animal Biotechnology

Animal Biotechnology

• Couples suffering from infertility can have test-tube babies through in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer.
• Hormone-induced superovulation and/or embryo splitting is used for rapid multiplication of farm animals with superior genotypes.
• Transgenic animals are produced for increased milk production, growth rate, and resistance to diseases.

Environmental Biotechnology

• Efficient microorganisms are developed for sewage treatment, deodorization of human excreta, and degradation of pollutants in soil, air, or groundwater.
• A strain of Pseudomonas putida is used for detoxification of wastes and industrial effluents.
• Biocontrol of plant diseases and insect pests is achieved using viruses, bacteria, amoebae, and fungi, avoiding the use of pesticides.

Plant Biotechnology

• Embryo culture is used to rescue otherwise inviable hybrids and recover haploid plants from interspecific hybrids.
• Rapid clonal multiplication is achieved through meristem culture, especially for fruit and forest trees like teak.
• Recovery of virus- and pathogen-free stocks of clonal crops is possible through meristem culture and thermotherapy.
• Germplasm conservation is achieved through storage in liquid nitrogen (cryopreservation) or slow growth.

Molecular Biology

• Molecular markers like RFLPs and RAPDs are used for linkage mapping and mapping of quantitative trait loci.
• Gene transfers (genetic engineering) are used for insect resistance, protection against viruses, herbicide resistance, and storage protein improvement.
• Isolation of stable somaclonal variants with improved yield, yield traits, disease resistance, and resistance to cold, herbicides, metal toxicity, and salt.

History of Biotechnology

• Principles of inheritance were identified by Gregor Mendel in 1865, laying the foundation for classical breeding methods.
• Commercial hybrid crops were developed in the 1930s.
• Key discoveries include the structure of DNA in 1953, transposons, and the industrial exploitation of fermentation processes.

Modern Biotechnology

• The Second World War impeded scientific discoveries, but crucial discoveries were made after the war, paving the way for modern biotechnology.
• Gene transfer through recombinant DNA techniques became possible in the 1970s.
• Insulin was the first commercial product from gene transfer in the 1980s.
• Genetic fingerprinting, genetically engineered plant varieties, and genetically engineered vaccines and hormones were developed in the 1990s.
• Bioinformatics, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics emerged in the 2000s.