Introduction to Biotechnology

• Biotechnology is a set of techniques used to adapt plants for specific needs or opportunities.

Concepts of Biotechnology

• Karl Ereky first coined the term "Biotechnology" in 1919.
• Biotechnology involves products produced from raw materials with the aid of living organisms.

Biotechnology Definition

• Bio means life, and technology means applying knowledge for practical use.
• It involves using living organisms to make or improve a product.
• It also involved using living organisms to solve problems or make useful products
• In addition, cells and biological molecules solve problems, including DNA, RNA, and proteins.
• The commercial application involves deliberately manipulating organisms or their DNA.
• Another definition is making a cell perform a specific task predictably and controllably.

Major Areas of Biotechnology

• Animal Biotechnology develops transgenic animals for increased milk or meat production and disease resistance.
• It also includes in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer to female animals.
• Medical Biotechnology diagnoses diseases and produces drugs and hormones like human insulin and interferon.
• Medical biotechnology also produces vaccines (chicken pox, rabies, polio) and growth hormones (bovine).
• Genetic engineering aids large-scale production of hormones and blood serum proteins.
• They also help develop antibiotics and other medical products.
• Industrial Biotechnology produces organic substances like acetic acid, citric acid, acetone, and glycerine.
• Also include antibiotics such as penicillin, streptomycin, and mitomycin, using microorganisms like fungi and bacteria.
• Environmental Biotechnology detoxifies waste, industrial effluents, treats sewage, and controls plant diseases and insects using biological agents like viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

Plant Biotechnology:

• Plant Biotechnology includes tissue culture, genetic engineering, and marker-assisted selection for improved varieties.

Various Technologies Applied in Plant Biotechnology

• Genetic engineering/recombinant DNA technology
• Tissue culture
• Molecular breeding – MAS

Traditional Plant Breeding

• Traditional plant breeding involves cross-breeding similar plants, which takes generations to get desired results.
• Biotechnological tools allow faster crop improvement and gene transfer from unrelated species.

Genetic Engineering

• Gene manipulation is called genetic engineering or recombinant DNA tech
• It removes gene(s) from one organism:
  • Then transfers them to another
  • OR, replaces the original with a different combination

Gene Transfer Techniques Include

• Agrobacterium mediated gene transfer, where a desired trait is isolated from DNA, and target plants are infected
• Cells which accept the DNA are then grown into plants with the new trait.
• Gene gun, where DNA coding for the desired trait is coated on tungsten particles and fired into plant cells.
• Cells that accept the DNA are grown into plants with the desired trait

Tissue Culture

• Tissue culture manipulates cells, anthers, pollen grains, or other tissues
• This allows them to live longer in labs and become living organisms.
• Genetically engineered cells can be turned into genetically engineered organisms using tissue culture.

Marker Assisted Selection

• Marker-aided genetic analysis studies DNA sequences to identify genes, QTLs (quantitative trait loci), and other molecular markers.

Applications of Plant Biotechnology

• Mass clonal propagation through tissue culture.
• Development of transgenics:
  • Production of pathogen-free plants,
  • Production of herbicide-resistant crops,
  • Production of pest-resistant crops
  • Production of drought resistance,
  • Production of salt tolerance,
  • Production of high-yielding GM crops,
  • Production of nitrogen fixing ability,
  • Production of acidity and salinity tolerance etc.
• Production of secondary metabolites like alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids
• In vitro germplasm conservation (like cryopreservation, slow growth method etc.).
• Genetic variability (e.g. in vitro mutagenesis, mutant selection).
• In vitro pollination
• Production of haploid plants
• Embryo rescue and wide hybridization
• Artificial seeds production
• Somatic hybridization
• Somatic embryogenesis
• Somaclonal variation
• Molecular pharming (edible vaccines)
• Plant genome analysis
• Molecular breeding or marker assisted selection.
• Molecular diagnostic tools.
• Phytoremediation