The Human Genome Project is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy DOE that aims to generate a highquality reference sequence for the entire human genome and identify all the human genes. The DOE and its predecessor agencies were assigned by the U.S. Congress to develop new energy resources and technologies and to pursue a deeper understanding of potential health and environmental risks posed by their production and use. In the DOE announced its Human Genome Initiative. Shortly thereafter the DOE and National Institutes of Health developed a plan for a joint Human Genome Project HGP which officially. The HGP was originally planned to last years. However rapid technological advances and worldwide participation accelerated the completion date to Already it has enabled gene hunters to pinpoint genes associated with more than disorders.
Cloning Cloning involves the removal of the nucleus from one cell and its placement in an unfertilized egg cell whose nucleus has either been deactivated or removed. Reproductive cloning. After a few divisions the egg cell is placed into a uterus where it is allowed to develop into a fetus that is genetically identical to the donor of the original nucleus. Therapeutic cloning. The egg is placed into a Petri dish where it develops into embryonic stem cells which have shown potentials for treating several ailments. In February cloning became the focus of media attention when Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the Roslin Institute announced the successful cloning of a sheep named Dolly from the mammary glands of an adult female. The cloning of Dolly made it apparent to many that the techniques used to produce her could someday be used to clone human beings. This stirred a lot of controversy because of its ethical implications.
Current Research In January Christopher S. Chen made an exciting discovery that could potentially alter the future of medicine. He found that cell signaling that is normally biochemically regulated could be simulated with magnetic nanoparticles attached to a cell surface. The discovery of Donald Ingber Robert Mannix and Sanjay Kumar who found that a nanobead can be attached to a monovalent ligand and that these compounds can bind to Mast cells without triggering the clustering response inspired Chen’s research. Usually when a multivalent ligand attaches to the cell’s receptors the signal pathway is activated. However these nanobeads only initiated cell signaling when a magnetic field was applied to the area thereby causing the nanobeads to cluster. It is important to note that this clustering triggered the cellular response not merely the force applied to the cell due to the receptor binding. This experiment was carried out several times with timevarying activation cycles. However there is no reason to suggest that the response time could not be reduced to seconds or even milliseconds. This low response time has exciting applications in the medical field. Currently it takes minutes or hours for a pharmaceutical to affect its environment and when it does so the changes are irreversible. With the current research in mind though a future of millisecond response times and reversible effects is possible. Imagine being able to treat various allergic responses colds and other such ailments almost instantaneously. This future has not yet arrived however and further research and testing must be done in this area but this is an important step in the right direction.
Agriculture Using the techniques of modern biotechnology one or two genes may be transferred to a highly developed crop variety to impart a new character that would increase its yield However while increases in crop yield are the most obvious applications of modern biotechnology in agriculture it is also the most difficult one. Current genetic engineering techniques work best for effects that are controlled by a single gene. Many of the genetic characteristics associated with yield . enhanced growth are controlled by a large number of genes each of which has a minimal effect on the overall yield There is therefore much scientific work to be done in this area. Crops to environmental stresses Crops containing genes that will enable them to withstand biotic and abiotic stresses may be developed. For drought and excessively salty soil are two important limiting factors in crop productivity. Biotechnologists are studying plants that can cope with these extreme conditions in the hope of finding the genes that enable them to do so and eventually transferring these genes to the more desirable crops. One of the latest developments is the identification of a plant gene AtDBF from thale cress a tiny weed that is often used for plant research because it is very easy to grow and its genetic code is well mapped out. When this gene was inserted into tomato and tobacco cells the cells were able to withstand environmental stresses like salt drought cold and heat far more than ordinary cells. If these preliminary results prove successful in larger trials then AtDBF genes can help in engineering crops that can better withstand harsh environments Researchers have also created transgenic rice plants that are resistant to rice yellow mottle virus RYMV. In Africa this virus destroys majority of the rice crops and makes the surviving plants more susceptible to fungal infections. Increased nutritional qualities of food crops Proteins in foods may be modified to increase their nutritional qualities. Proteins in legumes and cereals may be transformed to provide the amino acids needed by human beings for a balanced diet A good is the work of Professors Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer on the socalled Goldenrice™discussed below.Modern biotechnology can be used to slow down the process of spoilage so that fruit can ripen longer on the plant and then be transported to the consumer with a still reasonable shelf life. This improves the taste texture and appearance of the fruit. More importantly it could expand the market for farmers in developing countries due to the reduction in spoilage. The first genetically modified food product was a tomato which was transformed to delay its ripening Researchers in Indonesia Malaysia Thailand Philippines and Vietnam are currently working on delayedripening papaya in collaboration with the University of Nottingham and Zeneca. Reduced dependence Most of the current commercial applications of modern biotechnology in agriculture are on reducing the dependence of farmers on agrochemicals. For Bacillus thuringiensis Bt is a soil bacterium that produces a protein with insecticidal qualities. Traditionally a fermentation process has been used to produce an insecticidal spray from these bacteria. In this form the Bt toxin occurs as an inactive protoxin which requires digestion by an insect to be effective. There are several Bt toxins and each one is specific to certain target insects. Crop plants have now been engineered to contain and express the genes for Bt toxin which they produce in its active form. When a susceptible insect ingests the transgenic crop cultivar expressing the Bt protein it stops feeding and soon thereafter dies as a result of the Bt toxin binding to its gut wall. Bt corn is now commercially available in a number of countries to control corn borer a lepidopteran insect which is otherwise controlled by spraying a more difficult process.