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I express my sincere gratitude towards everyone who helped

me in completing this project based on ‘Application Of
Biotechnology In Agriculture and Medicine.’
Firstly, I am thankful to the Lord Almighty for being with me
and giving me the strength, ability, wisdom and knowledge to
work for and complete this project.
Secondly, I am grateful to our school management and very
specially to our principal, Fr. Jobin .T. James for their support,
encouragement and giving me an opportunity to complete my
given task.
I am also grateful and express my sincere thanks towards my
class teacher, Miss. Anija Mary Sebastian for her motivating
and encouraging spirits which supported and helped me to
complete this project. Also, words cannot express how
grateful I am towards my Biology Teachers Miss. Mini.B and
Miss. Bindhu .P.G for their supportiveness, guidance,
encouragement in helping me and finalising this project within
the given timeframe.
My Parents and Friends helped me in all the way they could
despite of their busy schedule and this project wouldn’t have
been possible without them. I am deeply grateful to them.
This project took in a lot of effort from my side and it helped
me know the unknown and detailed version of the topic.

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 INDEX
S.No Contents Page.No

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I express my sincere gratitude towards everyone who
helped me in completing this project.
Firstly, I am thankful to the Lord almighty for being
with me and giving me the strength, ability and wisdom
and knowledge to work for and complete this project.
Secondly, I am grateful to our school management and
very specially our principal Fr. Jobin. T James for their
support and encouragement and giving me an
opportunity to complete my given task.
Words cannot express hoe grateful I am towards my
chemistry teachers Miss. Lovely Elizabeth Thomas and
Miss. Anija Mary Sebastian who is also my class
teacher, for their valuable support , guidance and
encouragement and helping me in completing and
finalising this project within the given timeframe.
My parents and friends helped me in all the way they
could despite of their busy schedule, and this project
wouldn’t have been possible without them. I am deeply
grateful to them.

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 What is Biotechnology?
Biotechnology is a technology based on biology.
Biotechnology harness cellular and biomolecular
processes to develop technologies and products
that help improve our lives and the overall health
of our planet.

We have used the biological processes of

microorganisms for more than 6,000 years to
make useful food products, such as bread and
cheese, and to preserve dairy products.

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 a safer, cleaner and ore
efficient industrial manufacturing processes.

Examples of biotechnology in everyday life

include: Biofuel, Vaccines,
Bioremediation, Pest resistant crops, cheese
production, alcoholic drinks, etc.

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 History of Biotechnology
Approximately 6,000 years ago, humans began to tap the
biological processes of microorganisms in order to make bread,
alcoholic beverages, and cheese and to preserve dairy products.
But such processes are not what is meant today by
‘Biotechnology’, a term widely applied to the molecular and
cellular technologies that began to emerge in the 1960s and
1970s. A fledgling ‘Biotech’ industry began to coalesce in the
mid to late 1976 by Robert A. Swanson and Herbert Boyer to
commercialize the recombinant DNA technology pioneered by
Boyer, Paul Berg, and Stanley N. Cohen. Early companies such as
Genentech, Amgen, Biogen, Cetus, and Genex began by
manufacturing genetically engineered substances primarily for
medical and environmental uses. For more ten a decade, the
biotechnology industry was dominated by recombinant DNA
technology, or genetic engineering.

This technique consists of splicing the gene for a useful

protein(often a human protein) into production cells such as
yeast, bacteria, or mammalian cells in culture which then begin
to produce the protein in volume.

In 1982, recombinant insulin became the first product made

through genetic engineered protein medications have been
commercialized around the world, including recombinant
versions of growth hormone, clotting factors, proteins for
stimulating the production of red blood cells and white blood
cells, interferons, and clot-dissolving agents.

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 Categories in Biotechnology
1.Agricultural Biotechnology(Green Biotechnology):-
Biotechnology applied to agricultural processes
products.
2.Medicinal Biotechnology(Red Biotechnology):-
Biotechnology applied to manufacture pharmaceuticals
like enzymes,
antibiotics, and vaccines and its use for molecular
diagnostic.
3.Industrial Biotechnology(White Biotechnology):-
Biotechnology applied to industrial and other
production processes.
4.Marine Biotechnology(Blue Biotechnology):-
Biotechnology applied in marine and aquatic field.

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Agricultural Biotechnology:-
Agricultural Biotechnology also known as well
‘Agritech’ is an area of agricultural science involving
the use of scientific tools and techniques, including
genetic engineering, molecular markers, molecular
diagnostics, vaccines, and tissue culture, to modify living
organisms like plants, animals and microorganisms. Crop
Biotechnology is one aspect of agricultural biotechnology
which has been greatly developed upon in recent times.
Desired trait are exported from a particular species of
Crop to an entirely different species. These transgene
crops possess desirable characteristics in terms of flavor,
colour of flowers, growth rate , size of harvested products
and resistance to diseases and pests.

Agricultural Biotechnology Include:-

• Genetic Engineering or rDNA technology:-
It is a technology in which one or more genes are modified
deliberately in the lab. This is achieved by the process of
using rDNA technology thereby altering the genetic
makeup of an organism.

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 • Tissue Culture:-
Tissue Culture involves nurturing fragments of plant or
animal tissue in a controlled environment where they
survive and continue to grow. For this tissue has to be
isolated first.
• Embryo Rescue:-
It is a form of in-vitro culture technique for plants. Here an
immature embryo is nurtured in a controlled environment
to ensure its survival. This can include heritage seeds,
local grains of cultural significance, etc.
• Somatic hybridisation:-
It is a process through which the cellular genome is
manipulated through the process of protoplast fusion.
• Molecular diagnostics:-
Its a set of techniques used to analyse biological markers
in the genome and proteome. It helps in determining how
their cells express their genes as proteins.
• Vaccine:-
It is a formulation that is injected into a host body to
stimulate a desired immune response. It helps in
preventing various diseases like polio. Its production is
carried out widely currently to fight against covid.
• Micropropagation:-
It is a clonal propagation of plants in a closed vessel under
aseptic and controlled conditions.

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 APPLICATIONS
Plants, bacteria, fungi and animals whose genes have
been altered by manipulation are called‘Genetically
Modified Organisms’(GMO).
• Genetic Modification has made :-
a. Crops more tolerant to antibiotic stresses.
b. Reduced reliance on chemical pesticides.
c. Reduced post harvest losses.
d. Increased efficiency of mineral usage by plants.
e. Enhanced nutritional value of food.

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FORMATION OF INSECT RESISTANT PLANT:-
Bt Cotton Plant
Bt cotton is an insect resistant plant which cry protein (Bt.toxin) has
been used as biological insecticide. The bacterium Bacillus
thuringiensis is a common soil bacterium which produce a toxin that
kill certain insects. The toxin is a crystal protein (cry protein). The
gene encoding cry protein is called Cry gene.
Biotechnologists have been able to isolate the gene responsible for
production of toxin and introduce it into a number of crop plants
using Agrobacterium tumefaciens (natural genetic engineer because
it has Ti plasmid which can integrate and cause tumor in plant body
without anything done by us) mediated Transformation.
So the new genetically modified Bt cotton plant is resistant to the
Boll worm complex.(specific caterpillar)
Tomatoes with Bt gene are completely protected from the attack of
caterpillars. Similarly, GM(genetically modified) Tobacco with cry
gene is protected from Horn worms. Cry genes like cryIAc and cryIIAb
control boll worms. And cryIAb controls cornborer worms.
Q. If the Bt toxin is toxic, then why doesnt it kill the Bacillus bacteria?
Ans. The Cry protein doesn’t kill the Bacillus bacteria because the
Cry protein(crystal protein or Bt toxin) exist as inactive protoxin
form inside the bacteria. But once the insect ingest the inactive
protoxin, it is converted into an active form of toxin due to the
alkaline pH medium in the mid gut of the insect, which stabilises the
crystals. The activated toxin binds to the surface of mid-gut
epithelial cells and create pores that cause swelling and lysis and
eventually cause death of insect.

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 FORMATION OF PEST RESISTANT PLANT
A nematode parasite (pest) Meloidegyne incognitia cause
infection to the roots of tobacco plant which causes a disease
called Goll or canker disease in the root and it cause wilting of the
plant.
In order to prevent the infection by this pest Biotechnologists
have introduced foreign DNA with
pest resistant gene into the cytoplasm of tobacco plant body and
make the pest resistant.
In this case,
1) Foreign DNA with pest resistant gene is integrated with
plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens
to become rDNA. Then it is introduced into the cytoplasm of plant
cell(Transformation).
2) The introduction of rDNA was such that it produce sense RNA
and Antisense RNA inside the cytoplasm of plant cell. Both these
RNAs are complementary to each other. They fuse to form a
doubled stranded RNA.

When the nematode tries to infect the plant body, from it’s part
it releases mRNA into the cytoplasm of plant cell. Soon the
double stranded RNA present in the cytoplasm of plant cell goes
and binds to mRNA of nematode. This is called RNA
interference(RNAi)
This is the cellular defense found in eukaryotic cell and thus
prevents translation(protein synthesis). This process is called
silencing. Such a tobacco plant body is genetically modified and it
can resist pest.

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 Medicinal Biotechnology
The field of biotechnology is experiencing rapid growth in
the recent years, leading to the development of several
innovative techniques for preventing, diagnosing, and
treating diseases. Novel methodologies including
Polymerase chain reaction(PCR), Gene sequencing,
fluorescence in situ hybridisation, Microarrays, Cell
culture, Gene silencing using interference RNA and
genome editing, have significantly contributed towards
improving health science such as sequencing of the
human genome, use of stem cells for regenerative
medicine, Tissue engineering, development of antibiotics,
and the generation of monoclonal antibodies for therapy.
If the current growth continues, medicinal biotechnology
will soon become a major pillar of health.

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 Genetically Modified Insulin
Insulin is a drug used for the treatment of Diabetes mellitus.
Insulin is a protein which consists of 51
Amino acids.
Amino acid chain A (A-peptide) has 21 amino acids and amino acid
chain B B-peptide) has 30 amino acids. A and B peptides are
linked together by S-S disulphide bridges.
In mammals including humans, insulin is synthesised as a pro-
hormone.(It needs to e processed before it becomes a fully
matured and functional hormone). The pro-hormone (pro-insulin)
contain another polypeptide called C-peptide. Thus C-peptide is
not present in the mature insulin and it is removed during
maturation into insulin.

The main challenge for production of insulin using DNA

technology was getting insulin assembled a matured
form.
In 1983 Eli Lilly an American company prepared 2 DNA sequences
corresponding to A and B chains of human
insulin.
Chain A and Chain B were produced separately extracted and
combined by creating disulphide bonds to form
human insulin.
Insulin obtained from the pancreas of cattle and pig slightly differ
from the human insulin in their amino acid
sequence. The pig insulin has a different amino acid at one point
and the cattle insulin differs at 3 points. So
insulin from an animal source cause allergy to some patients

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 Gene Therapy
Its a collection of methods that allows correction of a
gene defect that has been diagnosed in a child or embryo.
In this method, genes are inserted into person’s cells
and tissues to correct and treat a disease(to correct
certain hereditary disease like ADA deficiency, cancer,
Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Influenza,
HIV, Hepatitis).correction of a genetic defect involves
delivering of a nomal gene into the individual or embryo to
take over the function of and compensate for the non-
functional gene.

The first clinical gene therapy was given in 1990 to a 4

year old girl with Adenosine deaminase(ADA Deficiency).
This enzyme is crucial for the immune system to function
normally.

This disorder is caused due to deletion of the gene

Adenosine deaminase(ADA). In some children, ADA
deficiency can be cured by bone marrow transplantation.
In others it can be treated by enzyme replacement therapy
in which functional ADA is given to the patient by injection.

As a first step towards Gene therapy, Lymphocytes are

extracted from the patient’s bone marrow and a normal

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functional copy of human gene encoding for ADA is
introduced into the lymphocyte with the help of retro virus
so that the lymphocytes become genetically modified
lymphocytes. And they are re-introduced to the patient’s
immune system for life.

However, these cells are mortal so the patient requires

periodic infusion of such genetically engineered
lymphocytes.

If this enzyme replacement therapy is done at embryo

stage, it could be a permanent cure.

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 Molecular Diagnosis
For effective treatment of a disease, early diagnosis and
understanding its pathophysiology is very important.
Using conventional methods of diagnosis (serum analysis,
urine analysis, etc ) early detection is not possible.

rDNA technology, PCR(Polymerase chain reaction),

ELISA(Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). These are
some of the techniques helpful in early diagnosis.

Genetic as well as infectious diseases can be diagnosed by

using rDNA technology using a probe consisting of a short
segment of single stranded DNA attached to a radioactive
molecule. It is used to find its complementary DNA by
hybridisation or fluorescent marker. This method is used
to identify causative agents like Salmonella or food
poisoning, HIV of AIDS, virus of Hepatitis B.

ELISA- is based on the principle of antibody-antigen

reaction. Infection by a pathogen or germ can be detected
by the presence of antigen(protein) or by detecting the
antibodies synthesised against the pathogen.

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Learning about the role of Biotechnology in
Agriculture can help in understanding the different
aspects of how new technology can change the face
of agriculture.
The use of medicinal biotechnology is
revolutionizing the diagnosis of diseases caused by
genetic factors. New tests can detect changes in the
DNA sequence of genes associated with disease risk
and can predict likelihood that a patient will develop
a disease.
Biotechnology can e used in many useful ways to
achieve higher yields. In the long term, genetic
engineering will also help to increase production of
the most valuable components of specific crops.

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❖NCERT textbook for class 12
❖https://aimst.edu.my
❖www.encyclopediabritanica.com
❖https://en.m.wikipedia.org
❖https://www.slideshare.net
❖www.bio.org
❖www.sciencedirect.com
❖www.omicsonline.org
❖www.usda.gov
❖www.vedantu.com
❖www.link.springer.com

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