Certificate

This is to certify that this Biology Investory Project on

the topic Application of Biotechnology in Medicine
has been successfully completed by Ayush Panigrahi
of Class XII ‘G’ studying in DAV PUBLIC SCHOOL
UNIT VIII, Bhubaneswar ,with AISSCE Roll No.
_____________ under the guidance of Mrs.
Suryakanti Jema during the academic year 2022-
2023 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the course completion in pursuance of AISSCE 2022-23.

_______________ _______________
Teacher in Charge External Examiner

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to extend my sincere ad heartfelt
obligation towards all those who have helped me
in making this project .Without their active-
guidance, help, co-operation and encouragement, I
would not have been able to make this project on
time.

I am extremely thankful and pay my gratitude

towards my Biology teacher for her valuable guidance
and support for the completion of this project.

I also acknowledge with a deep sense of gratitude

towards my parents and friends for the valuable
suggestions for this project.

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 CONTENTS

Topic Page
No.
1)Biotechnology – Introduction 1

2)Recombinant DNA Technology 2

3)Application in Medicine 3

4)Pros & Cons of Biotechnology 7

5) Biotechnology Regulations 8

6)Conclusions 10

7)Bibliography 11

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 introduction

Biotechnology is a broad area of Biology,involving the use of

living systems and organisms to develop or make products.The
term “Biotechnology” was first used by “Earl Ereky” in
1919,meaning the production of products from raw materials with
the aid of living organisms.

Biotechnology essentially deals with the industrial scale of

production of biopharmaceuticals and biological products
using genetically modified microbes , fungi , plants and
animals.It finds application in
medicine,therapeutics,diagnostics,bioremediation,agriculture,wa
ste treatment,food science(processed food) and energy
production.The core areas of Biotechnology includes:-

(i) Improved organism mostly a microbe or pure enzyme acting

as the best catalyst to act.

(ii) Providing optimum conditions through engineering for

catalyst to act.

(iii) Downstream processing technologies to prify the

protein/organic compound.
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.

Fig:- Steps of Recombinant DNA Technology

 Recombinant dna
technology
Recombinant DNA (rDNA) molecules are DNA molecules
formed by laboratory methods of Genetic Recombination to
bring together genetic material from multiple sources,
creating sequences that would not otherwise be found in the
genome.In addition, DNA sequences that do not occur in nature
anywhere may be created by the chemical synthesis of DNA and
incorporated into recombinant molecules.

RNAi was first discovered in 1998 by Andrew Fire and Craig

Mello in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans and later
found in a wide variety of other organisms, including mammals.
The importance of this discovery is reflected by the fact that 2006
Noble Prize for medicine was awarded to Andrew Fire and Craig
Mello. Molecular cloning and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
are the two most widely used methods to create recombinant
DNA.Recombinant DNA is widely used in Biotechnology,
Medicine, and Research. Also, Recombinant proteins are widely
used as reagents in laboratory experiments and to generate
antibody probes for examining protein synthesis within cells and
organisms.

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 Application in
medicine
The recombinant DNA technological processes have made
immense impact in the area of healthcare by enabling mass
production of safe and more effective therapeutic drugs. Further,
the recombinant therapeutics do not induce unwanted
immunological responses as is common in case of similar
products isolated from non-human sources. At present, about 30
recombinant therapeutics have been approved for human-use
the world over.

The most obvious commercial applications are diagnosis of

diseases and commercial production of pharmaceuticals for
disease therapy, valuable proteins (enzymes or hormones), gene
therapies and powerful vaccines. Genetically engineered
bacterial cells are grown in vats to obtain proteins or drugs at
commercial scale such as human insulin, human growth
hormone, interferon , etc. RDT enables mass production of safe
and more effective therapeutic drugs. Further, the recombinant
therapeutics do not induce unwanted immunological responses.
At present , about 30 recombinant therapeutics have been
approved globally and 12 of these are presently being marketed
in India.

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Fig:-Steps for making Genetically Engineered
Insulin
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED INSULIN:-
Insulin, synthesized by the β(beta) cells of the Islets of
Langerhans in the pancreas, controls the level of glucose in the
blood. An insulin deficiency manifests itself as diabetes mellitus.
Insulin hormone used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus was
earlier extracted from pancreas of slaughtered pigs and cattle.
The animal insulin was found to produce some immunological
response or allergy in certain diabetic patients. The first insulin
was obtained from genetically engineered E.Coli in 1983 by an
American company Eli Lily. It was named humulin. DNA
sequences for chains A and B .These chains were joined through
disulphide bonds to form human insulin and removing a C-
peptide segment.

GENE THERAPY:-
If a person is born with a hereditary disease, can a corrective
therapy be taken for such a disease? Gene therapy is an attempt
to do this. Gene therapy is a collection of methods that allows
correction of a gene defect that has been diagnosed in a
child/embryo. Here genes are inserted into a person’s cells and
tissues to treat a disease. Correction of a genetic defect involves
delivery of a normal gene into the individual or embryo to take
over the function of and compensate for the non-functional gene.

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Fig:-Steps for Gene Therapy
Gene Therapy for ADA Disease:-
The first successful attempt of gene therapy was carried out in
1990 in a 4-years old suffering from adenosine deaminase
deficiency (ADA). ADA cases Severe Combined Immuno
Deficiency (SCID) Disease. It is a rare genetic disorder of immune
system.The disease is fatal if not treated regularly.

Steps in Gene Therapy:

In ADA gene therapy, lymphocytes from patient’s blood are

grown in a culture medium outside the body. A functional ADA
cDNA is introduced into the lymphocytes using retrovirus vector.
These genetically engineered lymphocytes because these are not
immortal. However if the genes isolated from marrow cells of a
normal person are introduced into cells at early embryonic
stage, a permanent cure can be achieved.

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Fig:-ELISA Technique
Molecular Diagnosis:-
Molecular diagnosis helps in the early detection of a disease or
predisposition for a disease. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
,Recombinant DNA Technologies(RDT) and Enzyme Linked
Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) are the techniques for early
diagnosis.
(i) Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

This technique can be used to detect traces of DNA and is applied

to detect the presence of bacteria or viruses in the initial stages
of infection when even the symptoms of the disease have not yet
appeared in the patient. A sDNA or sRNA with a radioactive
probe is made to hybridise the complementary DNA in a clone of
cells. The hybridized molecules are then detected by
autoradiography. PCR is now used to detect HIV in suspected
AIDS cases and mutations in genes in suspected cancer patients.
(ii)Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay(ELISA)

It is based on the principle of antigen – antibody reaction.

Infection by a pathogen can be detected by the presence of
antigens ( proteins or glycoproteins ) or by detecting the
antibodies synthesized against the pathogen.

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 PROS & CONS OF
BIOTECHNOLGY
Pros:-
• Biotechnology has improved medical treatments,drugs and
diagnosis significantly human health
• Biotechnology helps in managing waste.
• Biotechnology also helps in lowering the rate of infection in
a population.
• Biotechnology results in crop yields with minimum pesticide
usage and high nutritional quality .
• Biotechnology also servesindustrial benefits such as goats
that produce spider silk for materials production.

Cons:-
• Use of animals in biotechnology causes great suffering to
them.
• Introduction of a transgene from one species violates the
‘integrity of species’.
• Biotechnology is disrespectful to living beings and only
exploits them for the benefit of human beings.
• Biotechnology may pose unforeseen risks to the
environment including risk to biodiversity.
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 Biotechnology
regulations
Bioethics are a set of moral principles and standards to
regulate human perception as to exploitation of living
organisms for human interest. It includes rules of conduct
to be used to regulate human and biotechnological activities
in relation to biological world. The manipulation of living
organisms cannot go uncontrolled. Some ethical standards
are needed to evaluate the morality of all biotechnological
activities. Some of them are discussed below:-
1. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has emphasized
the need to balance the risk and benefits of modern
biotechnological products.
2.The United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) and
Global Environment Facility(GEF) have developed a
biosafety project.
3.In India, a three tier mechanism of Institutional Biosafety
Committees (IBC) has been set up. These are:-
(i)The Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation.
(ii)The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee
(iii)The State Level Coordination Committee

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These committees make decisions and coordinate research
regarding the validity of GM research and safety of
introducing GM organisms for public services . The Indian
Parliament has recently cleared the second amendment of
the Indian Patent Bill that takes such issues into
consideration.

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 CONCLUSION

Biotechnology has given to humans several useful

products by using microbes , plants , animals and
their metabolic machinery . Human insulin is
made in bacteria yet its structure is absolutely
identical to that of the natural molecule. Every
year clinical traits of gene therapy has been
increasing. Also, early diagnosis of several fatal
diseases has led to better treatment and cure.

However, some of the procedures and processes

that are adapted by biotechnology are against
nature and human race. In the light of above
consideration it is necessary that the tools of
biotechnology should be used properly and in a
morally correct manner.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

• NCERT BIOLOGY Textbook

• www.wikipedia.org
• www.biologydiscussion.com
• www.ntnu.edu

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