Biotechnology is transforming the world in unpredictable ways, influenced by our current lifestyle and future desires. We are discovering new ways in which we can improve our lives and the lives of others, and we are doing so with the help of biotechnology.
Here are five ways in which biotechnology is changing our lives.
What is Biotechnology
Can you imagine a world without advanced technologies in pharmaceuticals, food, or processing industries that make our lives easier? Behind every sweeping innovation and advancement, biotechnology is somehow there.
The recent breakthroughs of biotechnology, such as the gene revolution, may blow you away, but the truth is various biotech processes have been a part of human life since the dawn of civilisation and are as old as bread and cheese.
But what is biotechnology, and why is it so important?
Biotechnology is a scientific research area comprising genetic engineering, life science, and molecular biology. It aims to facilitate utilising microorganisms, their derivatives like enzymes, and even eukaryotic cells to develop techniques and products favourable for improving human lifespan and the quality of living without causing long-term damage to the ecosystem.
Biotechnology Branches Biotechnology is adding more branches of study rapidly to facilitate research on various biotech processes.
Main biotech branches are:
- Blue Biotechnology: This biotech branch deals with developing processes to exploit living marine and aquatic organisms and turn aquatic biomass into feed, food, and products with therapeutic, cosmetic, and medicinal value. It also helps develop processes to protect marine lives from underwater diseases.
- Green Biotechnology: This biotech branch aims to develop various environment-friendly cultivation techniques for producing GM crops rich in nutrition and ensure high yield.
- Red Biotechnology: It is the most flourished biotech branch that deals with manipulating or designing microorganisms to develop medicines, antibiotics, vaccines, techniques to diagnose various genetic disorders, etc., and help increase human life expectancy.
- White Biotechnology: White biotechnology is the hottest trend in today’s modern industries that focuses on exploiting microbes and their enzymes to produce bio-chemicals, industry-grade products, etc., and develop bio-techniques that can yield sustainable as well as cost-efficient ‘green’ manufacturing methods.
Brief History of Biotechnology
Biotechnology traces its roots back to several thousand years when people could realise the benefits of single-celled organisms like yeasts in fermentation.
Though using fermentation for brewing alcohol, baking bread, or making curd or cheese was thriving for centuries, the age of research on biochemical processes is less than 200 years.
The discovery of the gene and how it transmits hereditary characteristics from progenitors to offspring fueled the advancement of biotechnology.
And with the demonstration of DNA structure – the Double Helix Pattern in 1953, Sir Watson and Crick set the cornerstone for modern biotech developments, marking a milestone in the history of science. It helped scientists understand how genes control the chemical processes within a cell. DNA double helix structure is the bedrock of recombinant DNA technology (1972)- one of the pillars modern biotechnology stands on.
Since then, advancement in biotechnology has skyrocketed, and scientists are still relentlessly trying to invent new biotech processes.
Biotechnology Tools
The 3 basic tools and techniques that have made biotechnology innovate are:
- Genetic Engineering: Genetic engineering is the process of employing rDNA technique for deliberate alteration of genetic materials in a living organism.
- Tissue Culture: It is the process of excising organs, cells or tissue from a parent plant and culturing them in vitro in an artificial well-controlled nutrient media under sterile conditions.
- Transgenesis: It means extracting and infusing a foreign gene (also called transgene) into a host (embryo or zygote) from identical or different species.
How Does Biotechnology Affects Our Lives: Biotechnology Solutions for Everyday Life
The world is evolving at a breathtaking speed, so do our requirements. Biotechnology offers sustainable and cost-effective solutions for our daily lives that were once unimaginable. Today, bio-based products are so intensely related to our lives that we sometimes fail to realise.
Let’s look over how biotechnology affects our lives and acts as a catalyst to improve the way we live.
Improvement in Medical Science means Extended Lifespan.
Since 1982, around 230 biotech medicines and antibiotics have been the major player in saving millions of lives. Excitingly, around 400 bio-based medicines are currently awaiting clinical trials to help fight over 200 deadly diseases, including cardiovascular disorders, sclerosis, osteoarthritis, melanomas, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Thanks to biotechnology that encompasses every aspect of our modern life. From home pregnancy testing to washing detergent you use, everything is bio-based. It has helped researchers invent various clinical diagnostic tests to ensure a patient’s circulatory system is protected against AIDS during blood transfusions.
Can you recall the birth-18 immunisation program that aims to vaccinate children against various fatal diseases viruses like Haemophilus influenzae type b, Pneumococcal conjugate (PCV13), and more? Again a big thanks to biotechnology for facilitating the development of hundreds of vaccines against diseases that took millions of lives in the past.
We all know how fatal type-2 diabetes is, right? This chronic disease means your pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin, or your body doesn’t use it effectively. So the blood sugar level increases in your bloodstream and results in cardiovascular and kidney issues, vision loss, etc.
Before 1982, scientists derived insulin to synthesise the hormone from the pancreases of slaughtered pigs and cows. This animal-derived hormone can cause allergic reactions in humans and is not practical for mass production.
Thanks to the rDNA technique that helped scientists synthesise human insulin. This human insulin is brewed up by microorganisms (E. coli) that are genetically exploited with human insulin genes. This way, the genetically exploited/’recombinant’ bacteria can produce the protein encoded by the human insulin gene after regulated culture. And we know how essential synthesised human insulin is when more than 79,535 deaths occur due to adult diabetes each year.
When cardiovascular diseases take around 17.9 million lives each year, how can biotechnology lag in developing treatments? Though slow, the change is coming. Scientists worldwide are trying relentlessly to devise, verify and implement new therapies to check coronary issues. Some breakthroughs here are angiogenesis stimulators, a non-surgical intervention to target heart disease pathways, bio-based medicines to treat heart blockage efficiently, etc. And the result is, death due to coronary diseases has decreased by 30.2% from 1993 to 2003.
Stem cell technology (IPS) and tissue engineering have launched a new era in regenerative medicine, part of the emerging biotechnology field. With this, replacing or repairing injured organs/tissue with identically functioning ones would be effortless soon.
Gene therapy and gene editing are only some of the unlimited magics of medical biotechnology that are forecast to revolutionise the disease diagnosis process by enabling doctors to identify genetic disorders even in the embryonic phase to facilitate treatment. Though they are still in the developing stage, scientists are optimistic about putting them into action by 2025.
High Yield Nutrition-rich Food to Feed the Increasing Population
Biotechnology strives to foster sustainable economic growth. But how can you drive development by keeping 690 million of the total world population undernourished?
Thankfully, biotechnology has helped genetic engineers invent golden rice, a fortified beta carotin-rich rice, in fulfilling the deficiency of vitamin A which is essential to prevent blindness.
Eating healthy is the key to prolong longevity. Thanks to biotechnology that has enabled scientists to cut trans fat from vegetable oils. Trans fats raise LDL cholesterol levels in your blood which increases the risk for coronary diseases and stroke.
The world population is forecast to reach around 9.8 billion by 2050. To feed this ever-increasing population, finding alternative ways to produce more food is inevitable. And rapid depletion of forests and cultivation lands is only piling up the hunger issue.
Thanks to biotechnology that has helped us be on the track to end global hunger – at least, we can expect.
One promising example is sorghum. It is one of the very few non-GMO phenolic compound-rich high-fibrous grains that can adapt to Africa’s arid climate conditions and withstand waterlogging. Scientists in Africa are trying to improve its nutritional value, protein digestibility, level of A-provitamin, and essential amino acid content – thanks to genetic engineering approaches. It is expected that transgenic sorghum will play the leading role in combating malnutrition and starvation in Africa.
Genetic engineering is tremendously beneficial in improving the yield of farm animals and ensuring they are healthy and induce no allergic response in the human body. For instance, cows are genetically modified on a large scale today to produce more meat and milk.
Sustainable Bioproduction of energy and fuels
Though it sounds cruel, the stated fact is that we have depleted more than 50% of total fossils. And if this rapid consumption rate cannot be checked in no time, the reserve of these non-renewable energy sources that took around 600 years to accumulate will end by 2060.
What is more alarming is that their extraction, refining, and consumption processes (besides deforestation, chemical-based manufacturing, etc.) contribute to increasing the amount of GHG in the environment, creating a positive climate forcing or warming effect. The outcome is that the total warming effect due to human-induced GHG emissions increased by 45% from 1990 to 2019.
Biotechnology has enabled us to create greener energy from renewable sources such as agricultural byproducts, animal waste, and municipal waste, making it suitable for transportation, household fuels, heating, and electricity generation.
Such bioproduct is plant-derived biodiesel that releases 41% less GHG than conventional diesel-based fuels and ensures that your diesel engine will exhibit 20-40% better fuel economy and more torque at a lower rpm than gasoline.
The implementation of biotechnology, microbiological, and process engineering methods are also increasing at a breathtaking speed in producing essential chemicals like propane-1,3-diol, lactic acid, citric acid, and various amino acids using fermentation.
A Road Towards Cleaner Manufacturing and Fighting Environmental Challenges
After more than two decades of tremendous success in the food and pharmaceutical sectors, biotechnology is on its track to make industrial production processes greener and modernise agriculture and medical sectors. The result is bioplastics, biofertiliser, detergents, bio-based textile products, and the list goes on.
Thanks to industrial biotechnology that has made mass production and commercialisation of ULSD (a low-sulfur fuel blend of an allowed percentage of conventional diesel with biodiesel) possible. It is the preferred fuel type in many countries, including Europe and the USA, due to its lower GHG emissions and its ability to reduce dependence on gasoline and petroleum.
And the significance of bioplastics- made by transforming the sugar in plants into plastics, in restoring the dynamic equilibrium of the ecosystem for cleaner water and safer air is beyond words.
Have you ever realised how your denim jacket looks so sleek, or wools do not shrink? All thanks to industrial biotechnology for developing ways to use enzymes in washing and bleaching textile products before they reach your wardrobe. Enzymes are natural, biodegradable catalysts that can enhance fabric processing while reducing the need for harsh chemicals, solvents, and water. Isn’t it a magnificent step to make manufacturing greener and safer?
Biotechnology is also helping the world attain environmental sustainability by inventing ways to treat chemical-based toxins better. From crude oil to insecticide and chemical solvents, breaking down most contaminants has become effortless now.
Thanks to bioremediation, a biotech process that uses aerobic or anaerobic microorganisms to metabolise toxic hydrocarbon-based elements into less-toxic substances, like innocuous oxygenated elements, water, and CO2.
Sea-water based bio-processes
Blue biotechnology is key to harnessing the potential of aquatic bio-assets – a source of potential products and technologies that is yet largely untapped. Though late, marine biotechnology is advancing and contributing to boosting the production of aquatic organisms, novel products, biosensors, diagnostics, etc. Ocean biotech has facilitated the development of various medicines from marine organisms, like squalamine (antibiotic), ziconotide (analgesic), and more.
Disadvantages of Biotechnology
Biotechnology is so fast-paced and speedily evolving that sometimes, some biotechnologies may outweigh the blessings it has bestowed upon us. This has led to several important bioethical concerns, including ecological harm, interference with nature, and the use and availability of confidential data. There also arise some ethical issues when researchers use humans for clinical trials.
It is a stated fact that technology had been used against humanity to kill a million innocents in the past. If biotechnologies cannot be regulated strictly, they can be used for bioterrorism in developing various deadly superbugs, toxins, and fatal viruses for which the world would have no counteractant.
Though implementing agri-biotech is crucial to grow more crops, the uncontrolled trend of modifying genes as needed and only producing certain crops threatens biodiversity, disturbing natural genetic construction in plants.
Though pest-resistant plants and crops are great to save the environment and human health, they may have some unforeseen consequences on various non-target species and pollinators. Environmentalists suspect that these GM crops can reduce the lifespan of many beneficial beetles.
Recent Trends in Biotechnology
Some of many promising trends that are shaping biotechnology to transform human life include:
- Implementation of AI: AI may sound futuristic, but it is already helping biotechnology get real by automating various processes. AI is fueling biotech development by accelerating drug target identification and screening, biomarker screening, novel product detection, and more. AI can work on diverse clinical trial datasets, facilitate pragmatic screening, employ predictive models to help in data analysis for extracting actionable insights, and feed them back into the medicine production system.
- Gene Sequencing: With the decreased cost of gene sequencing, screening more patients proactively in clinical trials and targeting interventions have become easier. It has led to a boom in the medical industry by making personalised therapies and treatments more available to patients with rare genetic disorders. While the research is mainly cancer-centric today, personalised treatments will soon be available for other genetic diseases also. The cost will be as low as $100 in the not-so-far future, facilitating disease detection, pathogen and microbes identification in dairy products, the deployment of phenotyped cohorts, and more.
- Increased Collaboration: As more and more organisations and industries are migrating to cloud computing today, collaborating and file sharing in real-time has become a matter of few seconds. Though increased collaboration may pose some challenges for biotech researchers, the cloud has enabled organisations to accelerate bio-based research through global knowledge sharing regardless of their location.
