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Biotechnology Perspective
By
Syed Manzoor Alam
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| Biotechnology is
a multidisciplinary science in which a myriad of powerful
new experimental techniques are applied to exploit biological
systems for a variety of applications in industry, agriculture
and the health and environmental sectors. It is one of the
most fast developing sciences of the 21st century. In recent
years, biotechnology has come to the increasingly identified
with the geonomic revolution and genetic engineering. |
The development
of any country generally depends only on role played by the
agriculture, health and industry. Modern biological phenomena
have helped in this development by giving a new technology
which no doubt offers tremendous opportunities and ideas in
solving the most exigent problems. It is the requirement of
every country to solve the many human problems and such practice
was going on since time immemorial. At present, the traditional
ideas of biotechnology primarily manipulated micro-organisms
and selection is thought to be the major force behind the
production of desired traits. With the development in technology,
it has become possible to manipulate genes for almost every
character, resulting in the production of desired traits and
at whatever scale a person desire. The new biotechnology uses
the knowledge about the interior of a living cell this knowledge
makes things easier for users to direct and manipulate the
products they make. Due to this development, it seems within
reach of human endeavours to generate miracle drugs and fight
against parasites and viral diseases, which heavily affects
the developing countries. There is vast area of application
of biotechnology in agriculture and it is unwrapping the many
secret problems of not agriculture but also of human health,
medical and industry. If we develop our knowledge of biotechnology
and skills to use it, and nurture them and give a priority
to them, they will prove to be very powerful tools to help
feed and clothe the extra population, which is expected to
reach 220 millions by the year 2020 compared to 140 millions
presently inhabiting in the country.
Technology is a key factor in socio-economic development of
a country. At the national level a country must he helped
to find an optimum mix of activities to balance its multifaceted
requirements in the field of technology, with measure of coherence
to enable the achievement of concrete results. Technological
advancements in the field of biotechnology have become too
important in the global scene, which should not be ignored
by any developing country. Experience has shown that developing
countries need assistance in becoming sensitized to the potential
and application of such technology and in developing human
resource capability to handle the inflow of such technology.
There is considerable debate in both the media and academic
circles about the risks and benefits of modern agricultural
biotechnology research. Most of this debate relates to the
commercial cultivation of genetically modified crop varieties
in the industrialized world. So far, very little attention
has focused on the role that biotechnology might play in the
developing countries, or how it might benefit poor farmers
and consumers in those countries. Many factors affecting plant
growth and crop quality such as drought, insects and diseases
are often beyond farmer's control. While, it is difficult
to create ideal growing conditions. It has now become possible
to produce plants that are better 'tailored' to thrive in
imperfect conditions by drawing on the skills of the plant
geneticist. Plant scientists can induce subtle changes or
mutation in the genetic make up. By monitoring plant growth,
they can identify and select strains with the desired characteristics
and develop cultivars for direct use or further cross-breeding.
DNA can be introduced into entire plants or into protoplasts
using vectors or by direct physical insertion. The sequences
to be inserted will usually have been selected in bacteria
cells initially.
The linking or joining together of two DNA (Deoxyribonucleic
acids), which are nucleic acids containing deoxyribose (sugar),
consisting of complex molecules with little oxygen and present
in chromosomes of all plant, human and animal cells and carrying
in coded form specific instructions for passing on of hereditary
characteristics in the body for which the technology is carried
out) molecules in a well and fully autoclaved, sterilized
test tube and the subsequent insertion of this union of individual
molecule into a living thing, whether it is of plant, human
or animal origin. It does not necessarily imply that the two
molecules never join together in nature, since frequently
biotechnology is used to achieve a result, which occurs only
very rarely in nature.
When applied to high organisms, the term is usually taken
to imply the introduction into an organism of a function,
usually a gene or genes which either have not previously been
detected in that organism or exist in it in a different form.
The first suggestion that DNA might have something to do with
inheritance was made in 1944 by a biology student. In 1958,
one America and a British, in Cambridge studied the structure
of DNA and confirmed that a long, fragile molecule in the
chromosomes carried the genetic code. That is, it contained
the blue print for all life. Later on, in 1962 the first X-ray
diffraction images of DNA were made in London by two scientists,
who were awarded Nobel Prize.
Biotechnology has become one of the most important scientific
ventures of the 21st century. It is a molecular technology
used to modify genetic composition of any living organism
i.e. microbe, plant, man, animal etc. The past three decades
have seen unprecedented progress in the field of biotechnology.
Research and development in biotechnology in and around 1962,
which streamlined the technique to cut and join the genetic
material (DNA) at specific sites or locations advances in
understanding, transfer and/or recovery of foreign genes in
any organism have made a revolutionary impact on every aspect
of human activities, which include agriculture, industry,
livestock and medicine, The context in which biotechnology
is being developed is very different from that of the earlier
Green Revolution, when the new high yielding varieties of
wheat and rice were both produced and distributed largely
by the public sector by doing a time consuming research work
in those days. Significant changes have occurred in the role
and involvement of private and commercial interests in agricultural
research in general and biotechnology in particular (UNIDO,
1996).
This biotechnology uses the knowledge about the interior of
a living cell. This knowledge makes things easier to research
workers to direct and manipulate the products they obtain.
In this manner, the coded alterations in the cellular DNA
can convert cell of specific wanted creatures into living
energy source. Due to this achievement, it seems within the
reach of man's efforts to generate miracle drugs and fight
against viral diseases, which has tremendously effects in
the developing countries; in production of self- fertilizing
crops that release phytotoxins to fight against pests and
to develop refining processes to utilize the industrial waste
or sewage sludge and to give comfort of the anxieties to humans
about the coming days. With the development in technology,
it has become possible to manipulate genes for almost any
character, resulting in the production of desired traits.
There are vast areas of application of biotechnology for the
cause and betterment of human beings. Some of these are:
In Agriculture, biotechnology can be defined as the application
of set of internal techniques for modification and culture
of plant cells, tissues and organs alone or in combination
with bacterial systems leading to the regeneration of transgenic
plants. The greatest possibility of utilizing biotechnology
of crops lies with the single characters like disease resistance.
The genetic manipulation using conventional plant breeding
takes decades provided the desired genes are available among
cross compatible species or varieties. Whereas, biotechnology
has the potential of achieving the same in months or years.
This technique is used to achieve higher yields, more nutrients,
better taste in cereals, higher sugar recovery in sugarcane
longer stronger and finer fiber in cotton, more proteins in
pulses, more oil in oilseed crops, introduction of disease-free
and pest-resistant varieties, varieties which can tolerate
heat, cold, flood, drought and adverse soil conditions. But
the steadily transfer from breeding to gene transfer is taking
place only because of the fact that the conventional breeding
cannot control the transfer of undesirable characteristics
while crossing is done between two plants. With the development
of first genetically engineered tobacco plant in 1985, tremendous
progress has been made in the area of plant biotechnology.
There are now more than fifty different crop species, which
have already been genetically modified. The very recent example
of these innovations was the release of transgenic seed of
cotton in USA and Australia.
Traditionally, the plant breeders have fully utilized the
most available morphological characters in addition to yield
and other agronomic traits for the selection and development
of the improved crop varieties. Through the remarkable development
in this field, the geneticists have reached a point where
morphologic features provided limited scope for the selection
of improved plant material. It is multi-disciplinary technology
involving every aspect of biological sciences. It is fully
dependent upon the recent information technology for the accomplishments
of some specific objectives of genetically improved techniques.
At present the bio-technologists have reached a point, where
morphological features provide a large scope for the selection
of improved plant materials (Xu and Chen, 1993). With the
development of DNA - based molecular markers such as Restriction
Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), AP-PCR, RAPD, DAF and
more recently, Arbitrary Primed Length Polymorphism (APLP),
accurate and precise selection of plant crops for desired
traits, tagging of genes of interest such as disease resistance
and selection of parents with known of genetic make-up have
been possible. This new technology has a great potential in
the area of agricultural productivity and thus used to achieve
higher yields, more nutrients, better taste in cereals, higher
sugar recovery in sugarcane, longer stronger and finer fiber
in cotton, more proteins in pulses, more oil in oilseed crops,
introduction of disease free and pest resistant varieties,
which can tolerate heat, cold, flood, drought stress, adverse
soil conditions etc (McGraw Hill, 1995).
Products derived from genetically modified microorganisms
e.g. bacteria, yeast have been used for the production of
such commodities as yoghurt, cheese and certain other vaccines
since 1982 (Popping, 2000). In the USA, genetically modified
plants have been approved for food use since 1992, followed
by the important main, staple crops like corn, rapeseed and
soya. In 1997, genetically modified soya (Monsanto roundup
ready) reported approximately 10 per cent of inherently less
safe than food derived from conventional techniques. Therefore,
the United State does not believe that genetically modified
food, as a class, requires mandatory labeling. The European
Union, on the other hand has favoured a labeling approach,
which aims at informing consumers of the GM origin of plants.
Plant biotechnology is emerging as a commercial reality. There
are more than 300 commercialized agricultural and environmental
biotechnology products
currently available compared to just 32 biotechnology drugs.
Analysts say that biotechnology will allow the food industry
to continue the century-old trend of low food prices, increasing
productivity and less labour (UNIDO, 1996).
Biotechnological engineered cotton and canola seeds reached
the market in 1995 and 1996 a wave of biotechnology crops,
including the first insect- resistant cotton, corn and potatoes
as well as herbicide-tolerant soybeans, cotton and canola
are expected to become widely available to farmers. Monsanto
a USA company predicts plant biotechnology will blossom into
a 2 billion US dollars/year worldwide business by the year
2000 and a 6 billion US dollar/year market by 2005. Monsanto
anticipates it will commercialize half-dozen transgenic crops
over the next two years and is looking for profits through
the sales of value-added seeds and increased sales of its
herbicide and says it expects the genetically engineered products
to be key to the future of its agricultural business (UNIDO,
1996).
Spurred by concern about serious food shortages predicted
for 21st century Asia, scientists at the International Rice
Research Institute in the Philippines have developed the first
prototype breeding lines of for what they hope will be a high-yielding
rice of the future and they have named it as "Super Rice".
The chief plant breeder at IRRI says that the new plant will
increase harvests by as much as 25 per cent when farmers start
growing it this year. IRRI scientists believe the new rice
could boost annual yields by 100 million tons. That would
reduce the IRRI projected gap between current production and
future demand by about one third. IRRI scientists believe
they have found at least a partial solution by cross-pollinating
the highest-yielding varieties IRRI created during the first
Green Revolution over several generations totaling five years.
Compared with IRRI's existing high-yielding rice varieties,
the resulting "Super Rice" appears far less bushy-
each plant consists of only about 10 stems compared with 20
to 25. But all of the stems contain seedpods bearing 200 to
250 grains of rice; against only about 15 stems on other varieties
of modern rice carry pods that bear about 100 grains. Thus,
a single super rice plant will produce up to 2,500 grains
of rice compared with a maximum of 1,500 grains from today's
varieties. According to IRRI breeders, the super rice is also
a more efficient plant. Thick, dark green and erect leaves
catch more sunlight, boosting per-leaf photosynthesis by 15
per cent. Because the plant makes more grain and less chaff,
it produces more food per unit of fertilizer. And fewer excess
stems mean farmers can grow plants closer together, increasing
paddy yield.
Plant Biotechnology programmes have been vigorously going
on in many countries of the world for the purpose of producing
genetically engineered crops and also the uses of technique
in medicine and industry etc. We can quote the names of a
few countries such as: USA, Canada, UK, France, Russia , China,
India,, ustralia, European countries, Holland, Malaysia, Philippines,
Brazil. New Zealand, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan
etc. In the USA, genetically modified plants are regulated
by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). These agencies are responsible for the review
and evaluation of the mountains of data that has
been generated by vigorous and thorough testing and have found
that there is no evidence that generally engineered foods
are total soya-harvest in the USA and by 1999, this had increased
to 54 per cent (soya is one of the most versatile staple crop.
It is used as an ingredient in over 30,000 foods) (UNIDO,
1996).
The biotechnology related to agriculture, including environment
and health has developed bio-fertilizers for, rice, wheat,
food legumes and diagnostic tests for tuberculosis, hepatitis-C,
typhoid and beta-thalassaemia as well as rocesses detoxification
of effluent produced by textiles and pharmaceutical industries.
In view of its potential, and multi-billion dollar biotech
industry has come about in North America and Europe, which
is investing in research and development and is pursuing and
aggressive patent strategy along with the enforcement of intellectual
property rights. Genetic engineering is mainly related with
the developments of technologies based on plant biotechnology,
(bio-fertilizers, bio-fuels, biotechnology of minerals and
fossil fuels basic biology and environmental biotechnology),
industrial biotechnology, biotechnology for health, and environmental
biotechnology in the field of medical biotechnology.
Health: Biotechnology has great application in the improvement
of health of human beings. The genetically engineered microbes
can produce biologically active medicinal compounds. These
include insulin, growth hormones, interferon etc. Production
of effective microbes is also possible through this technique.
The cure of many horrifying disease has become possible. World
today, has made phenomenal advancement in science. A latest
report says that the advancement in medicine could enable
a man to live as long as 150 years without getting impaired
in serious physical terms. Possibly, the new century may freeze
or at least halt the decaying process because of aging, and
man may come to live still longer and healthier
Industry: In industry, this technique has several applications.
Treatment of sewage and pollution control has been developed
through this technique. Innovation of scientific approaches
and their challenging application to unique and specific problems
of the developing countries requires the talent of a well-
trained manpower, which can define problems and devise strategies
applicable in the specific system and environment. Good education
at graduate level and post-doctoral work is essential in this
regard. The university education system in the developing
countries has been a very poor standard. University training
lacks laboratory experience, which is vitally important for
building the intellectual maturity for the future bio-technologists.
For future generation we will have to work hard to develop
appropriate technologies. By the use of gene technology, clearly
defined and molecularly characterizable genes governing desirable
characters are transferred. With increasingly refined techniques,
more new and alien characteristics can be transmitted. Quantitatively,
new combinations of genetic materials are now possible.
Advantages and Disadvantages: The benefits provided by biotechnological
methods and transgenic traits can significantly improve the
world's ability to feed itself on land already in cultivation,
by increasing per unit productivity improving nutritional
quality and reducing pre- and post harvest losses. Though
the adoption of chemical farming methods have resulted in
the production of sufficient food but in consequence the environment
has suffered a lot. It is an indoor activity used for maintaining
the current level of productivity. Crop improvement through
genetic engineering will hence be appropriate to strengthen
the agricultural productivity. Proven applications can yield
tremendous productivity increases in the developing world.
Furthermore, Europe's lack of acceptance of transgenic foods
means that little opportunity for commercialization exists
there for the moment, so developing countries can soon expect
higher investment from the private sector. All the products
commercialized today can make a significant difference to
developing countries. Crops with insect- resistance, herbicide
resistance and virus resistance can boost yields sharply.
The next wave of products will include greater pest-resistance,
improved nutritional content, and better storage quality,
which will reduce post-harvest losses sharply. A third wave,
based on applied genomes, will being drought-resistance, cold-resistance,
better photosynthesis and other enhancements. This third wave
of production will begin to arrive in about 10 years and benefit
developing countries much more than the developed
countries. The new technologies are needed to improve productivity,
thereby increasing income and alleviating poverty. Productivity
increases on current land can also help arrest its degradation
and halt the shift to marginal lands. It has also been reported
that the new products are probably the safest ever.
The bahaviour of genes and crops has to be examined step by
step and in tend of thousands of trials there has not been
a problem .The public is not willing to accept the negligible
chance that something might go wrong. For the public to understand
the impact of biotechnology, we have to better communicate
the issues. Furthermore, the cost-benefit analysis of biotechnology
that exist in Europe, where large food surpluses are produced
and people are relatively well off, is very different from
the one in the developing countries, with its far greater
numbers of poor and malnourished people. Europe has no right
to tell the developing countries how to deal with these phenomena.
It is also wise to label the products of genetic engineered
foods to inform the general public, so that they may purchase
or not, because ethics are involved therein. However, devising
a scientifically sound labeling system will be a huge challenge.
Alternatively, we might simply wait until the nutritional
quality traits come to the European market. Then everybody
will be interested in the technology.
Research to genetically modify crops to produce essence and
flavour of tropical crops is well under way and gaining momentum
in industrialized countries. These plants may replace imports
from developing countries if put into production. They represent
a risk to the food security and social sustainability of developing
countries. A few American companies are doing research on
the crops of third world such as banana, coffee, vegetable,
cocoa etc. They are interested in accessing Third World gene
banks, but are unwilling to transfer technology to Third World
researchers. This new technological frontier is risky and
costly and yet to prove its advantages for developing -country
agriculture. It is obviously a very good business, but farmers,
consumers and environment are unlikely to benefit. In general,
the developing-country community needs appropriate technology,
instead of biotechnology. Appropriate technology is ecological,
people-centered and sustainable. Its use optimizes and manages
natural resources through
community-based wisdom and production systems.
The biotechnology phenomenon, at its present level of development
is more of a risk to food security and food production in
the Third World than a benefit, especially in the case of
small-scale farmers, who still make up a significant part
of the economically active population in developing countries.
These farmers are more susceptible to the economic risks caused
by the higher production costs and the economic dependence
on the suppliers of the seeds and chemical inputs needed for
the new transgenic varieties. For the moment, developing-country
authorities should not permit the use of transgenic animals
and plants in areas other than controlled experimental plots
tagging with proper labels. Developing countries should make
a strong effort to develop biotechnology expertise, especially
in health-related areas such as vaccine and medicine production,
but this should not be a first priority in agricultural development
strategy.
Recent medical and other scientific publications have in the
developed countries, in fact, raised a series of questions
about the direct and indirect health and environmental hazards
of the new plants and the human beings. These hazards include
increased food allergies, cross breeding with non-transgenic
crops, genetically transferred antibiotic, resistance, ecological
imbalances caused by the killing of animal or plant species
sensitive to genetically engineered pesticide toxins, greater
abuse of the environment by herbicides and so on. Some civil
society organization call for a 15-year moratorium on the
commercial use of this technology. The work on agriculture
side through biotechnology technique is rapidly increasing
throughout the world and particularly in the industrialized
countries. These countries are pushing the genetically engineered
technique in the developing countries too. Biotechnology is
a subject of great criticism. It truly has an ethical problem,
due to its misuse in the development of another living creature
or material. The environmentalists feel that it bears risks
of creating monstrous forms of life with potential hazard
of unknown proportions. Despite all the limitations and criticism,
this technology is moving fast towards the second green revolution.
Most scientists are convinced that genetic engineering does
not pose any threat. Yet, the controversy remains, and reminds
us the importance of public relations in the introduction
of a new technology. There is a need to apprise general public
ranging from common man to intelligentsia about this technology.
People must be convinced that a tomato picked from a genetically
engineered plant is as good or better than the existing one.
Islam is a friendly religion. This religion has a complete
code of life with practical concept, which have several advantages
and ethics of life. It is our duty to understand the natural
phenomenon and to work within the framework of Islamic ways.
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