Biotechnology Notes.com

[Laila Berri]

Forensicscience is a vital instrument for the detection or investigation of crime and the administration of justice by providing crucial information about the evidence found at the crime scene. Forensic biotechnology is an area of medical science that experiences constant breakthrough every now and then.

Forensic analysis of biological evidence using biotechnology methods is increasingly important in criminal investigations. Analysis of proteins in blood (serology), other body fluids and body tissues are some of the traditional methods in forensic analysis.

DNA forensics is now revolutionizing many aspects of criminal investigation which include DNA fingerprinting, DNA foot-printing, DNA profiling, etc. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of DNA samples allows precise identifications to be made from very tiny bits of evidence collected at the crime scene.

The DNA fingerprinting method was developed by Alec Jeffreys and his colleagues in the year 1985-86. In this technique, DNA is isolated from the blood stains, semen or hair roots and then subjected to southern blotting and DNA hybridization with the help of specific DNA probes.

Autoantibodies are a class of antibodies that react with cellular components in humans and other animal species. These human autoantibodies increase in number from birth up to the age of two years after which they remain constant for decades, if not lifelong.

The complement of these antibodies present in an individual is unique and for this reason they have been named Individual Specific Autoantibodies. These autoantibodies when physically separated comprise an antibody fingerprint that serves to identify certain people of interest. For this purpose body fluids such as blood, semen, tears, saliva and perspiration can also be used.

Biotechnology is the use of biology to develop new products, methods and organisms intended to improve human health and society. Biotechnology, often referred to as biotech, has existed since the beginning of civilization with the domestication of plants, animals and the discovery of fermentation.

Early applications of biotech led to the development of products such as bread and vaccines. However, the discipline has evolved significantly over the last century in ways that manipulate the genetic structures and biomolecular processes of living organisms. The modern practice of biotechnology draws from various disciplines of science and technology, including the following:

Modern applications of biotechnology work most often through genetic engineering, which is also known as recombinant DNA technology. Genetic engineering works by modifying or interacting with the genetic cell structures. Every cell in an animal or plant contains genes that produce proteins. It's those proteins that determine the characteristics of the organism.

By modifying or interacting with genes, scientists can strengthen the characteristics of an organism or create an entirely new organism. These modified and new organisms may be beneficial to humans, such as crops with higher yields or increased resistance to drought. Genetic engineering also enables the genetic modification and cloning of animals, two controversial developments.

Biotechnology began at least 6,000 years ago with the agricultural revolution. This early era was characterized by exploiting living organisms in their natural forms or modifying their genetic makeup through selective breeding.

Around the same time, humans learned to harness the biological process of fermentation to produce bread, alcohol and cheese. People also began changing the genetic makeup of domesticated plants and animals through selective breeding.

Selective breeding works by breeding parents with desirable characteristics to express or eliminate certain genetic characteristics in their offspring. Over time, species that are selectively bred evolve to be different from their wild ancestors. For instance, during the agricultural revolution, wheat was selectively bred to stay on its stem when harvested instead of falling to the ground like wild wheat. Dogs were selectively bred to be more docile than their wolf ancestors.

However, biotech methods such as selective breeding can take a long time to show changes in species. Biotechnology remained limited to these slow, agricultural methods until the 19th century when biologist Gregor Mendel discovered the basic principles of heredity and genetics.

Also, during that era, scientists Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister discovered the microbial processes of fermentation. This laid the foundation for biotechnology industries where scientists interact more directly with the molecular and genetic processes of organisms.

Based on the work of these scientists, genetic engineering was developed in 1973. This method is the foundation of modern biotechnology practices and recent advances. It enabled the first direct manipulation of plant and animal genomes, which is the complete set of genes present in a cell.

1998. The first draft of the Human Genome Project is created, giving scientists access to over 30,000 human genes and facilitating research on treatment of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's.

Medical biotechnology, also known as biopharma, aims to fight and prevent disease and improve healthcare. Biotechnology and biomedical research are the basis of the modern pharmaceutical industry. Uses include the following:

Agricultural biotechnology genetically engineers plants and animals to produce more efficient agriculture, increase nutritional value and reduce food insecurity. Some examples of agricultural biotechnology are the following:

Concerns about biotechnology's disadvantages have led to efforts to enact legislation restricting or banning certain processes or programs, such as human cloning, GMOs and embryonic stem-cell research.

One of the most exciting recent developments in genetic engineering is CRISPR-Cas9 (CRISPR) gene editing. CRISPR technology allows scientists to edit genes and manipulate gene expression within living organisms. This allows the use of CRISPR gene editing in a far-reaching range of applications from basic research to the development of novel therapies and other biotechnology products.

CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing is now accessible to students from high school through college in the form of a hands-on CRISPR gene editing lab. This page provides links to background information explaining how CRISPR works as both a microbial immune system and a gene editing system. It also features a selection of free resources to support you in bringing this exciting topic to your classroom.

Using this system, bacteria can collect sequences from many different infecting viruses to create a "library." Since the CRISPR sequence is contained in genomic DNA, it is passed on to each generation, and the library continues to change and adapt to more common threats over time.

In 2012, Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier demonstrated that the CRISPR-Cas9 system could be repurposed to edit DNA in living organisms. They earned the 2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their work. In 2017, Feng Zhang and colleagues demonstrated the use of CRISPR-Cas9 to edit mammalian genomes.

The CRISPR-Cas9 system uses modified components of the bacterial CRISPR system to direct target-specific cutting of double-stranded DNA. DNA repair mechanisms then take over to fix the break in a manner that modifies the genetic sequence that has been cut.

Cas9 recognizes and binds the scaffold (tracrRNA) region of a sgRNA. The nucleotide sequence of the scaffold region determines its structure, which is tailored to fit within the Cas9 protein as a key fits into a lock.

The guiding region of the sgRNA attempts to base-pair with the DNA. If a match is found, the process continues. Otherwise, the complex releases and attempts to bind another PAM and target DNA sequence.

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