Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is used to add new traits to organisms that do not naturally occur. The document discusses various applications of genetic engineering including in agriculture, medicine, and genetic studies. In agriculture, genetic engineering has been used to develop crops with traits like virus resistance, insect resistance, and herbicide tolerance. In medicine, genetic engineering is being used to produce human insulin, growth hormone, vaccines, and interferons. It is also being explored for gene therapy applications.

1. Application of genetic
engineering
By,
Pillai Aswathy viswanath
PG 1 Botany
St. Thomas college
kozhencherry

3. • Genetic engineering, also called genetic
modification
• to add one ormore new traits that are not
already found in that organism.
• In France , this technology is called
biomolecularengineering
• In 1973,Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer
designed a methodology fortransferring
certain genes fromone organismto another

4. • The gene is a small piece of DNA that encoded for
a specific protein
• A desired gene is inserted in to a vectorDNA so
that a new combination of vectorDNA is formed
• The DNA formed by joining DNA segments of
two different organisms is called recombinant
DNA orchimeric DNA
• The gene is introduced in to a cell in the formof
recombinant DNA
• The gene manipulation therefore is known as
recombinant DNA technology

5. • The organism whose genetic make up is manipulated
using recombinant DNA technique , is called genetically
modified organism (GMO).
• GMOs produced through genetic technologies have become
a part of everyday life,

6. • However, while GMOs have benefited human
society in many ways
• Genetic engineering techniques have been
applied in numerous fields including :-
Agriculture
Medicine
Genetic studies . etc
• some disadvantages also exist; therefore, the
production of GMOs remains a highly
controversial topic in many parts of the world.

7. Application in Agriculture
• Improvement in agricultural production and the
food and nutrition situation depents on land
,waterand energy resources.
• From1970 a new type of reasearch started with
the aimof producing new varieties of plants by
genetic recombination techniques.
• They are genitically engineered plants
• They have acquired a new trait fromthe
introduced DNA and inherit the trait formany
generations

8. • The new plants produced by such techniques are
supposed to be:-
virus resistant plant
insect resistant plants,
herbicide resistant plant
• growing crops of yourchoice (GMfood)
• forpreservation of fruits
• Some genetically engineered microorganisms are used
as nitrogen fixers

9. virus resistant plant
• to make virus resistant crops. The most
common way of doing this is by giving
a plant a viral gene encoding the virus'
'coat protein'.
• The plant can then produce this viral
protein before the virus infects the
plant.
• When the virus tries to infect the plant,
the production of its essential coat
protein is already blocked.

10. • Tansgenic tobacco is developed by introducing gene coding
forcapsid protien of tobacco mosaic virus
• TMV-coat protein inserted in to tobacco cell using Ti plasmid
• Viral capsid inhibit viral replication of TMV when infected
• All genetically modified virus resistant plants on the market
(e.g. papayas and squash) have coat protein mediated
resistance.

11. GMsquash with virus
resistance (top) protects the
squash from the damaging
effects of the virus (bottom) papaya with virus resistance

12. insect resistant plants,
• Insect attackis a serious agricultural problem leading
to yield losses and reduced product quality.
• Each year, insects destroy about 25 percent of food
crops worldwide.
• many transgenic plant with insect resistantance have
been developed by adopting gene transfermethods
• The gene helps the plants produce proteins that are
toxic to certain insects
• They reduced the use of chemical pesticides in
agriculture

13. • The genetically modified crops is called Bt-
crops, because the insect-killing gene in the
plant comes fromthe bacteria Bacillus
thuringiensis.
• Bt gene produces insecticidal crystal protien
(ICP) also known as cry protien which is in an
inactive, crystalline form.
• When consumed by insects, the protein is
converted to its active, toxic form(delta
endotoxin), which in turn destroys the gut of
the insect and is completely safe forhumans.

14. Examples of some Bt crops
A common soil bacteriumso
called because it was first
isolated in the Thuringia region
of Germany
discoverd by Ishiwatari in 1901

15. herbicide resistant plant
• Many transgenic plants with herbicide resistance have
been developed by using genetic engineering
• Such transgenic plants tolerate the herbicides and be safe
in the field ,when the herbicides are applied in the field

16. Example forherbicide resistant plant

17. Growing crops of yourchoice
• Genetically modified foods are foods derived from
genetically modified organisms.

18. • The FLAVRSAVRtomato was the first genetically
engineered crop product
• Through genetic engineering, the ripening process of the
tomato will slow down and thus prevent it from
softening, while still allowing the tomato to retain its
natural colourand flavour.
• Thus the shelf life of the tomato become improved

19. • The tomato was made more resistant to rotting by
adding an gene which interferes with the production
of the enzyme polygalacturonase.
• The enzyme normally degrades pectin in the cell walls
and results in the softening of fruit which makes them
more susceptible to being damaged by fungal
infections.
• Improved taste and look

20. Biofertilizers
Genetically engineered nitrogen fixers
• Nitrogen is the most essential macro-element for
properhealthy crop
• Molecularnitrogen in the atm. Is converted to
biologically usable forms by nitrogen fixing micro
organisms eg:Rhizobium
• In leguminous plants nitrogen fixing nodules are
formed in the roots due to the symbiotic realation ship
with bacteria
• The special ability of nitrogen fixing bacteria is due to
the presence of an enzyme called nitrogenase complex

21. • Some genetically engineered micro organismare used
as nitrogen fixers
• rizobium species carry nif genes , latergenes will
transferred to the free living bacteris like klebsiella
pneumoniae ,salmonella typhimuriumetc
• These genetically engineered microbes are capable of
fixing the atmospheric nitrogen in the soil they are used
as biofertilizers in agriculture.

22. • In 1971 dixon and postgate successfully transferred
the nif genes to free living nitrogen fixerklebsiella
pneumoniae
• Klebsiella is naturally found as a free-living soil
bacterium

23. Application in
Medicine.• Some of the most promising and powerful
applications of genetic engineering are in the
field of medicine.
• Researchers are using it to diagnose and predict
disease, and to develop therapies and drugs to
treat devastating diseases like cancer,
Alzheimer's, diabetes, and cystic fibrosis. Etc.
• At present about 30 recombinant therapeuties
have been approved forhuman use

24. • The application of recombinant DNA technology
has played a majorrole in :-
Production of human insulin
Production of human growth
hormone
Production of vaccines
production of interferons
Gene therapy

25. Production of human insulin
• Insulin is a hormons produced by beta cells in
the pancreas that controls the absorption of glucose
by cells.
• The deficiency of insulin leads to diabetics in man
• Diabetics is treated by injecting insulin
• In the past, diabetics needed to take insulin purified
frompigs and cows to fulfill theirinsulin requirement.
However, non-human insulin causes allergic reactions
in many diabetics.

27. • Recombinant DNA technology has
allowed the scientists to develop
human insulin by using the bacteria
as a host cell
• it is also available in the market. It is
believed that the drugs produced
through microbes are safer.

28. Production of human growth
hormone
• Human growth hormone (HGC) is secreted by the anterior
lobe of pituitary gland . It also called somatotropin
• The deficiency of somatotropin leads to dwarfismin man
• The cDNA of somatotropin was introduced in to Ecoli The
genetically engineered E coli produces human growth
hormone

29. Production of vaccines
• A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves
immunity to a particular disease
• Genetic engineering is used to developed vaccines
against some severdiseases
• Hepatitis Bvaccines, First human trials of vaccine
against Hepatitis B
• A gene coding forsurface antigen HBsAg was isolated
from Hepatitis Bvirus and cloned in Ecoli
• The genetically engineered microbes will produced HBs
antigen
• This antigen is isolated purified and used for
vaccination

30. • Edible Vaccine involves introduction of selected
desired genes into plant and then inducing
these altered plants to manufacture the altered
protein.
• Banana is currently being considered as the
edible vaccine against hepatitis B

31. Production of interferons
• Interferons is an antiviral protein.
• Interferons is produced by infected animal cells
and it protects the cells fromthe second viral
infection
• They induced the production of cellularprotein
kinase and phosphodiesterase which selectively
destroy viral RNAs and proteins. So the virus
fail to multiply in the cell

32. • The cDNA of the various interferons were isolated
from human cell and introduced in to E coli
• The genetically engineered E coli cultures
produced interfrons

33. Gene therapy
• Medical scientists now know of about 3,000 disorders
that arise because of errors in an individual's DNA.
• Conditions such as sickle-cell anemia, Huntington's
chorea, cystic fibrosis, and Lesch-Nyhan syndrome are
the result of the loss, mistaken insertion, orchange of a
single nitrogen base in a DNA molecule.
• Genetic engineering makes it possible forscientists to
provide individuals who lacka certain gene with correct
copies of that gene.

34. • Treatment of genetic disorders by replacing
defective gene by a normal functional gene is
called gene therapy
• The gene used in gene therapy is often called
gene drugs
• The drug gene may be introduced in to somatic
cells orgerms cells orzygotes .
• If the genes are introduced into somatic cell it
is called somatic cell gene therapy
• If genes are introduced into eggs orzygotes it is
called germline gene therapy

35. • The gene drug may be introduced in to target
cells by using retrovirus, electroporation
,transfection etc
• The first clinical gene thearapy was given in
1990 to a 4 yearold girl with adenosine
deaminase deficiency

36. Application in Genetic
studies
• Today recombinant DNA technology is used
extensively in research laboratories
worldwide to explore myriad questions
about gene structure, function, expression
pattern, regulation, and much more.

37. • The most common application of recombinant DNA is in
basic research, in which the technology is important to
most current workin the biological and biomedical
sciences.[8
• Recombinant DNA is used to identify, mapping genes
sequence, and to determine theirfunction.
• Mapping helps in finding the inheritance of many rare
genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis, haemophilia etc.
• It helps in understanding the expression and regulation
of a commercially important trait.

38. ]
• rDNA probes are employed in analyzing gene
expression within individual cells, and
throughout the tissues of whole organisms.
• Recombinant proteins are widely used as
reagents in laboratory experiments and to
generate antibody probes forexamining protein
synthesis within cells and organisms.

39. Reference
• Rev.Fr.Dr.S. Ignacimuthu(1998) basic biotechnology .Tata
McGraw-Hill publishing company
• Bilgrami K.S,Pandey A.K(2001)introduction to
biotechnology.CBS Publishers
• Gupta PK(2007)elements of biotechnolgy. Rastogi
publication
• geneticsresearch.org/applications-of-genetic-
engineering.php
• www.boundless.com
• www.infoplease.com/cig/biology/dna-technology-
applications.html