27 Biotechnology
27.1 Recombinant DNA technology
1 Biotechnology (生物工程) refers to the use of organisms, biological systems or processes to
produce goods or provide services.
2 Genetic engineering (遺傳工程) refers to the changing of the genetic make-up of an organism
by direct manipulation (操作) of DNA.
3 Production of genetically modified organisms (GMOs, 基因改造生物) is an application of
genetic engineering.
4 Recombinant DNA technology (重組 DNA 技術) is a technique in which a fragment of DNA
from a donor cell or organism is isolated and then inserted into the DNA of another cell or
organism. It allows scientists to introduce a new characteristic into an organism.
5 Major steps in recombinant DNA technology:
donor cell
bacterium
DNA containing
plasmid
the gene of interest
(質粒)
(目標基因)
Obtain a plasmid
Obtain a DNA from a bacterium.
fragment containing
the gene of interest.
gene of interest
plasmid
(serves as a vector 載體)
Cut the DNA fragment and
the plasmid using the same
restriction enzyme (限制酶).
Join the DNA
fragment and the open plasmid
plasmid together
using a DNA ligase
(DNA 連接酶).
recombinant plasmid (重組質粒)
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6 Applications of recombinant DNA technology:
- To produce pharmaceutical products (e.g. human insulin) and for gene therapy (基因治療).
- To increase productivity of crops and farm animals, and improve the nutritional value of
the foods, e.g. in the production of fast-growing GM salmon and Golden Rice (黃金稻米).
- To produce GM bacteria that produce enzymes for industrial uses.
- To produce GM bacteria that help to clean up oil spills.
7 Problems associated with the use of insulin extracted from the pancreas of cattle or sheep and
the advantages of producing insulin using recombinant DNA technology:
Problem associated with the use of insulin Advantage of producing insulin using
extracted from the pancreas of cattle or recombinant DNA technology
sheep
The extraction required a long time and was Insulin can be produced in a shorter time. The
expensive. extraction cost is lower.
Only small amounts of insulin were The product yield is much higher.
obtained from each extraction.
The insulin has an amino acid sequence The insulin produced is structurally the same
slightly different from that of human insulin as the insulin produced by human body. It is
and may be rejected by the immune system. not rejected by the immune system.
Patients receiving the insulin injections The insulin produced is pure. The risk of
were at risk of infections by the pathogens causing infections is lower.
from cattle or sheep.
8 Selective breeding (選擇育種) is a traditional way to obtain crops and farm animals with
desirable characteristics. This is done by selecting the plants or animals having the desirable
characteristic to breed for many generations.
9 Advantages of using recombinant DNA technology over selective breeding to produce crops or
farm animals with desirable characteristics:
- It is a quicker method.
- Only one or several genes are involved at the same time. The results are more predictable.
- It can be used to transfer genes between unrelated species.
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27.2 DNA fingerprinting
1 DNA fingerprinting (DNA 指紋分析) is a technique to identify an individual based on a DNA
sample.
2 In our DNA, there are many highly variable regions that contain repetitive base sequences. In
each of these regions, the number of repeats varies greatly between individuals (except
identical twins).
3 Major steps of DNA fingerprinting:
each band
consists of
DNA
fragments of
DNA
the same size
DNA fragments containing
different highly variable regions
Extract DNA from Obtain DNA fragments Separate DNA Produce DNA
samples (e.g. blood, containing the selected fragments using fingerprints
semen and hairs). regions from the DNA gel electrophoresis (DNA 指紋).
sample. (凝膠電泳).
4 Gel electrophoresis makes use of an electric field to drive DNA fragments across a gel slab
(凝膠塊).
- DNA fragments are negatively charged due to the phosphate groups present. Under an
electric field, they migrate towards the positive terminal.
- The pores in the gel slab allow shorter DNA fragments to move faster than the longer
ones. Eventually, DNA fragments are separated according to their size.
5 Separation of DNA fragments using gel electrophoresis:
sample 3 direction of movement
sample 2
sample 1
gel slab longer shorter
fragments fragments
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6 Applications of DNA fingerprinting:
- In forensic science to provide evidence of the identities of individuals in court cases.
- To establish family relationships in parentage tests.
- To identify victims in disasters.
- To authenticate (認證) foods and Chinese medicines.
- To help conserve endangered species, e.g. by tracing the origin of ivory products.
- To trace the source of infectious diseases.
- To screen for genetic diseases.
27.3 Human Genome Project
1 The scientific advances in DNA sequencing (DNA 序列測定) technologies allow scientists to
determine the base sequence of the complete set of DNA (called genome 基因組) in humans.
2 Goals of the Human Genome Project (HGP, 人類基因組計劃):
- To sequence the human genome.
- To map (定位) all the genes in the human genome.
- To store the information in a database.
- To develop related new technologies and improve tools for data analysis.
- To address the ethical (道德倫理的), legal and social issues that may arise.
3 Limitations of the HGP:
- The functions of many genes are still unknown.
- The data obtained are still not enough to understand some biological processes.
4 Benefits of the HGP:
- Better understanding of genetics.
- Improved diagnoses and treatment of diseases.
- Better understanding of evolution.
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