The textbook complies with the Federal State Educational Standard of Secondary (Complete) general education, recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and included in federal list textbooks.

The textbook is addressed to students in grade 10 and is designed to teach the subject 1 or 2 hours per week.

Modern design, multi-level questions and tasks, Additional Information and the possibility of parallel work with an electronic application contribute to the effective assimilation of educational material.

What is the significance for the industry and Agriculture has a selection of microorganisms?

Biotechnology - it is the use of organisms, biological systems or biological processes in industrial production. The term "biotechnology" has become widespread since the mid-1970s. XX century, although since time immemorial mankind has used microorganisms in baking and winemaking, in the production of beer and in cheese making. Any production based on a biological process can be considered as biotechnology. Genetic, chromosome and cell engineering, cloning of agricultural plants and animals are various aspects of modern biotechnology.

Biotechnology makes it possible not only to obtain products important for humans, such as antibiotics and growth hormone, ethyl alcohol and kefir, but also to create organisms with predetermined properties much faster than using traditional breeding methods. There are biotechnological processes for wastewater treatment, waste processing, oil spill removal in water bodies, and fuel production. These technologies are based on the characteristics of the vital activity of certain microorganisms.

Emerging modern biotechnologies are changing our society, opening up new opportunities, but at the same time creating certain social and ethical problems.

Genetic Engineering. Convenient objects of biotechnology are microorganisms that have a relatively simple organized genome, a short life cycle, and a wide variety of physiological and biochemical properties.

One of the reasons diabetes is a deficiency in the body of insulin - a hormone of the pancreas. Injections of insulin isolated from the pancreas of pigs and large cattle, save millions of lives, but in some patients lead to the development allergic reactions. The optimal solution would be to use human insulin. By genetic engineering, the human insulin gene was inserted into the DNA of Escherichia coli. The bacterium began to actively synthesize insulin. In 1982, human insulin became the first genetically engineered pharmaceutical.

Rice. 107. Countries growing transgenic plants. Almost the entire area under transgenic crops is occupied by genetically modified varieties of four plants: soybeans (62%), corn (24%), cotton (9%) and rapeseed (4%). Varieties of transgenic potatoes, tomatoes, rice, tobacco, beets and other crops have already been created

Growth hormone is currently obtained in a similar way. A human gene inserted into the genome of bacteria provides the synthesis of a hormone, injections of which are used in the treatment of dwarfism and restore the growth of sick children to almost normal levels.

Just as in bacteria, the hereditary material of eukaryotic organisms can also be changed with the help of genetic engineering methods. These genetically modified organisms are called transgenic or genetically modified organisms(GMO).

In nature, there is a bacterium that releases a toxin that kills many harmful insects. The gene responsible for the synthesis of this toxin was isolated from the bacterial genome and integrated into the genome of cultivated plants. To date, pest-resistant varieties of corn, rice, potatoes and other agricultural plants have already been developed. Growing such transgenic plants that do not require the use of pesticides has huge advantages, because, firstly, pesticides kill not only harmful, but also beneficial insects, and secondly, many pesticides accumulate in the environment and have a mutagenic effect on living organisms (Fig. 107).

One of the first successful experiments on the creation of genetically modified animals was carried out on mice, in the genome of which the rat growth hormone gene was inserted. As a result, the transgenic mice grew much faster and ended up being twice the size of normal mice. If this experience was of exclusively theoretical significance, then the experiments in Canada already had an obvious practical use. Canadian scientists introduced the gene of another fish into the hereditary material of salmon, which activated the growth hormone gene. This resulted in salmon growing 10 times faster and gaining several times their normal weight.

Cloning. The creation of multiple genetic copies of a single individual through asexual reproduction is called cloning. In a number of organisms, this process can occur naturally, remember vegetative reproduction in plants and fragmentation in some animals (). If a piece of a ray accidentally breaks off from a starfish, a new full-fledged organism is formed from it (Fig. 108). In vertebrates, this process does not occur naturally.

The first successful animal cloning experiment was carried out by the researcher Gurdon in the late 60s. 20th century at Oxford University. The scientist transplanted the nucleus, taken from the intestinal epithelium of an albino frog, into an unfertilized egg of an ordinary frog, whose nucleus had previously been destroyed. From such an egg, the scientist managed to grow a tadpole, which then turned into a frog, which was an exact copy of an albino frog. Thus, it was shown for the first time that the information contained in the nucleus of any cell is sufficient for the development of a full-fledged organism.

Rice. 108. Regeneration of a starfish from one beam

IN further research conducted in Scotland in 1996 led to the successful cloning of Dolly the sheep from a mammary epithelial cell (Fig. 109).

Cloning appears to be a promising method in animal husbandry. For example, when breeding cattle, the following technique is used. On the early stage development, when the cells of the embryo are not yet specialized, the embryo is divided into several parts. From each fragment placed in a foster (surrogate) mother, a full-fledged calf can develop. In this way, you can create many identical copies of a single animal with valuable qualities.

For special purposes, single cells can also be cloned, creating tissue cultures that, in the right media, can grow indefinitely. Cloned cells serve as a substitute for laboratory animals, as they can be used to study the effects of various chemicals on living organisms, for example medicines.

Plant cloning uses a unique feature of plant cells. In the early 60s. 20th century for the first time it was shown that plant cells, even after reaching maturity and specialization, under suitable conditions, are able to give rise to a whole plant (Fig. 110). Therefore, modern methods of cell engineering make it possible to carry out plant breeding at the cellular level, i.e., to select not adult plants with certain properties, but cells, from which full-fledged plants are then grown.

Rice. 109. Dolly Sheep Cloning

Ethical aspects of the development of biotechnology. The use of modern biotechnologies raises many serious questions for humanity. Could a gene inserted in transgenic tomato plants migrate and integrate into the genome of, for example, bacteria living in the human intestine when the fruits are eaten? Might a transgenic crop resistant to herbicides, diseases, drought, and other stressors, cross-pollinate with related wild plants, transfer these traits to weeds? Will this not result in "superweeds" that will very quickly populate agricultural land? Will the fry of giant salmon accidentally get into the open sea and will this disturb the balance in the natural population? Is the body of transgenic animals able to withstand the load that arises in connection with the functioning of foreign genes? And does man have the right to remake living organisms for his own good?

These and many other issues related to the creation of genetically modified organisms are widely discussed by experts and the public around the world. Special regulatory bodies and commissions created in all countries claim that, despite existing concerns, no harmful effects of GMOs on nature have been recorded.

Rice. 110. Stages of plant cloning (on the example of carrots)

In 1996, the Council of Europe adopted the Convention on Human Rights in the Use of Genomic Technologies in Medicine. The focus of the document is on the ethics of using such technologies. It is argued that no individual can be discriminated against based on information about the features of his genome.

The introduction of foreign genetic material into human cells can have negative consequences. Uncontrolled insertion of foreign DNA into certain parts of the genome can lead to disruption of the genes. The risk of using gene therapy when working with germ cells is much higher than when using somatic cells. When genetic constructs are introduced into germ cells, an undesirable change in the genome of future generations may occur. Therefore, in international documents UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasize that any change in the human genome can only be made on somatic cells.

But perhaps the most serious questions arise in connection with the theoretically possible human cloning. Research in the field of human cloning is now banned in all countries, primarily for ethical reasons. The formation of a person as a person is based not only on heredity. It is determined by the family, social and cultural environment, therefore, with any cloning, it is impossible to recreate a personality, just as it is impossible to reproduce all the conditions of upbringing and education that formed the personality of its prototype (nucleus donor). All major religious denominations of the world condemn any interference in the process of human reproduction, insisting that conception and birth must occur naturally.

Animal cloning experiments have raised a number of serious questions for the scientific community, on the solution of which the further development of this field of science depends. Dolly the sheep was not the only clone obtained by Scottish scientists. There were several dozen clones, and only Dolly survived. IN last years improvements in cloning techniques have increased the percentage of surviving clones, but their mortality is still very high. However, there is a problem that is even more serious from a scientific point of view. Despite Dolly's victorious birth, her real biological age, associated health problems, and relatively early death remained unclear. According to scientists, the use of the cell nucleus of an elderly six-year-old donor sheep affected the fate and health of Dolly.

It is necessary to significantly increase the viability of cloned organisms, to find out whether the use of specific methods affects the life expectancy, health and fertility of animals. It is very important to minimize the risk of defective development of the reconstructed egg.

The active introduction of biotechnologies into medicine and human genetics has led to the emergence of a special science - bioethics. Bioethics- the science of ethical attitude to all living things, including humans. Ethics are now coming to the fore. Those moral commandments that mankind has been using for centuries, unfortunately, do not provide for new opportunities that are brought into life. modern science. Therefore, people need to discuss and adopt new laws that take into account the new realities of life.

Review questions and assignments

1. What is biotechnology?

2. What problems does genetic engineering solve? What are the challenges associated with research in this area?

3. Why do you think the selection of microorganisms is now of paramount importance?

4. Give examples of the industrial production and use of the products of vital activity of microorganisms.

5. What organisms are called transgenic?

6. What are the advantages of cloning over traditional methods selection?

Think! Execute!

1. What are the prospects for the development of the national economy opens up the use of transgenic animals?

2. Can modern humanity do without biotechnology? Organize an exhibition or make a wall newspaper "Biotechnology: past, present, future."

3. Organize and lead a discussion on the topic "Cloning: pros and cons".

4. Give examples of foods in your diet that have been created using biotechnological processes.

5. Prove that biological water treatment is a biotechnological process.

Work with computer

Refer to the electronic application. Study the material and complete the assignments.

Cellular engineering. In the 70s. of the last century, cell engineering began to actively develop in biotechnology. Cell engineering makes it possible to create cells of a new type based on various manipulations, most often hybridization, i.e., fusion of the original cells or their nuclei. A nucleus belonging to a cell of another organism is placed in one of the cells under study. Conditions are created under which these nuclei fuse, and then mitosis occurs, and two single-nuclear cells are formed, each of which contains mixed genetic material. For the first time, such an experiment was carried out in 1965 by the English scientist G. Harris, who combined human and mouse cells. Subsequently, whole organisms were obtained, which are interspecific hybrids obtained by cell engineering. Such hybrids differ from hybrids obtained sexually in that they contain the cytoplasm of both parents (recall that during normal fertilization, the cytoplasm of the spermatozoon does not penetrate the egg). Cell fusion is used to produce hybrids with useful properties between distant species that do not normally interbreed. It is also possible to obtain cell hybrids of plants that carry cytoplasmic genes (i.e., genes found in mitochondria and plastids), which increase resistance to various harmful influences.

Your future profession

1. What is the subject of study of the science of gerontology? Assess how developed this science is in our country. Are there specialists in this field in your region?

2. What personal qualities do you think people working in genetic counseling should have? Explain your point of view.

3. What do you know about professions related to the material in this chapter? Find the names of several professions on the Internet and prepare a short (no more than 7-10 sentences) message about the profession that impressed you the most. Explain your choice.

4. Using additional sources of information, find out what is the subject of the embryologist's study. Where can one acquire such a skill?

5. What knowledge should specialists involved in selection work have? Explain your point of view.

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Despite the fact that drugs and products obtained in the processes of industrial (“white”) biotechnology currently dominate the market for biotechnological products, the most impressive successes and breakthroughs in this area are associated with the use of achievements in cellular and genetic engineering.

Genomics is a branch of biotechnology concerned with the study of genomes and the roles played by various genes, individually and in combination, in determining the structure, direction of growth and development, and the regulation of biological functions. There are structural and functional genomics.

The subject of structural genomics is the creation and comparison of various types of genomic maps and large-scale DNA sequencing. The Human Genome Project and the lesser known Plant Genome Research Program are the largest structural genomics studies. The tasks of structural genomics also include the identification, localization and characterization of genes.

As a result of the implementation of private and public projects in structural genomics, genome maps have been created and DNA sequences have been deciphered for a large number of organisms, including agricultural plants, pathogenic bacteria and viruses, yeast necessary for the preparation of certain foodstuffs and the production of beer, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, malarial plasmodium and mosquitoes that carry it, as well as microorganisms used by humans in a wide variety of industrial processes. In 2003, the Human Genome Project was completed.

The subject and area of ​​functional genomics is genome sequencing, identification and mapping of genes, identification of gene functions and regulatory mechanisms. To understand the differences between species, the main role is played not by knowing the number of genes, but by understanding how they differ in composition and function, knowing the chemical and structural differences in genes, which underlie the differences in organisms. Evolutionary analysis is gradually becoming the main technique for elucidating the functions and interactions of genes within the genome.

Due to the fact that the genetic code is universal and all living organisms are able to decipher the genetic information of other organisms and implement the inherent biological functions, any gene identified in the course of a particular genomic project can be used in a wide range of practical applications:
- to purposefully change the properties of plants and give them the desired characteristics;
- isolation of specific recombinant molecules or microorganisms;
- identification of genes involved in the implementation of complex processes controlled by many genes, as well as dependent on the influence environment;
- detection of microbial infections of cell cultures, etc.

Proteomics is a science that studies the structure, function, localization and interaction of proteins within and between cells. The set of proteins in a cell is called its proteome. Compared to genomics, proteomics poses much more numerous and difficult tasks for researchers. The structure of protein molecules is much more complex than the structure of DNA molecules, which are linear molecules consisting of four irregularly repeating elements (nucleotides).

The form that a protein molecule takes depends on the sequence of amino acids, but all the mechanisms of twisting and folding of the amino acid chain are not fully understood. The task of the researchers working on the Human Genome Project was to develop methods that would achieve their goals.

Scientists involved in proteomics are still in a similar position: they need to develop a sufficient number of methods and techniques that could provide effective work on a huge number of questions:
- cataloging of all proteins synthesized by different types of cells;
- clarification of the nature of the influence of age, environmental conditions and diseases on the proteins synthesized by the cell;
- elucidation of the functions of identified proteins;
- study of the interactions of various proteins with other proteins inside the cell and in the extracellular space.

The potential of protein engineering makes it possible to improve the properties of proteins used in biotechnology (enzymes, antibodies, cell receptors) and create fundamentally new proteins suitable as drugs for processing and improving the nutritional and palatability food products. The most significant advances in protein engineering are in biocatalysis. New types of catalysts have been developed, including those using the enzyme immobilization technique, capable of functioning in a non-aqueous medium, with significant shifts in pH and temperature of the medium, as well as water-soluble and catalyzing biological reactions at neutral pH and at relatively low temperatures.

Protein engineering technologies make it possible to obtain new types of proteins for biomedical purposes, for example, those capable of binding to viruses and mutant oncogenes and neutralizing them; create highly effective vaccines and cell surface receptor proteins that act as targets for pharmaceuticals, as well as substance binding, and biological agents that can be used for chemical and biological attacks. Thus, hydrolase enzymes are capable of neutralizing both nerve gases and pesticides used in agriculture, and their production, storage and use are not dangerous for the environment and human health.

The latest biotechnological methods allow diagnosing many diseases and pathological conditions quickly and with high precision. So, to set up a standard test for determining the presence of low-density lipoproteins (“bad” cholesterol) in the blood, three separate expensive analyzes are required: detection of total cholesterol, triglycerides and lipoproteins high density. In addition, within 12 hours before the test, the patient is advised to refrain from eating.

The new biotechnological test consists of one stage and does not require prior fasting. These tests, in addition to speed, significantly reduce the cost of diagnosis. To date, biotechnological tests have been developed and are being used to diagnose certain types of tumor processes that require no a large number of blood, which excludes a total biopsy at the initial stages of diagnosis.

In addition to reducing costs, increasing the accuracy and speed of diagnosis, biotechnology makes it possible to diagnose diseases at much earlier stages than was previously possible. This, in turn, provides a much higher chance for patients to be cured. The latest biotechnological methods of proteomics make it possible to identify molecular markers that signal an approaching disease, even before the appearance of registered cellular changes and symptoms of the disease.

The vast amount of information made available as a result of the successful completion of the Human Genome Project should play a special role in the development of methods for diagnosing hereditary diseases such as type I diabetes, cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Previously, diseases of this class were diagnosed only after the appearance clinical symptoms; the latest methods allow before the advent of clinical signs identify risk groups predisposed to diseases of this kind.

Diagnostic tests developed with the help of biotechnology not only increase the level of diagnosis of diseases, but also improve the quality of medical care. Most of the biotechnology tests are portable, allowing physicians to test, interpret results, and prescribe appropriate treatments at the patient's bedside. Biotechnological methods for detecting pathogens are important not only for diagnosing diseases.

One of the most illustrative examples of their use is the screening of donated blood for the presence of HIV infection and hepatitis B and C viruses. Perhaps, over time, biotechnological approaches will enable doctors to determine the nature of the infectious agent and, in each case, select the most effective antibacterial drugs not a week how it's done modern methods but in a matter of hours.

The introduction of biotechnological approaches over time will allow physicians not only to improve existing methods therapy, but also to develop fundamentally new, completely based on new technologies. On the currently A range of biotechnological treatments are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The list of diseases subject to such methods of therapy includes: anemia, cystic fibrosis, growth retardation, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, hepatitis, genital warts, transplant rejection, as well as leukemia and a number of other malignant diseases.

The use of biotechnological methods makes it possible to create so-called "edible vaccines" synthesized by genetically modified plants and animals. So, genetically modified goats have been created, the milk of which contains a vaccine against malaria. Promising results have been obtained in clinical trials with bananas containing a hepatitis vaccine and potatoes containing vaccines against cholera and pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli. Such vaccines (for example, in the form of freeze-dried powder for making drinks), which do not require freezing, sterilization of equipment or the purchase of disposable syringes, are especially promising for use in developing countries.

Also under development are tetanus patch vaccines, anthrax, influenza and E. coli. Transgenic plants synthesizing therapeutic proteins (antibodies, antigens, growth factors, hormones, enzymes, blood proteins and collagen) have already been obtained. Produced from a variety of plant varieties, including alfalfa, corn, duckweed, potato, rice, sunflower, soybean and tobacco, these proteins are key components of a number of innovative therapies oncological diseases, AIDS, heart and kidney disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, damage spinal cord, hepatitis C, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obesity, cancer, etc.

Cellular technologies are finding more and more wide application for selection, reproduction and productivity increase useful plants, as well as obtaining biologically active substances and drugs.

ON THE. Voinov, T.G. Volova

Biotechnology is a new rapidly developing area of ​​biology. Stages of development of biotechnology. Main directions in biotechnology

1Biotechnology is a new branch of science and production based on the use of biological processes and objects for the production of economically important substances and the creation of highly productive plant varieties, animal breeds and strains of microorganisms. In the literal sense, biotechnology is "biology + technology", that is, the application of fundamental biological knowledge in practical activities aimed at the production of drugs, enzymes, proteins, dyes, aromatic substances, vitamins and a number of biologically active substances. active compounds. In addition, we are talking about the use of biotechnological methods in breeding and designing fundamentally new organisms that did not previously exist in nature.

Plant biotechnology is an independent discipline, although in terms of its theoretical and methodological principles it can be considered as part of general biotechnology. The specificity of plant biotechnology is predetermined by the biological characteristics of plants as a special kingdom of the living world.

In the historical aspect, mankind has always used plants to obtain vital products. In this sense, both traditional plant growing and other agricultural technologies can be attributed to biotechnology. However, there are fundamental differences between biotechnology and agricultural technology. As you know, agricultural technology deals with whole plants and their populations, while biotechnology is based on the use of cell culture and their populations.

Consequently, the main object of plant biotechnology is individual cells, organs, isolated from the whole plant and grown outside the body on artificial culture medium under aseptic conditions.

Such cells, tissues, organs grown in vitro are called cell, tissue, or organ culture, depending on what is isolated from the plant and cultivated. However, all these methods of cultivation have recently come to be referred to by the same term "plant cell culture", because ultimately the cultured unit is the cell.

Cell cultures are increasingly being used every year in a wide variety of fields of biology, medicine and agriculture. They are used in solving such general biological problems as elucidating the mechanisms of differentiation and proliferation, interaction of cells with the environment, adaptation, aging, biological mobility, malignant transformation, and many others. Important role cell cultures play in biotechnology in the production of vaccines and biologically active substances. They are the starting material for the creation of producer cells, are used to increase the productivity of farm animals and to breed new plant varieties. Cell cultures are used to diagnose and treat hereditary diseases, as test objects for testing new pharmacological substances, as well as to preserve the gene pool of endangered animal and plant species.

Biotechnology is the controlled production of target products for the national economy, as well as for medicine, with the help of biological agents: microorganisms, viruses of animal and plant cells, as well as with the help of extracellular substances and cell components. Biotechnology has deep historical roots, and over the past 10-15 years of rapid development, it has taken shape as a separate branch of science and production.

The main components of a biotechnological process are: a biological agent, a substrate, a target product, equipment and a set of methods for controlling the process.

The biotechnology industry is one of the most rapidly developing and is an important criterion for assessing the level of research potential of a civilized country. Clear evidence that the next wave of economic development will be based on various branches of biotechnology (agricultural, food, medical) is the dynamics of the share prices of the respective companies. Until recently, the biotechnology business stood out little from the general high-tech group, but the instability of computer magnates and a number of large concerns trading in natural resources has changed the opinion of economic analysts.

The stock quotes of biotechnological companies turned out to be less prone to falling, as the products obtained on the basis of cellular technologies are new and promising. Investment in the biosector has led to an unprecedented technological breakthrough. Large-scale field trials of genetically modified maize varieties have begun in Germany and France. Japanese biotechnology has obtained genetically modified corn that is resistant to insect pests. Some companies are on the verge of creating revolutionary drugs for various kinds cancer, especially leukemia. Three years ago, an American company invested a lot of money in a biotech laboratory in California, and now, according to company representatives, they are close to creating means of extracting a number of serious ailments, such as Alzheimer's disease.

The term biotechnology comes from the Greek words bios and techne. "Bios" - life, "techne" - twist, spin, do something with your own hands. Hence, biotechnology is production with the help of living beings, a set of industrial methods using living organisms and biological processes for the production of various products.

Biotechnology is the integrated use of biochemistry, microbiology, and engineering sciences to achieve the industrial application of the capabilities of microorganisms, tissue cultures, and their parts. Objects of biotechnology - microbes (fungi, bacteria, viruses, protozoa) or cells of other organisms (plants, animals), biologically active substances special purpose(immobilized enzymes catalyzing synthesis or decay).

Typical methods of biotechnology are large-scale submerged cultivation of biological objects in a periodic or continuous mode, cultivation of cells of plant and animal tissues under special conditions.

BIOCHEMISTRY MICROBIOLOGY CHEMICAL ENGINEERING GENETICS MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGY BIOTECHNOLOGY BIOCHEMICAL MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY ELECTRONICS FOOD TECHNOLOGY OTHER PRODUCT DISCIPLINES Figure 1. The interdisciplinary nature of biotechnology

3 The development of biotechnology is largely determined by research in the field of microbiology, biochemistry, enzymology and genetics of organisms. Modern biotechnology as a science arose in the early forties and has been rapidly developing since 1953, after the epoch-making discovery of the chemical structure and spatial organization of the double helix of the DNA molecule by James Watson and Francis Crick. Its new strategic direction - genetic engineering - was born by 1972, when a recombinant DNA molecule was first synthesized in the laboratory of Paul Berg, which finally secured biotechnology and its central link - bioengineering (nuclear biology) - the most important place in modern science.

The “inter-peak” works of the outstanding biologists G. Boyer, S. Cohen, D. Morr, A. Baev, A. Belozersky, O. Avery, G. Gamow, F. Jacob, J. identification of genes and enzymes, isolation of DNA molecules from plant, microbial and animal cells, decoding genetic code, as well as the mechanisms of gene expression and protein biosynthesis in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

In the 1950s, another important direction appeared in biotechnology - cell engineering. Its founders are P.F. White (USA) and R. Gautre (France). In subsequent years, at the Institute of Plant Physiology of the USSR, and then the Russian Academy of Sciences under the leadership of A.A. Kursanov, R.G. Butenko, research was launched in this area with the involvement of many young scientists of the country.

Genetic and cell engineering determined the main directions of modern biotechnology, the methods of which were widely developed in the 80s and are used in many areas of science and production in our country and abroad.

Biotechnology as a science can be considered in two temporal and essential dimensions: modern and traditional, classical.

The latest biotechnology (bioengineering) is the science of genetic engineering and cellular methods and technologies for the creation and use of genetically transformed (modified) plants, animals and microorganisms in order to intensify production and obtain new types of products for various purposes.

In the traditional, classical sense, biotechnology can be defined as the science of methods and technologies for the production, transportation, storage and processing of agricultural and other products using conventional, non-transgenic (natural and breeding) plants, animals and microorganisms, in natural and artificial conditions.

The highest achievement of the latest biotechnology is genetic transformation, the transfer of foreign (natural or artificially created) donor genes into recipient cells of plants, animals and microorganisms, the production of transgenic organisms with new or enhanced properties and traits. In terms of its goals and opportunities in the future, this direction is strategic. It allows solving fundamentally new problems of creating plants, animals and microorganisms with increased resistance to environmental stress factors, high productivity and product quality, and improving the ecological situation in nature and all industries.

To achieve these goals, it is necessary to overcome certain difficulties in increasing the efficiency of genetic transformation and, above all, in identifying and cloning genes, creating gene banks, deciphering the mechanisms of polygenic determination of traits and properties of biological objects, creating reliable vector systems, and ensuring high stability of gene expression. Already today, in many laboratories around the world, using genetic engineering methods, fundamentally new transgenic plants, animals and microorganisms used for commercial purposes have been created.

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Modern achievements in biotechnology

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Checked:

2011

Biotechnology is a field of human activity, which is characterized by the wide use of biological systems of all levels in a wide variety of branches of science, industrial production, medicine, agriculture and other fields.

A revolutionary stage in the development of biotechnology was the use of gene and cellular biotechnologies, which have been rapidly developing in recent decades and have already significantly influenced various aspects of human life: health, medicine, nutrition, demography, and ecology.

The first products of gene biotechnologies were biologically active proteins, widely used today in medicine as medicines. In the past, with the help of traditional biotechnology, various biological compounds were obtained by processing large amounts of microbial, animal or plant material, using the natural ability of organisms to synthesize these compounds. So, for the treatment of diabetes, insulin was previously used, which was isolated from the pancreas of pigs. Such insulin was expensive and, moreover, ineffective. The situation has changed dramatically since the first genetically engineered human insulin synthesized by E. coli cells was obtained in 1982 in the USA.

Currently, many biopharmaceuticals obtained using gene-cell biotechnology are used in practical medicine. Along with insulin, various interferons, interleukins, hemophilia drugs, anticancer and painkillers, essential amino acids, growth hormone, monoclonal antibodies, and much more are already being produced. And this list is annually updated with dozens of items. Laboratories and clinics around the world are constantly searching for and testing new drugs, including those for such dangerous diseases as heart disease, various forms of cancer, AIDS and various viral infections. According to experts, today about 25% of all medicines in the world are produced with the help of gene biotechnologies.

An important step in the development of modern gene-cell biotechnology was the development of methods for obtaining transgenic animals and plants (they are also called genetically modified organisms, abbreviated as GMOs). A transgenic organism is an organism in all respects similar to a non-transgenic, ordinary one, but containing in all cells among tens of thousands of its own genes 1 (rarely 2) an additional gene (it is called a transgene), which is unusual for it in nature.

The technology of creating transgenic plants has led to a revolution in the field of crop production. It made it possible to obtain plants resistant to a number of highly pathogenic viruses, fungal and bacterial infections, insect pests, the creation of plants with a high content of vitamin A, resistant to cold, soil salinity, drought, plants with an improved content and composition of proteins, etc. Thus, by intervening in the genetic programs of plants, it is possible to give them the functions of resistance to various adverse environmental stress factors. The use of GMOs has significantly increased the efficiency of agriculture, and therefore this technology turned out to be in demand on the market, where other opportunities for increasing productivity (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) have largely exhausted themselves.

In 1994, after extensive field trials in the United States, the first transgenic food plant, the tomato, was allowed to be commercially sold with a unique property: it can lie unripe for months at a temperature of 12 °C, but once it gets warm, it ripens in just a few hours. Since then, many other transgenic plants have been released to the market; already managed to obtain many different forms of soybeans, potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, rapeseed, resistant to various agricultural pests. For example, a transgenic potato has been obtained that is inaccessible to the Colorado potato beetle. In this potato, one of the proteins of soil bacteria is synthesized, which is toxic to the beetle, but completely harmless to humans. There are transgenic plants capable of fixing nitrogen independently, without the help of microorganisms, soddan "golden" rice with a high content of vitamin A, etc.

There are already herds of transgenic goats and cows in the world, in which substances useful from a medical point of view are synthesized in the mammary gland, which are then excreted with the milk of these animals. Today, the medicine is the milk of transgenic animals, which contains proteins such as insulin, human growth hormone, antithrombin, interferon. In Russia, for example, genetic technologists have created a breed of sheep that, along with milk, also produces the enzyme needed in the production of cheese; Russian scientists, together with colleagues from Brazil, are successfully working on the creation of transgenic goats, the milk of which will contain a pharmaceutical product called granulocyte, a colony-stimulating factor necessary for the treatment of various blood diseases, the need for which is huge in the world.

Many scientific centers are working on the creation of transgenic animals used as models of various human hereditary diseases. Transgenic laboratory animals with an increased incidence of tumors have already been obtained, lines of animals have been bred in whose bodies such human diseases as sickle cell anemia, diabetes, neurological diseases, arthritis, jaundice, cardiovascular and a number of hereditary diseases are reproduced. Such animal models allow a deeper understanding of the nature of various human pathologies and, based on them, the search for effective drugs.

The technology of transgenesis can also be used in the future to create transgenic animals that can be used as sources of organs and tissues for transplantation (in particular, they have inactivated antigens responsible for tissue compatibility). Research has already begun in this area on pigs, which are considered as possible candidates for transplantation of their organs to humans. Transgenic plants are also planned to be used for medical purposes. For example, vaccines are being developed on their basis, which are called "edible". To do this, one or another viral gene is introduced into the plant, which ensures the synthesis of the corresponding protein that has the property of an antigen. The use of this plant in food allows a person to gradually acquire immunity to a particular virus. Another example: in Japan, a rice variety has been created that will allow patients with diabetes to do without drugs, since its use stimulates the synthesis of its own insulin by the pancreas.

Probably, it was the notable successes in the field of GMO creation that gave impetus to the emergence in 1990 of another important area of ​​gene-cell biotechnology - gene therapy. With the help of gene therapy, it is possible to deliver a “good” gene to cells that suffer from a malfunction of a gene that can compensate for the work of a “bad” one. True, sometimes the disease is caused by the excessive work of individual genes that are unusual for a normal cell (for example, when viral infection). In such cases, on the contrary, it is necessary to suppress the work of the “harmful” gene. One of the most promising approaches to this is RNA interference - the process of suppressing the work of a gene using fragments of RNA molecules, the mechanism of which was discovered by A. Fire and K. Mello (and again the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2006). All this is what they are trying to do today with the help of gene therapy. The target for gene therapy can be both body cells (somatic cells) and germ cells (eggs, sperm). In the case of hereditary diseases, germ cells might be more suitable for gene therapy, the correction of which should be preserved in the offspring. However, in practical terms, somatic therapy is now of greater interest, and germ cell gene therapy is a problem of the distant future, although in reality hereditary diseases could be cured once and for all by acting specifically on germ cells or embryonic cells in the early stages of development. The introduced gene, getting into many rapidly dividing cells of the embryo as a result of artificial transfer, is able to prevent the development of the disease. But this type of gene therapy is associated with a number of problems, both technical and, mainly, ethical. In particular, there are concerns that such an approach could be used to produce a new generation of “children to order”.

Currently, only gene therapy aimed at somatic cells of an adult organism seems to be a reality. Of the total number of known human diseases, about 30-40% are the so-called genetic or hereditary diseases. Many of these pathologies are associated with the disruption of a single gene. Gene therapy is applicable primarily to such diseases, since in these cases the treatment process is greatly facilitated. Currently, using information about the structure of the human genome and its individual genes, scientists are conducting a large-scale search for treatments for many hereditary and acquired diseases traditionally considered fatal for humans, for which a “bad” gene and/or its product is known. First of all, these are diseases such as hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, adenosine deaminase deficiency, Duchenne myodystrophy, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, various cardiovascular pathologies, etc. Thus, in the USA and Great Britain, tests were conducted on patients with a defect in the gene that encodes a protein necessary for normal operation retina. During operations, these patients were injected with "healthy" copies of the damaged gene in the back of one eye. Six months later, patients who, before gene therapy, could only distinguish hand movements, were able to see all the lines on the vision chart. There are certain successes in the use of gene therapy for the treatment of a number of non-hereditary pathologies (certain forms of cancer, ischemia) and infectious diseases(AIDS, hepatitis). Currently in different countries The world has already approved more than 600 protocols for clinical trials using gene and gene-cell therapy.

Gene therapy technology has undergone significant changes over the years. In the early stages, to transfer genes into the body, they relied mainly on the natural ability of viruses carrying a therapeutic gene to penetrate and multiply in cells. Now it's time to take part in this nanobiotechnology. The development of approaches to targeted gene transfer to certain types of cells using nanoparticles containing antibodies to specific antigens of these cells on their surface has already begun. Such nanoparticles “loaded” with genes and antibodies purposefully move in the body to the affected areas and have a targeted therapeutic effect. However, with all the positive results obtained with the help of gene therapy, it still remains ineffective. Key issues such as targeted delivery of genes and their long-term and efficient functioning in affected tissues remain unresolved. The future of gene therapy largely depends on solving these problems.

The success of gene biotechnologies was largely facilitated by the parallel development of cellular biotechnologies with them. One of the important achievements was the production and cultivation of stem cells. In the late 1970s, convincing data were obtained on the possibility of using bone marrow stem cell transplantation in the treatment of acute leukemia. Since that time, a new era in medicine has begun. First, so-called embryonic stem cells were obtained from mouse embryos, and then from human embryos. The latter event has been recognized as one of the three most significant achievements in biology in the 20th century (along with the discovery of the DNA double helix and the complete decoding of the human genome).

Significant progress in modern biotechnology has occurred in connection with the development of the technology of reproductive cloning of animal organisms, i.e. obtaining artificially identical copies of such organisms. About 10 years ago, an incredible fuss was raised around the birth of Dolly the sheep, which everyone now knows about.

Biotechnology is the industrial use of biological agents or their systems to obtain valuable products and carry out targeted transformations.

Biological agents in this case are microorganisms, plant or animal cells, cellular components (cell membranes, ribosomes, mitochondria, chloroplasts), as well as biological macromolecules (DNA, RNA, proteins - most often enzymes). Biotechnology also uses viral DNA or RNA to transfer foreign genes into cells.

Man has been using biotechnology for many thousands of years: people baked bread, brewed beer, made cheese using various microorganisms, while not even suspecting their existence. Actually, the term itself appeared in our language not so long ago, instead of it the words “industrial microbiology”, “technical biochemistry”, etc. were used.

Probably the oldest biotechnological process was fermentation with the help of microorganisms. This is evidenced by the description of the process of making beer, discovered in 1981 during the excavations of Babylon on a tablet, which dates back to about the 6th millennium BC. e.

In the 3rd millennium BC. e. the Sumerians produced up to two dozen types of beer. No less ancient biotechnological processes are winemaking, baking, and obtaining lactic acid products. In the traditional, classical sense, biotechnology is the science of production methods and technologies. various substances and products using natural biological objects and processes.

The term "new" biotechnology as opposed to "old" biotechnology is used to distinguish between bioprocesses using genetic engineering methods and more traditional forms of bioprocesses. So, the usual production of alcohol in the fermentation process is an “old” biotechnology, but the use of yeast in this process, improved by genetic engineering to increase the yield of alcohol, is a “new” biotechnology.

Biotechnology as a science is the most important section modern biology, which, like physics, became at the end of the 20th century. one of the leading priorities in world science and economy.

A surge in research on biotechnology in world science occurred in the 80s, but, despite such a short period of its existence, biotechnology has attracted close attention from both scientists and the general public. According to forecasts, already at the beginning of the 21st century, biotech products will account for a quarter of all world production.

As for more modern biotechnological processes, they are based on recombinant DNA methods, as well as on the use of immobilized enzymes, cells or cell organelles.

Modern biotechnology is the science of genetic engineering and cellular methods of creating and using genetically transformed biological objects to improve the production or obtain new types of products for various purposes.

Main directions of biotechnology

Conventionally, the following main areas of biotechnology can be distinguished:

Biotechnology of food products;
- biotechnology of preparations for agriculture;
- biotechnology of drugs and products for industrial and domestic use;
- Biotechnology of drugs;
- biotechnology of diagnostic tools and reagents.

Biotechnology also includes the leaching and concentration of metals, the protection of the environment from pollution, the degradation of toxic waste, and the increase in oil production.

Biofuel development

The vegetation cover of the Earth is more than 1800 billion tons of dry matter, which is energetically equivalent to the known energy reserves of minerals. Forests make up about 68% of terrestrial biomass, grass ecosystems roughly 16%, and cropland only 8%. For dry matter simplest way energy conversion is combustion - it provides heat, which in turn is converted into mechanical or electrical energy.

As for raw matter, in this case, the oldest and most effective method of converting biomass into energy is the production of biogas (methane). Methane "fermentation", or biomethanogenesis, is a long-known process of converting biomass into energy. It was opened in 1776. Voltay, who established the presence of methane in swamp gas.

Food industry and agricultural waste is characterized by a high carbon content (in the case of beet distillation, 1 liter of waste accounts for up to 50 g of carbon), so they are best suited for methane "fermentation", especially since some of them are obtained at a temperature that is most favorable for this process. .

The United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Developing Countries (1979) and experts from the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific highlighted the merits of agricultural programs using biogas.

It should be noted that 38% of the world's 95 million cattle, 72% of sugarcane residues and 95% of banana, coffee and citrus waste come from Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. It is not surprising that huge amounts of raw materials for methane "fermentation" are concentrated in these regions.

The consequence of this was the orientation of some countries with an agriculturally oriented economy towards bioenergy. The production of biogas by methane "fermentation" of waste is one of the possible solutions to the energy problem in most rural areas of developing countries.

Biotechnology is able to make a major contribution to solving energy problems also through the production of fairly cheap biosynthetic ethanol, which, in addition, is an important raw material for the microbiological industry in the production of food and feed proteins, as well as protein-lipid feed preparations.

Achievements in biotechnology

With the help of biotechnology, many products have been obtained for the health care, agriculture, food and chemical industries. Moreover, it is important that many of them could not be obtained without the use of biotechnological methods. Especially high hopes are associated with attempts to use microorganisms and cell cultures to reduce environmental pollution and energy production.

In molecular biology, the use of biotechnological methods makes it possible to determine the structure of the genome, understand the mechanism of gene expression, model cell membranes in order to study their functions, etc.

The construction of the necessary genes by the methods of genetic and cell engineering makes it possible to control the heredity and vital activity of animals, plants and microorganisms and create organisms with new properties that are useful for humans, not previously observed in nature.

The microbiological industry currently uses thousands of strains of various microorganisms. In most cases, they are improved by induced mutagenesis and subsequent selection. This allows large-scale synthesis of various substances. Some proteins and secondary metabolites can only be obtained by culturing eukaryotic cells. plant cells can serve as a source of a number of compounds - atropine, nicotine, alkaloids, saponins, etc.

In biochemistry, microbiology, and cytology, methods of immobilization of both enzymes and whole cells of microorganisms, plants, and animals are of undoubted interest. In veterinary medicine, biotechnological methods such as cell and embryo culture, in vitro oogenesis, and artificial insemination are widely used.

All this indicates that biotechnology will become a source not only of new foodstuffs and medicines, but also of obtaining energy and new chemicals, as well as organisms with desired properties.

Video: Biotechnology and the Emergence of New Therapeutics.