<h5 id="121-environmental-biotechnology">12.1 Environmental Biotechnology</h5> <ul> <li>The industrial revolution led to a significant increase in industries, resulting in environmental degradation through pollution of air, water, and soil with various pollutants.</li> <li>Environmental biotechnology uses biological systems to address environmental issues, offering environment-friendly alternatives and more efficient ways to extract and use fossil fuels.</li> <li>The main concepts and approaches in environmental biotechnology include bioremediation (waste treatment, degradation, vermi-technology, etc.), prevention of environmental problems, detection and monitoring of contaminants, and genetic engineering.</li> <li>Prevention in environmental biotechnology focuses on biofuel production and biodegradation, as well as the manufacture of biodegradable products.</li> <li>Bioremediation was previously covered in Chapter 11 of Unit IV; this section emphasizes its other applications, such as waste treatment and degradation.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="1211-biofuel">12.1.1 Biofuel</h5> <ul> <li>Biofuels are produced from biological products or waste.</li> <li>Types of biofuels include: <ul> <li>Biodiesel: Made from animal fats, vegetable oils, and waste cooking oil through trans-esterification. It can be used in pure form or blended with fossil diesel.</li> <li>Bioalcohol (e.g., bioethanol): Produced from wheat, corn, sugarcane, molasses, sugar beets, potato, fruit waste, etc., by fermentation.</li> <li>Biogas: Produced from organic substances such as dung, night soil wastes, manure, crops, organic industrial waste, waste water, etc., and mainly consists of methane and carbon dioxide.</li> <li>Biomass or solid biofuels: Examples include wood, sawdust, coal, grass cuttings, domestic refuse, charcoal, agricultural waste, non-food energy crops, dried manure, etc.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Advantages of biofuels: reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, renewable, can produce both bioalcohol and biodiesel.</li> <li>Challenges of biofuels: production methods need to be perfected for improved efficiency, biogas can damage vehicle engines, and combustion of biomass emits pollutants.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="1212-biodegradation">12.1.2 Biodegradation</h5> <ul> <li>Biodegradation is a natural process that breaks down waste, but non-biodegradable materials like plastics can take hundreds of years to decompose.</li> <li>Microbes have been identified that can break down non-biodegradable materials, such as a strain of bacteria that can eat plastics, with potential for environment-friendly recycling.</li> <li>Bioplastics are an alternative to non-biodegradable products, made from biological materials like plant materials and natural biopolymers, reducing the use of fossil fuels and plastic-based pollutants.</li> <li>Biotechnology is being used in the paper industry to improve pulp making, reduce chemical and energy use, and decrease environmental impact, with genetically modified trees and non-wood materials used in paper making.</li> <li>Microbial technologies are being used in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and to clean up oil spills, with genetically engineered bacteria playing a crucial role in maintaining the ecosystem and providing environmental benefits.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="1213-bioremediation">12.1.3 Bioremediation</h5> <ul> <li>Bioremediation is a process that uses microorganisms to reduce the toxicities caused by chemical pollutants.</li> <li>Three key principles for selecting the most appropriate strategy for contaminated wastes are: possibility of pollutant to allow biological transformation, bio availability of the contaminant to micro-organisms, and efficiency of bio-activity.</li> <li>Bioremediation is particularly effective for reducing the toxicities of heavy metals such as As, Cr, Hg, Cd, Zn, etc. in soil or water.</li> <li>Recent advances in molecular genetics of biodegradation and studies on enzyme-tailoring through recombinant DNA-RNA technologies are being utilized for the removal of heavy metals and toxic chemicals.</li> <li>Bioremediation has gained importance with advances in biotechnology, especially in environmental restoration.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="122-plant-biotechnology">12.2 Plant Biotechnology</h5> <ul> <li>Plant biotechnology, including GM technology and molecular-assisted breeding, has contributed to sustainable enhanced yields.</li> <li>Advanced research in plant science has led to the development of pharmaceuticals, recombinant therapeutic proteins, plant-made pharmaceuticals, transgenic plants, artificial seeds, and plant-made vaccines or antibodies (plantibodies).</li> <li>Genome editing techniques, particularly CRISPR-Cas9, are currently being explored for crop improvement.</li> <li>Plantibodies and plant-made pharmaceuticals have shown potential in producing pharmaceuticals in a more sustainable manner.</li> <li>The research and development in plant biotechnology aim to achieve sustainable agriculture with enhanced yields.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="1221-innovations-in-plant-biotechnology-through-gm-crops">12.2.1. Innovations in plant biotechnology through GM crops</h5> <ul> <li>Golden Rice is a biofortified rice that serves as an effective source of Vitamin A in humans, with enhanced carotenoid biosynthesis through genes from daffodil and the bacterium Erwinia uredovoia.</li> <li>Biofortified rice has improved iron and folate, with increased mineral bioavailability and high content of essential amino acids.</li> <li>Bananas with enriched proVitA have the maize phytoene synthesis gene and gene from the bacterium Erwinia uredovoia.</li> <li>Plenish soybeans, produced through antisense RNA technology, have an increased ratio of oleic acid to linoleic acid content due to down-regulation of the endogenous soybean gene encoding fatty acid desaturase (gm-fad2-1).</li> <li>Tomatoes with enhanced hydrophilic antioxidant capacity and increased shelf life have genes from two snapdragon transcription factors, Delila and Rosea 1, that control anthocyanin biosynthesis.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="1222-genome-engineering-technology-application-of-crispr-cas9">12.2.2. Genome Engineering technology: Application of CRISPR-Cas9</h5> <ul> <li>CRISPR-Cas9 technology is used for genome editing, allowing for the production of drought and disease-resistant crops.</li> <li>This technology transfers specific traits from a single parent to successive generations, improving nutritional quality, increasing yield, and developing resistance to various biotic and abiotic stress in several crops.</li> <li>CRISPR-Cas9 is faster than traditional genetic manipulation techniques and can target multiple genes, making it simple, precise, and beneficial for creating various traits in plants.</li> <li>There are concerns regarding its off-target effects, low efficiency, regulatory issues, and safety, which need to be addressed through improvements in on-target efficiency and modifications of the Cas9 enzyme.</li> <li>Current advancements in CRISPR-Cas9 for plant molecular biology are still in the preliminary stage, with more work needed to be done.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="123-regenerative-medicine">12.3 Regenerative Medicine</h5> <ul> <li>Regenerative medicine is a multidisciplinary field focused on restoring lost function due to degeneration, trauma, or disease.</li> <li>The oldest strategy, organ transplantation, can be of three types: autograft (within the same individual), allograft (donor to non-genetically identical individual of the same species), and xenograft (between different species).</li> <li>Major organs like the liver, kidney, and pancreas consist of differentiated cells with limited regeneration capacity; stem cells can help in this situation due to their proliferation and differentiation abilities.</li> <li>Stem cells vary by differentiation and origin, with several types available as discussed in Chapter 9.</li> <li>Allografts are the most common practice for organ transplants like renal, liver, heart, lungs, and pancreas.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="1231-stem-cell-technology">12.3.1 Stem Cell Technology</h5> <ul> <li>Stem cells can form complex structures when placed in a hydrogel with exogenous factors.</li> <li>Organoids are 3D tissue cultures derived from stem cells that mimic cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions while maintaining signaling cues.</li> <li>Organoids can be created from pluripotent and adult stem cells, and their shape affects their differentiation into specific cell types.</li> <li>Organoids are used in organ development, disease modeling, drug penetration studies, drug screening, and toxicity testing.</li> <li>3D cell cultures are more complex and expensive than 2D cultures, and require new microscopic analysis workflows.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="124-nanobiotechnology">12.4 Nanobiotechnology</h5> <ul> <li>Metal includes Iron oxide, Gold, Silver, Copper, Zinc oxide, Titanium oxide, Cadmium, and Selenium.</li> <li>Non-metal includes Silicon oxide and Calcium phosphate, with Ceramic falling under this category as well.</li> <li>Organic matter is divided into two types: Naturally derived polymers like chitosan from shell and alginate from algae, and Synthetic polymers such as Polycaprolactone (PCL), polylactic acid or polylactide (PLA), and Poly Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA).</li> <li>Protein category includes Albumin and Gelatin.</li> <li>Lipid category includes Cholesterol, Fatty acids, Phospholipids, and Liposome.</li> <li>Cadmium-Selenium (CdSe) nanocrystals, also known as Quantum Dots (QDs), produce different colors of fluorescence depending on their size and can be used for fluorescence-based diagnostic tests.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="1241-application-of-nanotechnology">12.4.1 Application of Nanotechnology</h5> <ul> <li>Nanotechnology is an enabling technology with applications in various sectors including medicine, cosmetics, agriculture, textile, and energy.</li> <li>In medicine (nanomedicine), drugs or biomolecules can be loaded in nanoparticles or nanocarriers for targeted delivery to the diseased site, increasing bioavailability with low systemic toxicity and reduced drug required for cure.</li> <li>In cosmetics, zinc oxide and titanium oxide nanoparticles protect against ultraviolet light and are widely used in sunscreen cosmetic preparations. Liposomal preparations and nanoemulsions are used for better penetration of essential oils, vitamins, and other biomolecules.</li> <li>In agriculture and food packaging, nanotechnology is used for precision farming techniques, new generation of nano-pesticides, and nanomaterials in food packaging for longer preservation and storage.</li> <li>In textile, nanomaterials can be used for several improvements like stain and water repellence, wrinkle-free features, fire retardancy, high tensile strength, durability, textured surface, and electrical conductivity.</li> <li>Nanobiosensors, using nanotechnology, can detect biological molecules, enabling point-of-care devices, and working towards the concept of ‘Lab on a Chip’ for multiple tests simultaneously.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="125-synthetic-biology">12.5 Synthetic Biology</h5> <ul> <li>Synthetic biology is a third major approach in studying organisms, following the reductionist and integrative strategies.</li> <li>It focuses on building organisms from scratch, a bottom-up engineering approach, which involves creating standards and rules of composition.</li> <li>Synthetic biology bridges the gap between biologists and engineers, enabling the design and construction of innovative biomolecular networks, components, and pathways.</li> <li>Its applications include biomanufacturing of high-value biomolecules, diagnostics, therapeutics, and targeted therapies for diseases.</li> <li>The new strategy in synthetic biology includes chemically synthesizing a series of genes in one step, which has led to a major change in genetic engineering and significantly reduced the time required for plasmid construction.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="126-future-prospects">12.6 FUTURE PROSPECTS</h5> <ul> <li> <p>Biotechnological innovations will play a crucial role in future societal benefits, with potential advancements in medicine, healthcare, food systems, industries, and smart materials.</p> </li> <li> <p>Current research includes creating microbial factories for chemical synthesis and pollution reduction, bioremediation treatment technologies, and plant biotechnology for sustainable agriculture and pharmaceutical production.</p> </li> <li> <p>The industrial sector can benefit from more productive biomass feedstocks, efficient biofuels, chemicals, and bio-material conversion processes using non-food crops.</p> </li> <li> <p>Medical applications of biotechnology include regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, transplantation, stem cell research, nanobiotechnology, and synthetic biology, with potential benefits and risks.</p> </li> <li> <p>India is a key player in the global biotechnology sector, contributing to the vaccine market, low-cost diagnostics, and medical interventions. The biotechnology sector played a vital role in developing vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p> </li> <li> <p>The future of biotechnology research is strong, requiring entrepreneurship, technology expertise, and a supportive ecosystem for start-ups, small, and large industries. The Draft National Biotech Development Strategy 2020-24 aims to build and nurture a vibrant biotech sector in India.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p>