Biotechnology Dolly and surrogate Mom Embryonic stem cells

Biotechnology Dolly and surrogate Mom Embryonic stem cells and gene therapy Genetically modified rice.

Biotechnology, defined broadly, is the engineering of organisms for useful purposes. Often, biotechnology involves the creation of hybrid genes and their introduction into organisms in which some or all of the gene is not normally present. Fourteen month-old genetically engineered (“biotech”) salmon (left) and standard salmon (right).

Biotechnology We’ll examine: Animal cloning Gene cloning for pharmaceutical production Genetically modified food and the American. European opinion divide. DNA fingerprinting The promise and perhaps perils of embryonic stem cells

In Vitro Fertilization • Infertility is the inability of a couple to become pregnant. • In Vitro Fertilization is commonly referred to as IVF is the process of fertilization by manually combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish. When the IVF procedure is successful, the process is combined with a procedure known as embryo transfer, which is used to physically place the embryo in the uterus.

In Vitro Fertilization

Amniocentesis • Amniocentesis (also referred to as amniotic fluid test or AFT), is a medical procedure used in prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities and fetal infections [1], in which a small amount of amniotic fluid, which contains fetal tissues, is extracted from the amnion or amniotic sac surrounding a developing fetus, and the fetal DNA is examined for genetic abnormalities.

Animal Cloning Dolly and her surrogate mother.

Why Clone Animals? Five genetically identical cloned pigs. To answer questions of basic biology For pharmaceutical production. For herd improvement. To satisfy our desires (e. g. pet cloning).

Is Animal Cloning Ethical? The first cloned horse and her surrogate mother/genetic twin. As with many important questions, the answer is beyond the scope of science.

USU’s Contribution – A Cloned Mule and the First Cloned Equine

The Biotechnology of Reproductive Cloning Even under the best of circumstances, the current technology of cloning is very inefficient. Cloning provides the most direct demonstration that all cells of an individual share a common genetic blueprint.

Saved by Cloning? Some are firm believers while many view these approaches to be more of a stunt. Note the use of a closely related species, a domestic goat, as egg donor and surrogate mother.

Carbon Copy– the First Cloned Pet (Science (2002) 295: 1443) Significantly, Carbon Copy is not a phenotypic carbon copy of the animal she was cloned from.

The Next Step? Highly unlikely. Attempts at human cloning are viewed very unfavorably in the scientific community.

Recombinant DNA, Gene Cloning, and Pharmaceutical Production These are mature and widely utilized biotechnologies. DNA can be cut at specific sequences using restriction enzymes. This creates DNA fragments useful for gene cloning.

Restriction Enzymes are Enzymes That Cut DNA Only at Particular Sequences Restriction enzyme animation The enzyme Eco. RI cutting DNA at its recognition sequence Different restriction enzymes have different recognition sequences. This makes it possible to create a wide variety of different gene fragments.

DNAs Cut by a Restriction Enzyme Can be Joined Together in New Ways These are recombinant DNAs and they often are made of DNAs from different organisms.

Plasmids are Used to Replicate a Recombinant DNA Plasmids are small circles of DNA found in bacteria. Plasmids replicate independently of the bacterial chromosome. Pieces of foreign DNA can be added within a plasmid to create a recombinant plasmid. Replication often produces 50 -100 copies of a recombinant plasmid in each cell.

Harnessing the Power of Recombinant DNA Technology – Human Insulin Production by Bacteria

Human Insulin Production by Bacteria and cut with a restriction enzyme 6) join the plasmid and human fragment

Human Insulin Production by Bacteria Mix the recombinant plasmid with bacteria. Screening bacterial cells to learn which contain the human insulin gene is the hard part.

Route to the Production by Bacteria of Human Insulin One cell with the recombinant plasmid This is the step when gene cloning takes place. A fermentor used to grow recombinant bacteria. The single recombinant plasmid replicates within a cell. Then the single cell with many recombinant plasmids produces trillions of like cells with recombinant plasmid – and the human insulin gene.

Route to the Production by Bacteria of Human Insulin The final steps are to collect the bacteria, break open the cells, and purify the insulin protein expressed from the recombinant human insulin gene.

Route to the Production by Bacteria of Human Insulin Overview of gene cloning. Cloning animation

Pharming is the production of pharmaceuticals in animals engineered to contain a foreign, drug-producing gene. These goats contain the human gene for a clot-dissolving protein that is produced in their milk.

The Promise and Possible Perils of Stem Cells

The Stem Cell Concept A stem cell is an undifferentiated, dividing cell that gives rise to a daughter cell like itself and a daughter cell that becomes a specialized cell type.

Stem Cells are Found in the Adult, but the Most Promising Types of Stem Cells for Therapy are Embryonic Stem Cells

The Inner Cell Mass is the Source of Embryonic Stem Cells The embryo is destroyed by separating it into individual cells for the collection of ICM cells.

Some Thorny Ethical Questions Are these masses of cells a human? Is it ethical to harvest embryonic stem cells from the “extra” embryos created during in vitro fertilization?

Additional Potential Dilemmas – Therapeutic Cloning to Obtain Matched Embryonic Stem Cells Cultured mouse embryonic stem cells. Cells from any source other than you or an identical twin present the problem of rejection. If so, how can matched embryonic stem cells be obtained? A cloned embryo of a person can be made, and embryonic stem cells harvested from these clones.

Therapeutic Cloning Is there any ethical difference between therapeutic and reproductive cloning?

• Pros of Cloning If the vital organs of the human body can be cloned, they can serve as backup systems for human beings. Cloning body parts can serve as a lifesaver. When a body organ such as a kidney or heart fails to function, it may be possible to replace it with the cloned body organ. Cloning in human beings can prove to be a solution to infertility. Cloning has the potential of serving as an option for producing children. Cloning may make it possible to reproduce a certain trait in human beings. We will be able to produce people with certain qualities, human beings with particular desirable traits, thus making human beings a man-made being! Cloning technologies can prove helpful for the researchers in genetics. They might be able to understand the composition of genes and the effects of genetic constituents on human traits, in a better manner. They will be able to alter genetic constituents in cloned human beings, thus simplifying their analysis of genes. Cloning may also help us combat a wide range of genetic diseases. Cloning can make it possible for us to obtain customized organisms and harness them for health benefits of society. Cloning can serve as the best means to replicate animals that can be used for research purposes. Cloning can enable the genetic alteration of plants and animals. If positive changes can be brought about in living beings with the help of cloning, it will indeed be a boon to mankind. Cons of Cloning created identical genes. It is a process of replicating a genetic constitution, thus hampering the diversity in genes. While lessening the diversity in genes, we weaken our ability of adaptation. Cloning is also detrimental to the beauty that lies in diversity. While cloning allows man to tamper with genetics in human beings, it also makes deliberate reproduction of undesirable traits, a probability. Cloning of body organs might invite malpractices in society. In cloning human organs and using them for transplant, or in cloning human beings themselves, technical and economic barriers will have to be considered. Will cloned organs be cost-effective? Will cloning techniques really reach the common man? Moreover, cloning will put human and animal rights at stake. Will cloning fit into our ethical and moral principles? Cloning will leave man just another man-made being. Won't it devalue mankind? Won't it undermine the value of human life?

DNA, the Law, and Many Other Applications – The Technology of DNA Fingerprinting A DNA fingerprint used in a murder case. The defendant stated that the blood on his clothing was his. What are we looking at? How was it produced?

DNA Fingerprinting Basics Different individuals carry different alleles. Most alleles useful for DNA fingerprinting differ on the basis of the number of repetitive DNA sequences they contain.

DNA Fingerprinting Basics If DNA is cut with a restriction enzyme that recognizes sites on either side of the region that varies, DNA fragments of different sizes will be produced. A DNA fingerprint is made by analyzing the sizes of DNA fragments produced from a number of different sites in the genome that vary in length. The more common the length variation at a particular site and the greater the number the sites analyzed, the more informative the fingerprint.

A Site With Three Alleles Useful for DNA Fingerprinting DNA fragments of different size will be produced by a restriction enzyme that cuts at the points shown by the arrows.

The DNA Fragments Are Separated on the Basis of Size The technique is gel electrophoresis. The pattern of DNA bands is compared between each sample loaded on the gel. Gel electrophoresis animation

Possible Patterns for a Single “Gene” With Three Alleles In a standard DNA fingerprint, about a dozen sites are analyzed, with each site having many possible alleles.

A DNA Fingerprint When many genes are analyzed, each with many different alleles, the chance that two patterns match by coincidence is vanishingly small. DNA detective animation HGP fingerprinting page

DNA and the Law SLT 3/8/05 Some applications of DNA fingerprinting in the justice system.

Genetically Modified Foods Many of our crops in the US are genetically modified. Should they be?

GM Crops are Here Today Source: Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, August 2004.

Methods for Plant Genetic Engineering are Well-Developed and Similar to Those for Animals

Golden Rice is Modified to be Provide a Dietary Source of Vitamin A Golden rice (yellow) with standard rice (white). Worldwide, 7% of children suffer vitamin A deficiency, many of them living in regions in which rice is a staple of the diet.

Genetically Modified Crops Genetically Modified Cotton (contains a bacterial gene for pest resistance) Standard Cotton

GMOs, Especially Outside the US, Are a Divisive Issue Protesters at the 2000 Montreal World Trade Summit European sentiment

Current Concerns by Scientists Focus on Environmental, Not Health, Effects of GM Crops The jury’s still out on the magnitude of GM crop’s ecological impact, but the question is debated seriously.

Current Concerns by Scientists Focus on Environmental, Not Health, Effects of GM Crops