How Transgenics has helped to shed light on a disease model Diabetes - Essay Example

R.Preeti 19 2008 RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY Biology has come a long way, in terms of bettering human life conditions, besides studying about human physiology. Recombinant DNA Technology is the technology that is the modernized version of biology, with the ability to manipulate genes. It facilitates the hybrid combination of a variety of genes, from two species as well. The amino acid sequences of proteins can be deduced and nucleotide sequences of genes can be determined.

This is but a preview of the numerous sues of Recombinant DNA Technology.The technique helps in the betterment of human and animal genes, while helping r educe diseased conditions and accentuating positive features. It improves nutritional value in plants and advances the yield of crops. It also helps in the treatment of genetic disorders and in the study of DNA fingerprinting, which can help the forensic department in punishing or acquitting an individual.

The Recombinant DNA technique was engineered by Stanley Norman Cohen and Herbert Boyer in 1973. They published their findings in a 1974 paper entitled "Construction of Biologically Functional Bacterial Plasmids in vitro", which described a technique to isolate and amplify genes or DNA segments and insert them into another cell with precision, creating a transgenic bacterium. [www.wikipedia.com]This technology has helped in the creation of genetically healthy animals, who are devoid of any flaw characteristics.

The genetic errors and flaws have been replaced and altered using this technology of artificial DNA and has paved way for flawless genes in animals. These transgenic animals have indeed become a landmark in biological studies. They are useful in carrying forward the species, without any threat of becoming extinct. The quality of the species improves immensely, due to the presence of treatment of flaws at the genetic level. Animals with targeted deletions of specific genes are called knock out animals and these animals help in the identification and prevention of certain diseases, that could otherwise plague human kind.

The following is an example:Transgenic mice expressing the human poliovirus receptor generated in different laboratories were susceptible to poliovirus infection by various inoculation routes and the resulting disease was clinically and histopathologically similar to human poliomyelitis. However, the mouse model differs from humans in that alimentary tract replication of orally administered poliovirus is either inefficient or does not occur.

It is therefore very unlikely that escape of such transgenic mice to the wild would result in the establishment of a new animal reservoir for poliovirus.Nevertheless, this example indicates that for each new line of transgenic animal, detailed studies should be conducted to determine the routes by which the animals can be infected, the inoculums size required for infection and the extent of virus shedding by the infected animals.

In addition, all measures should be taken to assure strict containment of receptor transgenic mice. [http://bfa.sdsu.edu/ehs/biosafety/biopart8.htm#e]It has played a very important role in discovering an alternative method to induce insulin into a diabetic patient, for the treatment of diabetes. The specific gene sequence, or oligonucleotide, that codes for insulin production in humans was introduced to a sample colony of E. coli. Only about 1 out of 106 bacteria picks up the sequence. [www.wikipedia.

com]Thus, Recombinant DNA Technology has helped extend the studies of biology and ahs helped better life through the use fo science and technology.REFERENCESWebsite: www.wikipedia.comWebsite: http://darwin.nmsu.edu/molbio/mcb520/lecture2.htmlWebsite: http://bfa.sdsu.edu/ehs/biosafety/biopart8.htm#e