Biotechnology And Its Applications - Class 12 Medical Biology - Extra Questions

Biopatent is a patent granted by the government to the inventor for biological entities and for products obtained from them. For example, basmati rice and neem based products are biopatents of India.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells which are able to grow in any type of tissue with the specialized function. Stem cells can be obtained from inner cell mass of embryos, bone marrow, umbilical cord and amniotic fluid. Stem cells are involved in development, growth and repair in multicellular organisms. Stem cells are used to treat many diseases such as type-I diabetes, heart diseases, cancer, spinal injuries, arthritis, muscular dystrophy and Alzheimer. It can also be used to make new organs like heart, liver, kidneys, skin, even to produce transgenic animals.

(a) Rosie which is the transgenic cow produced human protein/alpha lactalbumin enriched milk and alpha I anti - trypsin used to treat emphysema. 

Biopiracy is defined as the illegal removal of biological material of a country by organisations or multinational companies without proper authorization from the concerned countries.
The Indian Parliament has recently cleared the second amendment of the Indian Patents Bill that takes such issues into consideration including patent terms, emergency provisions and research and development initiative.

Transgenic Plants

$$\textbf{Solution:}$$

$$\bullet$$ Golden rice is a newly developed genetically modified variety of rice produced by genetic engineering.

$$\bullet$$ Golden rice produces beta-carotene, giving the rice a yellow (Golden) colour.

$$\bullet$$ It was developed as a supplement to treat vitamin A deficiency. This dietary deficiency is the leading cause of childhood blindness and the leading cause of death in children under the age of five worldwide.

$$\bullet$$ It was created by Peter Beyer. His goal was to create a fortified food that can be grown and consumed in areas where dietary vitamin A is scarce. That's why, he developed golden rice.

The cells from a variety of microorganisms. Such as bacteria, yeasts, filamentous fungi and algae that are used as food or feed are called single cell protein (SCP). e.g. spirulina (algae) and chlorella.
Uses of single cell protein:
(i) It is a rich source of protein (60 to 72 per cent), vitamins, amino acids, minerals and crude fibres.
(ii) It is a popular health food. Nowadays, spirulina tablets are prescribed as an enriched vitamin for most people.
(iii) It provides a valuable protein-rich supplement in the human diet.
(iv) It lowers blood sugar level of diabetics due to the presence of gamma-linolenic acid and prevents the accumulation of cholesterol in human body.

• Biopiracy is the commercial exploitation of naturally occurring biochemical or genetic material, without proper authorisation is known as biopiracy.

A transgenic animal can be defined as animal whose chromosomes have been altered so that its genes contain foreign DNA. Many transgenic animals are designed to increase our understanding of how genes contribute to the development of diseases. Transgenic animals like mice, rabbit are being developed for use in testing the safety of vaccine before they are used in human beings. 

The exploitation and utilization of resources from a country by organizations and companies without concern to the country is known as bio-piracy. This results in the loss of the bioresources of the country and the country fail to obtain the actual benefits from the resources.

Biopiracy is the illegal use of a product obtained from another area without compensating in terms of money or any other forms. It is done with a selfish motive. It can also be done with respect to research work which includes obtaining writing material from a research going on in some other part of the world. Traditional knowledge about medicines or certain medicinal herbs is exploited to obtain royalty through patents. Certain products like chemicals, biomolecules, drugs and genes may already be discovered by certain group. The right may be obtained against these products or these may be produced or sold to obtain money without the consent of the owner or the originating land of the product.

Biopatent is a patent granted by the government to the inventor for biological entities and for products obtained from them. For example, basmati rice and neem based products are biopatents of India.

The transformed gene may adversely affects the host. The gene may result in the development of cancer, or other deadly disease or the death of the plant. If the recombinant food product is a crop, there may be harmful effects with the gene present in the crop to the person eating the crop. There may be antibiotic resistant genes as a marker, which might suppress the effect of antibiotic when the person is infected with some disease if the antibiotic is taken with the food. There may be allergic reactions with the products which are associated with these products. The transgenic crop may be mixed with a normal crop. This may affect the biodiversity and change the gene pools. 

Biopatent is the official's document granted by the government to a person or company for an exclusive invention made for certain time period. Today manufacturing companies are being granted patents for products and technologies that make of biological resources, such as animals and plants, genetic materials which were identified developed and used by farmers and indigenous peoples. Companies are rushing to set patents of new products derived from biological resources so as to prevent competitions from using them. They then reap large profits by hiking up the products at will or by charging royalties to other firms wishing to use the technology. 
Today a worldwide fight has started against biopiracy and patent on life because farmers and indigenous people are the true owners of the knowledge and biotic resources. 

The commercial use of patented biological resources without getting proper permission is called biopiracy.
Today manufacturing companies are being granted patents for products and technologies that make biological resources such as plants and animals genetic materials that were identified developed and used by farmers and indigenous peoples. Companies are rushing to get patents of the new products derived from biological resources to prevent competitors from using them they then reap large profits by thinking up of the products at will or by charging royalties to other firms wishing to use the technology.
For examples, 

a) Gene therapy is the method which uses genes to treat or prevent disease. This technique involves the introduction of normal genes into cells. This helps in replacing the function of the missing or defective ones in order to correct genetic disorders. Human blood clotting factor VIII gene can be introduced in order to treat haemophiliacs.

In 1997, the American company got patent rights on basmati rice (which has its origin in India) through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This is a classical example of biopiracy.

Once a stem cell line is established from a cell in the body, it is essentially immortal, no matter how it was derived. Once established, a cell line can be grown in the laboratory indefinitely. Stem cell lines grown in the lab provide scientists with the opportunity to engineer them for use in transplantation or treatment of diseases. In the future, scientists are able to modify human stem cell lines by using gene therapy or other techniques to overcome this immune rejection. 

$$\textbf{Solution:}$$ 

$$\textbf{Biopatent:}$$ 

$$\bullet$$ A biological patent is is a patent which is given for an invention in the field of biology. 

$$\bullet$$ Biopatent in the hands of the creator by law or give them the right to invoke others from making using or selling their invention for a limited period of time. 

$$\bullet$$ If any organization or another individual wants to use the patented invention, they need to buy the rights of using the patent from the inventor. 

$$\bullet$$ Patenting rights are valid for a limited period of time after which it becomes void. Other organisations and individuals can use that invention beyond that period of time as it is not further protected by the patenting laws. 

$$\bullet$$ Only the patent owner gets the right to make, use or offer the patent for sale during the tenure it is patented.

$$\bullet$$ These are bound by strict laws and not following them can give any individual or organisation a setback in the scientific community with legal cases. 

Rosie was a transgenic cow. It was considered different from a normal cow as it produced human protein-enriched milk. The milk contained 'human alpha-lactalbumin' and was nutritionally a more balanced product for human babies than the normal cow milk.

Rosie is the first transgenic cow

A monkey named ANDI is the world's first genetically modified non-human primate

Biopriacy is the use of bio-resources by MNC's and other organizations without proper authorization from countries and people concerned without compensatory payment. Industrialized and development nations are economically rich, but poor in biodiversity while opposite prevails for developing nations. Therefore, developed countries exploit traditional knowledge and sources of poor countries for commercialization.
1. This is a matter of injustice since inadequate compensation and benefit sharing is given to poor countries in return. Therefore, steps should be takes by developing countries to prevent this exploitation.
2. The Indian parliament has recently introduced second amendment of Indian parents bill to deal with these issues. 

The gene that has been introduced into a cell organism is known as a transgene to distinguish it from the endogenous change. The animal carrying the introduced foreign gene is said to be a transgenic animal. Transgenic mice are been developed for use in testing the safety of vaccine before they are used on humans. Transgenic animals are specifically designed to allow the study of how genes are regulated, and how they affect the normal functions of the body and its development.

Transgenic animals are the animals that have had a foreign gene deliberately inserted into their genome. They are so called because they have their DNA manipulated and thus they possess and express foreign gene.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a naturally occurring, soil-borne bacteria that has been used since the 1950s for natural insect control. It consists of a spore, which gives it persistence, and a protein crystal within the spore, which is toxic. That toxic protein differs, depending on the subspecies of Bt-producing it, yielding a variance of Bt toxic to different insect species (or none at all). When the bacteria is consumed by certain insects, the toxic crystal is released in the insects highly alkaline gut, blocking the system which protects the pest’s stomach from its own digestive juices. The stomach is penetrated, and the insect dies by poisoning from the stomach contents and the spores themselves. This same mechanism is what makes Bt harmless to birds, fish and mammals whose acidic gut conditions negate the bacteria’s effect. Specific Bt toxin genes were isolated from Bacillus thuringiensis and

Biopiracy is a term which is referring to the unauthorised publication on the reproduction of another's material. it also includes the intellectual property right claim by the formal sector over the work of the informal constituent of biopiracy. 

Stem cells are the specialized cells that are obtained from different organs and have the ability to grow into a new organ. They are of various types:

The commercial applications of biotechnology are-

$$\textbf{Solution:}$$

$$\bullet$$ Stem cells are the special undifferentiated body cells which can form any type of body cell. These cells can give rise to a whole organ.

$$\bullet$$ Stem cells can be obtained from our own body, from amniotic fluid of a fetus, from pluripotent cells and from other person's stem cells

$$\bullet$$ Stem cells are present in the bone marrow, brain, blood vessels, skin, teeth, and some other tissues.

$$\bullet$$ The amniotic fluid of fetus also has some mesenchymal stem cells.

$$\bullet$$ The induced pluripotent cells are similar in function to that of embryonic stem cells. Thus, these cells can be used to form adult stem cells of an individual.

$$\bullet$$ Some type of adult stem cells can be transformed or differentiate to form unrelated cell type.

Cryopreservation is the technique in which very low temperatures to preserve structurally intact living cells and tissues. Different modes of preservation are used for the preservation of hematopoietic, mesenchymal and human embryonic stem cells. The cryopreservation protocol for a given cell type requires specification of (1) pre-freeze processing; (2) introduction of a cryopreservation solution; (3) freezing protocol; (4) storage conditions; (5) thawing conditions and (6) post-thaw assessment. Vitrification is a cryopreservation technique that leads to a glass-like solidification. Human embryonic stem cells (hESC's) can be preserved by this technique.

Patenting and exploitation of bioresources of other nations without proper authorisation or access and benefit sharing agreement is called Biopiracy. It is being carried out by many organisations and multinational companies by posing that components of bioresources are products of their research. Eg:Turmeric, Neem, Basmatic Rice are some of the products have patents in other countries.

The stem cells can be used in all type of tissues, cells in our body like they can help in forming nervous tissues for patients with neurological disorders, pancreatic cells for patients with pancreatic diseases and cardiac muscles for patients with heart issues. They can also be used to compensate the loss of blood cells in the human body for example in diseases like thalassemia in which a lot of RBCs get destroyed and in leukemia and lymphoma, a lot of WBCs die losing the ability to protect body thus causing blood cancer. Now a day’s stem cells are also used in transplants for curing stem cells.

EXPLANATION: When a baby is born, the placenta/umbilical cord blood is stored as it is rich in stem cells. The stem cells in the spongy part of bone marrow can also be stored for the future cure. These bone marrow and cord blood transplants can provide life to severe life-threatening diseases which are leading to heavy loss of blood cells from the body thus making the immune system weak. These stored stem cells can be used to generate new cells in cancer patients whose own cells are damaged or are not functioning. They also help to regenerate damaged tissues and hence may benefit in several disease cure. For example: if a person has cardiac disease, then these stem cells be inserted in the heart muscle so that it can lead to repairing of the defective heart cells.

A patent is a right granted by the government to an inventor to prevent others from using the invention commercially.

The commercial development of naturally occurring biological materials, such as plant substances by a technologically advanced organization without fair compensation to the peoples or nations in whose territory the materials were originally discovered is known as biopiracy.

Bio-piracy - It is a situation in which indigenous knowledge of life science, nature; originating with indigenous peoples, is used by the others for commercial use without any permission. 

Biopiracy is the practice of commercially exploiting naturally occurring biochemical or genetic material, especially by obtaining patents that restrict its future use, while failing to pay fair compensation to the community from which it originates.

$$\textbf{Explanation:}$$

 According to scientists, there is much more to know about stem cells in the coming future. The research is going on to decipher different capabilities of stem cells in curing diseases. Though there are several challenges in therapies concerning stem cells as sometimes the receiver’s body rejects the transplanted stem cells. Scientists are dealing with similar different challenges to overcome them and build a curable future for mankind.

Use of bio-resources by MNCs and other organizations without authorization from the countries and people is called biopiracy. Some MNCs make some minor tweaking to get the patent on products or processes which have been under the domain of traditional knowledge of any country. By obtaining the patent, these companies get a license to exploit the worldwide market. This leaves the people (with traditional knowledge) at the losing end. Patent on turmeric by an American company is a good example of biopiracy. Turmeric is being used as an antiseptic in India since ages and hence is part of the traditional knowledge.

Lipase and pectinase are two industrially important enzymes.

It was observed that some MNCs or other organizations obtained patent on products or services which had been part of the traditional knowledge of developing countries. This act had the potential of exploitation of indigenous people by not providing adequate compensation and or commercial exploitation. To prevent such a misuse of patent, the Indian Parliament cleared the second amendment of the country's patent bill.

$$\bullet$$ Transgenic animals can serve as models to understand progression of various diseases in human. 

Stem cell technology is the revolutionary event in biotechnology after cloning.

Following are the two reasons why patent on Basmati should not have gone to an American Company:

• 27 documented varieties of Basmati are being grown in India and thus it is an integral part of traditional farm practices in India.
• Patent could have prevented Indian people from growing Basmati rice.

$$\textbf{Explanation:}$$

Traditional knowledge accumulates over thousands of generations. It carries knowledge of cost effective ways to tackle many problems related to human life. Patent is granted to a new product or service which is based on entirely novel concept. Once an organization or an individual obtains a patent for a particular product or service; it gets the sole right to reap commercial benefits from that product or service. In most of the cases, the patent holder tends to overexploit the market during the patent period. If we used traditional knowledge instead, it will help us in saving a lot of money. This shows that ignoring our traditional knowledge can prove costly in the area of biological patenting.

The transformed gene adversely affect the host. The gene may be harmful or toxic to the plant. The gene may result in the development of cancer, or other deadly disease or the death of the plant. If the recombinant food product is a crop, there may be harmful effects with the gene present in the crop to the person eating the crop. There may be antibiotic resistant genes as a marker, which might suppress the effect of antibiotic when the person is infected with some disease if the antibiotic is taken with the food. There may be allergic reactions with the products which are associated with these products. The transgenic crop may be mixed with a normal crop. 

Stem cells are found in all organisms and are capable of dividing to form new cells which can the differentiated into various types of specialized cells.
Role of stem cells in Medical treatment:
(i) These cells have been used for treatment of various cancers like leukemia and lymphoma.
(ii) It may also be used for treatment of severe autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis.
(iii) Embryonic stem cells, directed to differentiate into specific cell types, offer the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat diseases like Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, diabetes, arthritis and heart diseases.

(2)Insect resistance

$$\textbf{Explanation:}$$

Transgenic animals are the animals that have had a foreign gene deliberately inserted into their genome. They are useful as disease models and producers of substance for human welfare. Some transgenic animals are produced for specific economic traits. For example, transgenic cattle were created to produce milk containing particular human proteins, which may help in the treatment of human emphysema.

When a genetically modified organism is introduced in the ecosystem; it can have dire consequences for the ecosystem, like release of toxin, competition, invasion and interference with natural process of breeding. Thus, not respecting the genetic barriers (while creating genetically modified organisms) can have long term repercussions on the ecosystem.

Biopiracy is the term used to refer to the use of biosensors by multinational companies and other organizations without proper authorization from the countries and people concerned without compensatory payment.

The organisms which contain functional foreign genes experimentally introduced into their genome by genetic engineering from another species are called transgenic animals.