Applications of Biotechnology /

Bioengineering (Chapter 11)

Stem Cells and Gene Cloning

 Topics Covered (Chapter 11 and 12)

1. Reproductive Cloning
2. Stem Cells
3. Therapeutic Cloning
4. Gene Cloning
5. Restriction enzymes
6. Gel Electrophoresis
7. GMO
8. HGP
9. Gene Therapy and CRISPR
GMOs -- Friend or Foe?
Trouble in Paradise: Food for Thought

Currently no genetically modified animals have

been approved for human consumption
 If plants or GMOs were the
beginning, genetic manipulation of
animals including humans is the
future
The Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project is an international research
project with the goal of determining the complete
sequence of human DNA, and identifying and mapping
all the genes of the Human Genome. The U.S. govt.
coordinated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH),
launched it in 1990.
 Sequencing the first human
genome took a whooping 13 years
and cost $100 million (April,
2003).
The team leader sums it up…

“When you have for the first time in front of you

this 3.1 billion-letter instruction book that
conveys all kinds of mystery about humankind,
you can’t survey that going through page after
page without a sense of awe.

I can’t help but look at those pages and have

a vague sense that this is giving me a glimpse
of God’s mind.”
- Francis Collins
Director, HGP
We are rapidly approaching the day
when an individual’s genome can
be sequenced in a matter of hours
for less than $500
Today and Tomorrow
What have been some of the take
home lessons from HGP?
 1. The number of genes has
absolutely no relation to how
evolutionary advanced we are…
• The human genome project found that there are
far fewer genes in the human genome than
previously predicted.

• We have about the same number of genes as a

ROUND WORM and only half as many as RICE
Plant.
2. There are about 20-25K genes and
of these ~60% are alternatively
spliced.

3. The coding sequences only make

about 2% of our genome; 98% is non-
coding…….

4. Lot of our DNA came from viruses

that infected us thousands of years
ago.
• The DNA sequences are deposited in GenBank, a
database that is available to anyone via the Internet.

• You can browse it yourself at the website for the

National Center for Biotechnology Information
(ncbi.nih.gov).
Advancements in Bio-engineering
after HGP….
 A Brave New World of Transgenic
Animals

The transgenic animals are GMOs whose

genome has been edited to carry genes from
other species.
 The Spider-goat

In 2000, Nexia Biotechnologies announced the

introduction of a goat that produced spiders’ web
protein in its milk. This “silk milk” could be used to
manufacture a web-like material called ‘Biosteel’
 Ebola - Nature, Accident or Intentional
Scientists allege deadly diseases such as Ebola are
“Bio weapons”
Applications in Human
 Number of human physiological
reactions-----probably….a million

Currently targeted by medicine---250

Could your medicine be a cell or a
gene, and not a pill????
Gene therapy
uses genes to
Normal
treat disease. In human gene

the future, this 1 An RNA version is

inserted into a virus
technique may RNA genome of virus
allow doctors to Inserted human RNA
Healthy 2 Bone marrow
treat a disorder person cells are infected

by inserting a 3 Viral DNA inserts into

the cell’s chromosome
gene into a Human chromosome
patient's cells Bone marrow
cell from the patient
instead of using Bone of person
drugs or with disease
4 The engineered Bone marrow
surgery cells are injected
 Human Gene Therapy

 In 2009, a trial was conducted that focused on a

form of blindness linked to a defect in a gene.
 The researchers found that a single injection of a
virus carrying the normal gene into one eye of
affected children improved vision in that eye,
sometimes enough to allow normal functioning.
Let us be more optimistic now
The Age of Personalized Medicine is Around