Topics to be learn :

  • Cell Biology (Cytology)
  • Stem Cells
  • Biotechnology and Its Applications
  • Important Stages in Development of Agriculture
Cell
  • Cells are the structural and functional units of the body.
Tissue
  • Definition: A group of cells that performs a specific function.
Examples:
  • Muscular tissues: Perform contraction and extension, aiding in locomotion.
  • Conducting tissues in plants: Xylem: Transports water & Phloem: Transports food.
Tissue Culture
  • Definition: A technique for the ex vivo growth of cells or tissues in a sterile, nutrient-rich medium.
  • Medium Used: Can be liquid, solid, or gel-like (e.g., agar-based) and provides nutrients and energy.
Processes in Tissue Culture:
  1. Primary Treatment
  2. Reproduction
  3. Shooting and Rooting
  4. Primary Hardening
  5. Secondary Hardening
Steps: Tissues are taken from the source plant and cultured in a sterile laboratory environment.
Cell Biology (Cytology)
  • Definition: The study of cell structure, types, organelles, and division.
  • Importance: Advances in cell biology have brought revolutionary changes in the field of human health.
Research Institutes in India:
  • National Centre for Cell Science, Pune.
  • Instem, Bengaluru.
Stem Cells
  • Definition: Unique cells found in multicellular organisms capable of producing all other cell types.
Key Features:
  • Formed from the zygote after fertilization.
  • Can be used to produce new tissues in laboratories.
  • Play a crucial role in wound healing.
Differentiation of Stem Cells
  • Stem cells differentiate to form various tissue types for specific functions.
Once differentiation occurs:
  • Ability to differentiate is lost.
  • New cells formed are similar to the original.
Locations of Stem Cells
  • Umbilical cord in the uterus.
  • Blastocyst stage during embryonic development.
  • Red bone marrow.
  • Adipose connective tissue of adults.
  • Blood.
Method of Stem Cell Preservation
  • Stem cells are collected from: Umbilical cord blood, Red bone marrow, Blastocysts.
  • Stored in small, sterile vials at -135°C to -190°C in liquid nitrogen.
  • Purpose: Enables long-term preservation for future use.
Stem Cell Research
  • Revolutionary biotechnology transforming medical science.
Types of Stem Cells:
  1. Embryonic Stem Cells
  2. Adult Stem Cells
Embryonic Stem Cells
  • Formation: From the zygote, undergoing divisions to form stem cells.
  • Key Features:
    • Cell differentiation starts by the 14th day, creating 220 different cell types.
    • Primary, undifferentiated cells capable of multiplication.
    • Have pluripotency, allowing development into different cell types.
  • Culturing Process:
    • Stem cells are cultured with specific biochemical stimuli.
    • Depending on stimuli, they transform into desired cells, tissues, and organs.
Adult Stem Cells
  • Definition: Stem cells obtained from an adult body.
  • Sources: Red bone marrow, Adipose connective tissue, Blood, Cord blood, collected immediately after birth, Placenta, a rich source of stem cells.
Uses of Stem Cells

(i) In Regenerative Therapy

Cell Therapy:
  • Replaces dead cells in patients suffering from: Diabetes, Myocardial infarction, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, etc.
  • Helps in the formation of blood cells for patients with: Anaemia, Thalassemia, Leukaemia, etc.
(ii) In Organ Transplantation
  • In cases of organ failure (e.g., kidney, liver): Stem cells can form tissues for transplantation to patients in need.
Organ Transplantation
  • Purpose: Saves lives of patients with inefficient or non-functional organs.
  • Common Transplants: Kidney and skin (if a suitable donor is available).
  • Matching Process: Based on factors like: Blood group, existing diseases/disorders, and age. Healthy donors are essential.
  • Donor Types: Live donors: For kidney and skin. Posthumous donors: For liver, heart, and eyes.
Organ and Body Donation
  • Definition: Practice of donating the body or organs in good condition after death.
Significance:
  • Saves lives of needy patients (e.g., blind persons receiving vision through eye donation).
  • Advances medical research and studies.
Regulations:
  • Governed by Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 (and amendments).
  • Ensures transparency and prevents bribery.
Awareness:
  • Encouraging voluntary donations to benefit society.
Awareness About Organ Donation After Death
  • Vital organs may suffer damage due to accidents or illness, affecting their function.
  • Organ transplantation can save lives.
  • Posthumous Donations: After death, organs in good condition can be retrieved for transplantation.
Awareness Efforts:
  • Government and social organizations are raising awareness.
  • Increasing organ transplantation rates globally.
Biotechnology
  • Definition: Methods to artificially modify genetic material or hybridize organisms for human benefit.
Use of Biotechnology
  • Fields: Agriculture, Horticulture, and Medical Fields.
Applications:
  • Produces cash crops and improves plant varieties.
  • Enhances plants' ability to withstand environmental stresses.
  • Utilizes genetic engineering and tissue culture techniques.
Aids in:
  • Vaccine production.
  • Diagnosis of congenital diseases.
  • Organ transplants and cancer research.
  • Artificial skin and cartilage production.
Impact on Agriculture and Related Fields

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO):

  • Create crops with desired traits by removing harmful ones.
  • Resilience: Varieties withstand environmental changes (e.g., temperature, drought).
  • Resistance: Crops resistant to: Insect pests, Pathogens, Chemical weedicides (reducing pesticide use and costs).
  • Improved nutrition and seed quality.
  • Insect-resistant crops: Example: Bt Cotton (widely used in Maharashtra).
Benefits:
  • Reduces crop loss.
  • Increases cultivable land.
Applications of Biotechnology
  • Incorporates: Cytology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Genetic Engineering.
Impact:
  • Advances agriculture and pharmacy.
  • Improves agricultural yield and crop quality.
  • Supports pharmaceutical experiments for: Antibodies, vitamins, and hormones (e.g., insulin).
Main Areas in Biotechnology
  1. Microbiology: Microbial processes for producing yogurt from milk and alcohol from molasses.
  2. Biochemistry: Enhances cellular productivity to manufacture antibiotics and vaccines.
  3. Molecular Biology: Uses biomolecules like DNA and proteins for human welfare.
  4. Genetic Engineering: Genetic manipulation techniques to create plants, animals, and products of desired quality. Example: Human growth hormone and insulin from genetically modified bacteria.
  5. Non-Genetic Biotechnology: Uses entire cells or tissues (e.g., tissue culture and hybrid seed production).
Benefits of Biotechnology
  • Increased crop yield per hectare.
  • Reduced disease control expenses.
  • Faster fruit setting varieties.
  • Stress-resistant varieties for: Temperature, water-stress, and soil fertility changes.
  • Supports agricultural development.
Development of Biotechnology in India
  • 1982: Formation of the National Biotechnology Board.
  • 1986: Transformed into the Department of Biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Institutes Under the Department:
  1. National Institute of Immunology.
  2. National Facility for Animal Tissue and Cell Culture.
  3. National Centre for Cell Science.
  4. National Brain Research Centre.
  5. Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants.
  6. Higher education and research facilities.
Commercial Applications of Biotechnology

(i) Crop Biotechnology

  • Purpose: Enhances yield and variety in agriculture.
Applications:
  • Hybrid Seeds: Used for fruits.
  • Genetically Modified Crops: Resistant to diseases, alkalinity, and weeds.
  • Bt Cotton: Produces a toxin to kill bollworms.
  • Bt Brinjal: Protects against pests similar to Bt Cotton.
  • Golden Rice: Introduces a gene to synthesize vitamin A. Contains 23 times more beta-carotene than normal rice.
  • Herbicide-Tolerant Plants: Enables selective weed control.
  • Biofertilizers: Example: Azolla and bacteria.
(ii) Animal Husbandry

Methods:

  1. Artificial Insemination.
  2. Embryo Transfer.
Benefits:
  • Improves quantity and quality of animal products such as: Milk, meat, and wool.
  • Develops animals with greater strength for hard labor.
(iii) Human Health Applications
  • Primary Focus: Diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Key Contributions:
  • Identifies genes' roles in diseases for early diagnosis of diabetes and heart diseases.
  • Enables early diagnosis of AIDS and dengue, improving treatment outcomes.
  • Facilitates production of treatments like human insulin using bacterial genomes.
  • Produces various vaccines and antibiotics.
(a) Vaccines and Vaccination
Vaccines:
  • Antigens that provide immunity against specific pathogens or diseases.
  • Traditional vaccines carried transmission risks; now produced artificially via biotechnology for safety.
  • Modern vaccines are thermo-stable and long-lasting.
  • Examples: Polio and hepatitis vaccines.
Edible Vaccines:
  • Produced in foods like transgenic potatoes to combat cholera and E. coli.
  • Consuming raw potatoes generates immunity.
Proteins Produced by Biotechnology
 

 
(b) Treatment
  • Produces hormones like insulin, somatotropin, and blood-clotting factors.
(c) Interferon
  • Small proteins used for treating viral diseases.
  • Now produced using transgenic E. coli.
(d) Gene Therapy
  • Treats genetic disorders in somatic cells, e.g., Phenylketonuria (PKU).
  • Targets all cells except sperms and ova.
(e) Cloning
  • Definition: Produces replicas of cells, organs, or organisms.
Types:
  • Reproductive Cloning: Uses the nucleus from a diploid somatic cell fused with an enucleated ovum.
  • Therapeutic Cloning: Creates stem cells for treatments.
Applications:
  • Controls hereditary diseases, ensures generational continuity, and enhances specific traits.
  • Gene cloning produces millions of gene copies for therapy.
Ethical Concerns: Widespread opposition to human cloning.
(iv) Industrial Products / White Biotechnology
  • Example: Produces alcohol using transgenic yeast on sugarcane molasses.
  • Produces industrial chemicals via cost-effective biotechnology processes.
(v) Environmental Applications

Biotechnology in Waste Management:

  • Uses microbes for sewage treatment and solid waste decomposition.
  • Prevents oxygen depletion in water, preserving aquatic life.
  • Produces large-scale compost from solid organic waste.

Key Methods:

  • Bioremediation: Uses plants and microbes to absorb/destroy toxic chemicals and pollutants.
  • Includes biopesticides, biofertilizers, and biosensors.
Phytoremediation
  • Definition: Bioremediation method using plants to clean pollutants from the environment.
Examples:
  • Pseudomonas bacteria: Cleans hydrocarbons and oil pollutants in soil and water.
  • Pteris vitata (fern): Absorbs arsenic from soil.
  • Genetically modified Indian mustard: Absorbs selenium.
  • Sunflower: Absorbs uranium and arsenic.
  • Deinococcus radiodurans (bacterium): Genetically modified to absorb radiation from radioactive debris.
  • Grasses (alfalfa, clover, rye): Used in phytoremediation.
Cleaning Oil Spillage in Oceans
  • Problem: Oil spills from tankers and wells harm marine flora and fauna.
Solution:
  • Use of oil-digesting bacteria that multiply rapidly.
  • Bacteria clear oil spills at low cost without environmental damage.
  • Discovery credited to Dr. Anand Mohan Chakravarti.
(vi) Food Biotechnology: Applications: Microorganisms are used to produce food items like: Bread, Cheese, Wine, Beer, Yoghurt, Vinegar, Soy sauce.
(vii) DNA Fingerprinting
  • Definition: Identifying individuals based on their unique DNA nucleotide sequence, similar to fingerprints.
  • India’s Facility: DNA fingerprinting performed at the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (Hyderabad).
Applications:
  • Forensic investigations to identify criminals.
  • Establishing identity in cases of disputed parentage.

Development of Agriculture in India

(i) Green Revolution

Key Contributors:
  • Norman Borlaug
  • Dr. M. S. Swaminathan
Objective: Maximize crop yield from minimal land to prevent starvation.
Achievements:
  • Increased food grain production.
  • Development of new crop varieties through agricultural research.
Key Institutions:
  • Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
  • Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi
  • National Citrus Research Institute (ICAR-CCRI), Nagpur
  • National Pomegranate Research Institute, Solapur
Interesting Fact:
  • Indian Institute of Science developed a transgenic tobacco variety that prevents rinderpest in cattle.
(ii) White Revolution
  • Initiated By: Dr. Verghese Kurien (Anand, Gujarat).
  • Objective: Self-sufficiency in milk production using biotechnology.
Outcome:
  • Establishment of AMUL, a global dairy brand.
  • Introduction of quality control and new dairy products.
(iii) Blue Revolution
  • Objective: Production of aquatic organisms via aquaculture and mariculture.
Key Highlights:
  • Fish farming in farm ponds (East Asia and India).
  • Cultivation of fish, prawns, marine organisms, and seaweed in India.
Government Support:
  • Nil-Kranti Mission-2016: Provides subsidies (50%-100%) for aquaculture.
Cultivated Species:
  • Freshwater: Rohu, Catla.
  • Marine/Brackish Water: Prawns, Lobster.
(iv) Fertilizers
 
Types of Fertilizers:
 
1. Organic (Manure):
  • Improves water-holding capacity and soil conservation.
  • Forms humus, enriching the soil's upper layer.
  • Enhances availability of essential elements (N, P, K) via earthworm and fungal activity.
2. Chemical Fertilizers:
  • Overuse reduces soil fertility.
  • Harmful to soil bacteria, cattle, and humans.
  • Causes environmental contamination.
(v) Insecticides
  • Purpose: Eradicate pests harmful to plants.
  • Natural Pest Control: Frogs and birds naturally control pest populations.
  • Environmental Impact: Excessive Use: Toxic to all living organisms; leads to biomagnification. Contaminates water and soil.
  • Examples of Insecticides: DDT, Malathion, Chloropyriphos.
(vi) Organic Farming
  • Definition: Farming without chemical fertilizers or pesticides, using local and sturdy plant varieties to maintain a natural balance.
Benefits:
  • Prevents soil fertility loss caused by chemicals.
  • Reduces pest resistance problems.
  • Environmentally sustainable.
Current Trend: Growing demand for organic products due to environmental concerns.
(vii) Apiculture
  • Definition: Rearing honeybees for products like honey and wax.
  • Method: Use of artificial hives allows for honey extraction without harming bees or their hives.
(viii) Cultivation of Medicinal Plants

Background:

  • Ayurveda traditionally relied on medicinal herbs from forests.
  • Deforestation has made these plants rare.
Need: Promote cultivation of medicinal plants to preserve biodiversity and ensure availability.
(ix) Fruit Processing
  • Objective: Convert perishable fruits into durable products.
  • Products: Chocolates, juices, jams, jellies, muramba.
Methods:
  • Cold storage.
  • Drying and salting.
  • Air-tight packing.
  • Preparing condensed fruit products.