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Micro- and Macro-Biological Technologies
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20226 |
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Section : |
SPECIAL SECTION
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| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1992 |
4,268 Words |
| Author
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Claude A. Villee
Claude A. Villee is the Andelot Professor of Biological
Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard University.
He has authored textbooks for biology, zoology, and human
reproduction that have been translated into several
languages, including Russian and Chinese. |
Our understanding of the concept of molecular biology such as gene structure and the control of protein synthesis has greatly increased in the past decade. The technology to conduct experimental procedures unknown just 10 years ago, such as isolating and cloning genes, is also developing at a rapid pace. It is truly mind-boggling to imagine what the field of biotechnology might be like half a century from now if we look at the rapid progress over the past decade and the technologies now under development that will permit gene transfer to treat humans suffering from inherited diseases.
This article considers two apparently different but closely connected levels of biology--micro-biology and macro-biology. Biotechnology works at the microbiological level to achieve effects that become manifest at the macroscopic level.
We shall break our study into two parts. In the first, we shall consider a number of subjects at the genetic and molecular levels. Under this, we shall see the structure and function of genes, with special attention to the features of genes occurring in eukaryotic (nucleated) cells. We shall also see the developing technology for repairing human genetic material that is defective, or altogether absent. We shall follow this with a discussion of the promise and possible roles of catalytic antibodies, which can be custom synthesized to perform specific enzymatic reactions. And finally, we shall examine the nature of hybridomas, an important class of hybrid cells and how they may be used in genetic engineering. In the second part we shall consider some of the microbiological problems facing humanity today, including population growth, food supply, and human life span.
Biotechnology
The term biotechnology refers to the discipline that investigates, develops, applies, and commercializes the variety of techniques used in manipulating the molecules of life, as contained especially in genetic material and in proteins. Given the molecular similarities of viruses, bacteria, plants, animals, and humans, biotechnology has widespread implications in many areas of medicine, agriculture, and industry.
The genetic material of living systems is located primarily in long double-stranded helical molecules called DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid). These molecules are wrapped in segments around specific protein molecules and then compacted into a series of coils and folds to produce discrete packets called chromosomes. A DNA molecule is
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